IN THE OFFING ORIGIN

IN THE OFFING
When something is likely to happen soon it is said to be ‘in the offing’. The origin for this phrase is relatively straight forward and, as all things Harbour Guides is a nautical term. The ‘offing’ refers to the sea just beyond the shoreline that stretches to the horizon. Look outs on the shore would first catch sight of approaching ships when they were ‘in the offing’. They were usually expected to reach dock before the next tide hence their arrival was inevitably going to be very soon.

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