over the counter?

[Avalon]

what exactly would be to deal with over the counter problems from students and staff? the dictionary only mentions to sell drugs without a prescription...I couldn´t quite make an analogy...I suspect unexpected problems?

[svartnik]

what exactly would be to deal with over the counter problems from students and staff? the dictionary only mentions to sell drugs without a prescription...I couldn´t quite make an analogy...I suspect unexpected problems?

I think the idiom is ill-used here; however, I have a vague idea of what the writer might have wanted to say:

"Over the counter" has the connotation of not being secret, id est, being known by everyone, being obvious.

It is my personal opinion, mind.

[DavyBCN]

I think the idiom is ill-used here; however, I have a vague idea of what the writer might have wanted to say:

"Over the counter" has the connotation of not being secret, id est, being known by everyone, being obvious.

It is my personal opinion, mind.

"over the counter" does have the two meanings of

1. Medicines which you can buy without a doctor's prescription.
2. Something which is open and without secrets. Under the counter is used with the opposite meaning of secret and hidden.

[Avalon]

Thank you...I also found on the net another example about it,but it was related to stockmarkets...buying over the counter stocks ,which means direct negotiation between the buyer and the seller without being officially listed in the stock exchange...
The context of the one I read is related to IT helpdesk support,so I´d assume now that it means when the techs help a user directly, without opening a query...