(UK, Ireland) A shop selling alcohol for consumption only off the premises.
(UK, Ireland) A shop selling alcohol for consumption only off the premises.
Add your own interpretation of "off-licence".
UK and Irish slang — Cockney, Scouse, Geordie, Yorkshire, Glaswegian, Brummie, Welsh, West Country, plus Irish English. Centuries of regional dialects feeding into modern British and Irish street talk.
See all British & Irish slang slang on Slangora.
(UK, regional) An off-licence.
(Ireland, British) The sale of alcoholic drinks for consumption off the premises.
A British regional term, particularly used in parts of Northern England, for an off-licence — a shop licensed to sell alcohol for consumption off the premises (i.e., to take home rather than drink in a pub). Beer-offs were neighbourhood staples before supermarkets dominated alcohol retail, often attached to pubs or operating as standalone shops where you could grab a carry-out. The term is nostalgic but still recognised in areas where it was common.
A British and Irish informal term for an off-licence -- a shop licensed to sell alcohol for consumption off the premises (as opposed to a bar or pub). The British/Irish sense is the most broadly known. In Australian cricket slang, 'offy' separately refers to an off-break bowler or delivery. The word is an excellent example of a short informal form that carries entirely different meanings in different contexts.
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