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Word of the Day: Head off
Head off is another one of those words that have two almost opposite meanings.
Sometimes, trying to understand the usage of these words can be frustrating, but if we pay attention to the context in which they are used, understanding the meaning is much easier.
The first meaning of head off is to begin a journey or to leave.
Imagine that you have had a friend over to your house for dinner and a movie.
Now it’s midnight, and it’s time for your friend to go home.
They can say, “Oh boy, it’s nearly midnight! I should be heading off (going).”
As another example, think about it this way.
If you go to work every day, you probably head off (leave) at the same time each day.
Next, we have the second meaning: to stop, block, or prevent something from happening.
Think about the situation of a married couple living in an apartment building.
The husband has taken a sick day and is staying home.
The wife leaves, but the husband quickly notices she has left her bento on the counter.
He picks up the bento and promptly runs to the elevator to head her off (stop her) before she goes downstairs.
Yet another usage of head off could be the police stopping a bank robber.
Imagine some thieves stealing a lot of money from a bank in Fukuoka.
They get away and run to the airport to fly out of the country.
Unfortunately for them, the police are already there to head them off, and the thieves are caught red-handed.
If you want to use both meanings of today’s word in the same situation, you could say this:
The woman headed off for work but had forgotten her bento.
Her darling husband picked up her bento and rushed to the elevator to head her off before she went downstairs.
This entry was a long one today.
If you have read this far, you are a champion, thank you and have a wonderful day!
Flesch-Kincaid Readability Test
This post is understandable by someone with at least a 7th-grade education (age 12).
On the Flesch-Kincaid reading-ease test, this post scores 77.
The easier a passage is to read, the higher the score on a scale of 0 – 100.