Exploring Phrasal Verbs with “Fob”

Let’s look at some interesting phrasal verbs with the word “fob” [fɒb] in English. First, let’s understand what this word means. It can have a few different meanings depending on the context. Some common meanings you may encounter:

• “Fob” can mean a watch pocket on a waistcoat or a short strap to which a watch or jewel is attached.
• “Fob” can also refer to an electronic device that is attached to a key to lock/unlock car doors or control equipment.
• “FOB” is an abbreviation for Free On Board, a shipping term that determines when the buyer or seller takes responsibility for goods in transit. FOB Origin means the buyer owns goods when shipped, FOB Destination means the seller retains ownership until arrival.

Now, the most intriguing and unexpected meanings of “fob” as a phrasal verb. Examples of the most popular:

• “Fob off” – to deceive someone or impose something unwanted onto someone. E.g. He fobbed me off with a fake watch.
• “Fob off on” – to pass your responsibility or get rid of something onto someone else that one does not want. E.g. She fobbed the work off on her colleague.
• “Fob off onto” – same as Fob off on.
• “Fob off with” – to satisfy someone with something of poorer quality than expected. E.g. He fobbed her off with a cheap ring.

Let’s look closer at phrasal verbs with “fob,” their meanings, and usage examples.

Popular phrasal verbs with “Fob”

Fob off

• Meaning: To deceive someone by giving them something of low quality or importance instead of what they really want or deserve.
• Meaning: Make or persuade someone to accept something.
• Example: The seller tried to fob off the counterfeit watch as a genuine one.

Fob in

• Meaning: To trick or deceive someone into believing something that is not true.
• Example: He fobbed me in with promises of a luxurious vacation package, but it turned out to be a scam.

Fob out

• Meaning: To avoid doing something by giving excuses or passing responsibility to someone else.
• Example: She always tries to fob out her chores onto her siblings.

Fob around

• Meaning: To waste time by doing trivial or unimportant things.
• Example: Stop fobbing around and focus on completing your assignments.

Fob off on

• Meaning: To give someone an undesirable task or responsibility.
• Meaning: Make or persuade someone to accept something you don’t want.
• Example: The boss fobbed off the tedious paperwork on the intern.

Fob up

• Meaning: To make a mess of something or to ruin it.
• Example: I fobbed up the recipe by adding too much salt.

Fob over

• Meaning: To pass something to someone casually or carelessly.
• Example: He fobbed over the keys to the new employee without much thought.

Fob about

• Meaning: To handle something carelessly or without seriousness.
• Example: Don’t fob about with those fragile items; they’re expensive.

Fob off with

• Meaning: To provide someone with something of lesser quality or value than they expected or deserve.
• Meaning: Make or persuade someone to accept something of lower quality than they wanted.
• Example: They fobbed me off with a voucher instead of a refund for the faulty product.

Fob onto

• Meaning: To impose or burden someone with a task or responsibility.
• Example: The manager fobbed onto the team the daunting project of restructuring the department.

Fob off onto

• Meaning:Make or persuade someone to accept something you don’t want.
• Example: I fobbed the fake note onto a shopkeeper.

Phrasal verbs with “fob” have very different meanings from the word itself. Now when you hear such phrasal verbs with “fob” you will be able to understand the context. Understanding these phrasal verbs helps not only avoid confusion, but also deepens our comprehension of the English language and culture.