I'm off the hook.”不是“我脱钩了”，地道英语表

off the hook

hook是“钩子”的意思，off the hook 的字面意思是“脱离了钩子”，据说这个口语表达最初由来是：上了钩的鱼又摆脱了鱼钩，重新获得了自由。现在一般用来形容人，表示：“脱离困境，摆脱麻烦，如释重负，免于责罚”。

- Where are you heading? You are supposed to have a meeting with a big potato tonight.

- 你要去哪儿啊？你今晚应该和一个大人物有个会面。

- It got cancelled, so I'm off the hook now.

- 已经取消了，所以我现在如释重负了。

That's beside the point. I'll let you off the hook this time, but never again. Don't rock the boat.

这不是重点。我这次饶过你，但是没有下次了。别找麻烦了。

下面我们再看几个例句，强化一下这个表达：

Money talks. I couldn't get myself off the hook no matter how hard I tried.

有钱说了算。无论我怎么努力都摆脱不了困境。

Thanks for getting me off the hook. I don't want to hang out with them on the weekend.

谢谢你帮我脱身，我不想周末和他们出去玩。

He made mistakes over and over again. I didn't believe his boss let him off the hook easily again.

他老是犯错，我不相信他的老板又轻饶了他。