Off the hook

Origin of: Off the hook

Off the hook

Released from an awkward or distressing situation and dates from the mid-18th century from the allusion of a fish being released or escaping from the hook. The antonym is hooked or on the hook meaning ensnared and there is evidence that these antonyms are much older, from the mid-17th century. Hooked in the colloquial sense of addicted is also American from c. 1925.