Phrasal verb
fob off onto
Definition
phrasal verb. to give someone a task or an object that you do not want because it is boring or poor quality.
phrasal verb. to deceitfully or unfairly transfer a responsibility, task, or inferior item to another person to avoid dealing with it oneself.
Examples
“He tried to fob the extra work off onto his assistant.”
“The manager always fobs the difficult customers off onto the new staff members.”
“The company attempted to fob the blame for the environmental disaster off onto a small subsidiary to protect its primary brand reputation.”
Examples
simple
“He tried to fob the extra work off onto his assistant.”
contextual
“The manager always fobs the difficult customers off onto the new staff members.”
complex
“The company attempted to fob the blame for the environmental disaster off onto a small subsidiary to protect its primary brand reputation.”
Usage
usually implies the recipient is being treated unfairly or given something of low value.
Teaching tip
highlight the three-part structure and the negative connotation of laziness or dishonesty; 'fob off' can also be used alone to mean 'to give an excuse'.
Pitfall
He fobbed off the task to me.
He fobbed the task off onto me.
the full three-part phrasal verb requires 'onto' when specifying the recipient of the unwanted item.
Phrasal verb
Particles
off onto
Separability
optional
Pattern
fob + object + off + onto + person
Synonyms
Antonyms
Grammar
Scan code
englishreference.com/q/fob-off-onto