I always assumed it meant one part made off of a mold. Of course, since
parts are usually made IN a mold rather than ON a mold, maybe the phrase
should be 'one out'. I like the idea that it comes from the number of
parts made off of a drawing.
'Frame off' might refer to taking everything off of the frame so you can
then send the "frame off" to be sandblasted, checked for cracks, and
repainted. Okay, that's a stretch.
OK allegedly comes from Andy Jackson's very bad spelling of "all
correct", "Orl Korrect".
>----------
>From: VEENET@aol.com[SMTP:VEENET@aol.com]
>Sent: Tuesday, February 04, 1997 10:47 PM
>To: vintage-race@Autox.Team.Net
>Subject: one off????
>
>Can anyone tell me where the expression " one off" came from? As in ," that
>car is a one off" . Meaning it is the only one ever made..It seems to me it
>should be one of not off. What is it off of? One off what?.."One of" seems
>like a shortening of " one of a kind" , but one off? Someone suggested that
>is a British expression ???.....I don't know why but for some reason it
>drives me nuts when I hear or read "one off". It is the same thing when
>someone says that a car has had a "frame off" restoration....I think that is
>a mixture of "body off" and "frame up" and it ends up "frame off" which makes
>no sense ...but at least I can see where it comes from, but I have no idea
>where we got "one off" .....Am I the only one who notices these things? Am I
>turning into Andy Ronney?.....Jerry Burr
>
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