go off

[ivygreen]

I want to know if " go off " has the meaning of "emothinal outburst".

If so, could you give me an example sentence ?

[druitaly]

There is a section on this forum which lists phrasal verbs.
I would also suggest a good dictionary for such queries.

[BobK]

There is indeed: http://www.usingenglish.com/forum/en...81-go-off.html
But the fourth definition (Go off - Leave a place) doesn't mention the metaphorical usage: 'He only stuck to the point for 90 seconds, before going off on one of his digressions' - where it does (sort of) mean 'leave a place', but (as often: 'Where are you going with this?', 'I've lost my thread'...) something mental becomes, metaphorically, something spatial.

I agree that students often need to do their own research before asking a teacher, but I hesitate to say 'Look at our list' before making sure that that list will answer the student's question.

b

[xpert]

When talking about something, GO OFF means to explode

For example, The fireworks didn't go off when they were supposed to
There was a bomb in the duilding, but it didn't go off.


Since go off means explode, I think we can use it - like expolde - to show emotional reaction

For example, The boss exploded when he heard of the resignation of
the secretary


I hope I answered your question

You can wait for other answers

[ivygreen]

Thank you very much to all of you.

Thank you for mentioning about the phrasal verbs' list.

I knew about it and used it, besides looked up other

dictionaries. Then I didn't find out what I was looking for,

I made questions.

However, to avoid the repetition of former questions,

I will be more careful before I ask questions.

I am deeply thankful for all people who gave me

answers and useful information.