fob off
phr. v..phr. v.. to give someone a poor excuse or a low-quality item to avoid dealing with them or their request.
phr. v.. to deceitfully or dismissively persuade someone to accept an excuse, an inferior product, or an unsatisfactory explanation in order to evade a responsibility.
Don't let them fob you off with a cheap replacement.
When I asked for a refund, the manager tried to fob me off by saying the system was down.
The government attempted to fob off the public with vague promises of reform rather than addressing the systemic corruption within the department.
usually takes a person as the direct object, followed by 'with' and the unsatisfactory thing.
this phrasal verb carries a strong sense of dishonesty or laziness; it is more informal and critical than 'deflect' or 'evade'.
He fobbed off me with an excuse.He fobbed me off with an excuse.when the object is a pronoun like 'me', it must come between the verb and the particle 'off'.