Englishtake off
Meaning: To leave quickly; or to become suddenly successful or popular.
Example: “Her jewelry business really took off after the magazine feature.”
Origin: "Take off" is a genuinely old phrase that has picked up an unusually wide range of specific meanings across very different fields over nearly three centuries: mimicry or impersonation by 1750, artistic reproduction from the 1650s, a literary sense by the 1840s, sporting and mechanical senses by the 1860s, aviation by the early 1900s, and economics by the 1930s. The sense relevant here — sudden, rapid growth or success, as in a career or a product "taking off" — borrows its central image directly from aviation: an aircraft accelerating down the runway and lifting decisively off the ground, going from grounded and slow to airborne and fast in one continuous, unmistakable motion. Applied figuratively, anything described as "taking off" is understood to have made that exact same kind of sudden transition from ordinary progress into rapid, self-sustaining momentum.
More English idioms
- talk a blue streak To talk fast and at length.
- talk through one's hat To speak without authority on some topic; to talk nonsense.
- through thick and thin In good times and bad times; steadfastly and loyally.
- throw down the gauntlet To challenge someone to fight or argue.
- throw the book at someone To give someone the harshest penalty or punishment allowed by law, or to impose any sever…
- throw one's hat into the ring To announce one's candidacy for elected office.
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