Spanish Tutor Andrés
Professional Teacher
What does "let off" mean in this sentence? - I wasn't sure I'd see you after your freak-out at the investment party... - Freak-out? I let you off easy. - One minute I'm under the impression we might actually have a future together, and the next I catch you lip-locked with Nolan Ross
Jan 1, 2012 3:05 PM
Answers · 3
The conversation doesn't make sense to me. Who is talking?
January 1, 2012
It means to not give someone the punishment they deserve from you or another. A related phrase is "let somebody off the hook." The analogy there is to a fisherman, who has caught a fish, but instead of eating it, he lets it back into the water. Letting someone off the hook, then, is like that fisherman. He has some power to punish or harm a person as a result of their actions, but he can "let them off the hook" and pretend it never happened.
January 1, 2012
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