Off-Hand Remarks at Home

 A Happy Sunday to You!

       “Willie,” said Suzy, “I have discovered something that probably explains a lot, if we just knew.” Suzy had been eavesdropping again. 

            “She mentioned ‘off-hand’ remarks. I thought that sounded positively scary! Many things do sound scary, but this was pretty grim. Off-hand? Yikes, Willie, and we don’t even have hands, but we do have the cat version!”
            “Tiny sister, oh twitchiness of being, is there any new concept that would not be scary,” asked Willie, with brotherly concern. We’ll call it that anyhow.
            “I’m not sure. Seems to me the old is more likely to be comfortable, and the new could be anything! Anything at all! Look what has happened here just a day or two ago. We now have a new cat hanging around. Highly questionable innovation, IMO!”
            “You certainly have a point there,” agreed Willie. “That big fuzzy lay-about is just what we didn’t need crowding sleeping spots!”
            “Yes,” said Suzy, looking in the direction of the sleeping scoundrel.
            “Well, what did you discover that could explain a lot?” said Willie.
            “According to Etymologyonline.com, it means unprepared speech. It used to mean something like ‘at once, right now. So, it has to do with talking without thinking first. Don’t you think that explains a lot?”
            “Sure,” said Willie, “but not everything we say has to be scripted on purpose first. Some speech is just natural, happy. I suppose there is less to fear if the speaker is not attempting to present an idea foreign to his heart, i.e. lie. Less to worry about tripping yourself up then!”
            “I suppose that’s true. Human sayings can be quite odd. Partly because they hang on to old ways of expressing something, even if the sense of it changes,” said Suzy.
            “I wonder if it’s related to the saying, ‘off the cuff,” said Suzy, giggling a little. “I think it might be.”
            “I see that it refers to speaking from notes possibly written on your sleeve cuff, or without preparation… Yes it does sound similar,” said Willie. I don’t know how he knew this, but he was correct.
            “So, what did we learn from all this,” said Willie to his sister.
            “Another homely saying says to ‘engage brain before opening mouth,’” said Suzy. “Seems like good advice. It works for the written word too, I should think.”
            “It’s much less of a problem for us,” said Willie. “Cats are incapable of prevarication!”
            “That’s right, and they can’t understand a word we say anyhow!” mewed Suzy, as she settled down into a nice sleepy cat posture in her favorite spot on the back of the recliner where the old quilt was folded for her to sleep on.
            Willie wandered out to the kitchen, just to make sure there was some kibble for later.
            “Mrrrrp?” he said, finding his favorite napping spot, somewhere in the bedroom.
            There was a bit of meowing from Mr. Baby, who was missing Bubble Woman, but he was basically fine, really.
 

 off-hand (adv.)
also offhand, 1690s, "at once, straightway," from off (prep.) + hand (n.). Probably originally in reference to shooting "from the hand," without a rest or support. Hence, of speech or action, "without deliberation, unpremeditated" (1719). Related: Off-handed; off-handedly.