torque off

English

Etymology

Possibly an alteration of tick off. Metaphorical use of mechanical verbs (including torque, jack, and grind) with people and their emotions as the direct object is also seen elsewhere, as with for example torque up, grind one's gears, and jacked up.

Pronunciation

• Audio (General Australian):

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Verb

torque off (third-person singular simple present torques off, present participle torquing off, simple past and past participle torqued off)

1. (chiefly US, transitive, idiomatic) To annoy, distress, or anger.

   Synonyms: cheese off, pee off, piss off, tee off, tick off; see also Thesaurus:annoy

   • 2004 March 5, Ray Ratto, “Better off, but at what price?”, in San Francisco Chronicle‎^[1]:

     It is hard to remember a talented player who so comprehensively bothered, annoyed, outraged and just plain torqued off the customers quite like Owens.