hook, hooker, on the hook, off the hook/get or let off the hook/ ring off the hook

Someone has to pick up the tab.



BLOOMBERG.COM
Opinion | Who's On the Hook If Vaccines Go Wrong?
Given the breakneck pace of production, there are very few answers about what manufacturers and governments are ultimately responsible for.



The costs of the three initiatives have ballooned by £1.35bn, and badly written contracts have left Britain's government on the hook







Costs have ballooned as decrepit facilities remain in use






ECONOMIST.COM


Botched nuclear projects put the future of Britain’s defences at risk
Costs have ballooned as decrepit facilities remain in use



The Treasury Department on Wednesday appointed a well-known Washington lawyer, Kenneth R. Feinberg, to oversee the compensation of employees at those companies, which have received billions of dollars in federal assistance to survive the economic crisis.

But for most companies -- both those receiving taxpayer support and those that are not -- the proposal is the result of a compromise that largely lets them off the hook, The New York Times writes.

Go to Article from The New York Times»


Garrison’s phones have been ringing off the hook since the house was put on the market on Friday.
打從這棟房子週五推出以來，蓋瑞森的電話就響個沒完。
ring off the hook：片語，指電話響個不停。hook，名詞，電話的聽筒架。


on the hook 〔魚などが〕針に引っかかって 困難な立場に置かれて、厄介なことに巻き込まれて

When a fish bites, it swallows the food on the hook at the end of a fishing line:

Definition of on the hook for

US, informal

: owing money for (something) : responsible for (something)He's still on the hook for the cost of the repairs.

JAMELLE BOUIE

Letting Trump Off the Hook Will Change the Shape of History

The fish aren't biting today.

off the hook
Also, get or let off the hook. Released (or be released) from blame or annoying obligation, as in He was out of town during the robbery so he was off the book, or I don't know how the muggers got off the hook, or Once they found the real culprit, they let Mary off the hook. This idiom alludes to the fish that manages to free itself from the angler's hook and get away. [Mid-1800s]

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  Stand News 立場新聞

  ＂　我是編劇出身，做了電視製作多年，冷眼看世事很多時從「劇情」出發。劇集一刻未終結結，都要有個 hooker ，將劇情推進至下一階段，令觀眾不至流失之外，還要吸引未看的加入。

  政治舞台一樣。現在政改這台戲，大家都在等表決一刻，好像就是終結所在。但香港民主運動就在那裡完結嗎？如果未完，hooker 是甚麼？泛民議員否決政改之後走出來，「我們成功否決了，給自己掌聲！」集會完畢，然後繼續落區，繼續街站，繼續遊行，繼續示威，等7.1，等10.1，等元旦！那不是 hooker，那是 fade blank（電視上慢慢淡成黑畫面）。

  我提出一個 hooker：表決後，泛民出來，宣佈總辭，向市民謝罪：「我們盡了一切努力，爭取不到真普選，只能予以否決。只好鞠躬下台！」然後聲明，全力支持新世代補選進入議會，只主打單一議題：「重啟政改」！＂

Line breaks: hook¦er

Pronunciation: /ˈhʊkə/

noun

North American informal

A glass or drink of undiluted brandy, whisky, or otheralcoholic spirit:he took the bottle out and poured them each a stiffhooker

A one-masted sailing boat of a kind used especially in Ireland for fishing.

EXAMPLE SENTENCES

1.1 Nautical , informal An old boat.

1. [名]
2. 1 （hookで）引っ掛ける人［もの］.
3. 2 ((略式))ぺてん師.
4. 3 ((略式))売春婦.
5. 4 ((米・カナダ俗))多量の酒の一飲み.
6. 5 ((俗))隠された問題［欠陥］；わな.
7. 6 《ラグビー》フッカー：スクラムに入れられたボールを後方へける選手.
8. 7 ((俗))（劇・小説・ショーなどの）あっと言わせる出だし.