[Idiom] key off

[euncu]

Hello,

This phrase is from an interview with Brian Cranston (¡COLORES! Episode 1927: Brian Cranston & the end of "Breaking Bad" - YouTube @08:22). I looked it up but I couldn't find its meaning.

Thanks for your answers in advance.

 

[Grumpy]

It's not a phrase I have heard before, but the context ["so pretty soon you start keying off each other.."] makes it clear that it is being used to mean two individuals inspiring one another. It is similar to "bouncing ideas off" one another.

 

[MikeNewYork]

Hello,

This phrase is from an interview with Brian Cranston (¡COLORES! Episode 1927: Brian Cranston & the end of "Breaking Bad" - YouTube @08:22). I looked it up but I couldn't find its meaning.

Thanks for your answers in advance.

He is talking about 2 men who are brainstorming. Each shares a thought and that stimulates a thought in the other, and on and on. This is "keying off" each other.

 

[euncu]

Thanks for your answers Grumpy and MikeNewYork.

So, can I say from your answers that this is a known phrase in the USA and not in the UK?

 

[MikeNewYork]

Thanks for your answers Grumpy and MikeNewYork.

So, can I say from your answers that this is a known phrase in the USA and not in the UK?

It is known in the US, but I wouldn't say it was common.

 

[Rover_KE]

So, can I say from your answers that this is a known phrase in the USA and not in the UK?

That would be a questionable generalisation. You've only heard from one person in each country.

 

[euncu]

That would be a questionable generalisation. You've only heard from one person in each country.

Well, you may be right in terms of logic but I see our teachers including you as very good represantatives of their languages. It's the advantage of picking from the top shelf.

 

[Rover_KE]

You're too kind.

 

[emsr2d2]

It's the advantage of picking from the top shelf.

A shelf which, in the UK, we share with magazines of questionable morality (and ever-diminishing quality). ;-)

 

[Tdol]

Thanks for your answers Grumpy and MikeNewYork.

So, can I say from your answers that this is a known phrase in the USA and not in the UK?

If it's a fashionable usage and appears in a few TV series, you can bet that it will start being used in the UK too. ;-)