Off the Cuff

Off the Cuff

Welcome to English in a Minute!

A cuff is a part of a shirt that ends at your wrist.

Here’s an idiom that uses this word:

OFF THE CUFF

What that could mean?

Let’s find out :

I have to give a speech tomorrow, and I don’t really have time to write it.

I have to put together some notes, but I think it will be mostly off the cuff.

That shouldn’t be a problem!

You do really well when you don’t have a script.

I think your best speeches are usually off the cuff.

Really?

This idiom means to speak without much planning.

It comes from long ago when many men wore cuffs made of paper, which they could write on.

This let them speak by reading notes off their cuffs.

And that’s English in a Minute!