Talk:one-off

Hi. I'm new to the concept here, so please excuse my possible stepping on toes. I added two new meanings to the first. The second definition has had the explanation of origin deleted and third definition has been deleted entirely. Can you please explain your rationale?

For the second meaning, are you not interested in the history or origin of a meaning?

The third definition, one-off meaning unique, has been deleted. Can you please explain this?

Since learning of this definition, I have now encountered this usage in more than one context. It seems to be more British than American English. The two or three times I've heard "one-off" used to describe something as "precious and unique," a Brit was making the comment. The last time was on the radio, with 16 million listeners. So do you have a better argument for not including this third definition? —This unsigned comment was added by 67.159.26.65 (talk • contribs) 2006-06-19 19:09:31.

I don't see any history of your IP address having made any edits to "one-off". To discuss individual terms like this, you may want to post your question to WT:TR, where many more editors will see your post. If no resolution is achieved there, there is also a more formal verification process. You may want to read WT:CFI. Please also remember to sign your talk page posts with " ~ ". Rod (A. Smith) 06:47, 20 June 2006 (UTC)

Spurious example?
As an example sentence for the second noun definition is provided: "Please quickly verify just the bug fixes as this is a one-off release." Surely, the term here is the adjective sense and hence a better example needs to be presented? __meco 13:44, 2 May 2008 (UTC)

The term "One-of..." has been long used by artists who are sculptors and printmakers to number their editions. If using traditional edition numbering, a one-of would be a "1/1", meaning the first print in an edition of one. To say that the source is from print and foundry work would be incorrect, at least in the USA. When a single cast is made, this is referred to as a one-of-one, which is necessarily more expensive. Multiple prints or castings are numbered by the total edition number, as in "number 12 of 300," with 300 being the total of all castings or prints made.

The actual source would be the migration of the British term, "One-off," now being applied to the more traditional American "one-of-one." The entire entry for this subject is uninformed. As a sculptor and artist of limited editions myself, I can speak with some authority - at least in the western United States, "one-off" was not used in this context. I've heard it recently in the media, from which it seems clear that its origin is Britain. http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/04/magazine/04FOB-onlanguage-t.html
 * The words off and of are pronounced quite differently and there is no evidence for what you suggest. —Μετάknowledge discuss/deeds 04:46, 10 February 2018 (UTC)

Requests for verification - kept
Kept. See archived discussion of February 2009. 07:02, 25 February 2009 (UTC)