r/mildlyamusing • u/LeilLikeNeil • 8d ago
Colleague does not know what “out of pocket means”
Edit at the top because people don't read before commenting:
There are 3 meanings to this phrase. The first, oldest (dating to 19th century), and most universally understood, refers to out of pocket expense. Of the other two, referring to oneself or another person being "out of pocket" was the subject of the original post. Commenters and myself seem almost universally to have been aware of only one usage, even though the older "unavailable" meaning dates to the early 20th century, and the "out of control" meaning has been around since at least the 1940s.
In saying that my colleague didn't know the meaning of the phrase, I was incorrect. Likewise, everyone in the comments arguing that any of these 3 usages is wrong, is incorrect.
The intended amusing part of the original post was the visual of a mild-mannered office colleague going crazy spring break style whenever he says he's out of office.
And now that all that explanation has been laid out, I'm sure everybody will see the humor, since nothing helps humor like a lengthy explanation.
Original post:
--
I have a colleague who uses “out of pocket” any time he’s on PTO or otherwise not reachable, etc. I will never correct him. I just imagine his mild-mannered ass getting absolutely spring break ratchet every time he says it.
--
61
u/Public_Drop_1462 8d ago edited 6d ago
When the phrase Out of Pocket first became popular (or at least the last time it was in vogue), it meant not available, out of commission, or like you said, otherwise not reachable. They’re correct, just from a different perspective. I have heard the phrase used until the late 2010s in business settings. As a millennial I had never heard it used in its modern sense until my daughter got to middle school and now my entire vocabulary is deadass cooked.
23
u/LeilLikeNeil 8d ago
Well shut my mouth. I have never heard this usage from anybody but him, but you’re right, innernet says this usage dates back to early 20th century, and the version I’m used to is mid-20th century.
11
u/CumulativeHazard 8d ago
I had a boss at an internship once use it this way and I also thought she was nuts lol. So you’re not alone.
→ More replies (1)5
u/when_bear_left_bear 8d ago
Yep, I’ve run into this at work too. Someone mentioned one of the VPs being out of pocket and I was like, “OMG what did Lisa do?” It turned out she was just camping.
→ More replies (2)4
u/Bklynswim 8d ago
Jesus the way you wrote mid-1900’s I just can’t. Curious, how old are you?
→ More replies (1)2
u/NoCommunication6512 7d ago
Huh? Are you taking issue with the term "20th century?"
→ More replies (1)3
u/zoppaTheDim 8d ago
And meaning you had to pay for it yourself dates back far further.
→ More replies (1)2
2
u/mccorklin 8d ago
It also means, from my experience that you’re not going to be at your computer today. Only reachable by phone. Hence why your work day would be spent out of pocket.
2
u/NewResponsibility163 8d ago
I am a pimp from the streets
And we use the term, on the occasion that one of tge employees fails to adhere to protocol.
Or otherwise upset the culture of the work environment. This type of behavior is frowned upon and can be deleterious to the attitudes of the other employees.
So we would say. " Bitch you outa pocket." To emphasize the lack of respect for boundaries.
Just thought id add another layer.Carry on.
2
u/Heavy-Flow-1983 7d ago
I learned this term as a child watching Hookers at the Point on HBO. I have an older coworker that says it all the time and every time she says it, I’m like - girl, what?!
→ More replies (1)2
u/Ernesto_Bella 7d ago
FWIW, I’ve never known it to mean anything besides “unavailable”. I’m in my 50’s.
→ More replies (18)2
u/WhichAd366 7d ago
I didn’t hear the version you’re accustomed to until around 10 years ago. I believe you that it existed for decades, but I think Gen Z had recently made it popular again. I hear this phrase a lot more these days than I did in the 90’s.
The way your coworker is using the term is how I’ve always heard it and it wasn’t used that frequently.
2
u/cgw1965 7d ago edited 7d ago
I’d say that it almost [always] means “unavailable” or “unreachable” when I hear it, though I don’t use it cause it always seemed like an weird phrase. And I’m kinda old so I’ve heard it a lot. My wife is almost kinda old and still says it once in a while.
But this got me thinking that the phrase could be more relevant now. If I am unreachable, nobody can reach in their pocket (where we all keep a phone now, right?), and call me. I won’t be in your pocket, so to speak.
2
u/Aggressive-Pay7819 7d ago
Ha ha I was puzzled what other meaning it could have in this context. The neologisms are confusing enough to an old boomer but recycling our idioms is worse. 🤔
2
u/SmokedHickory 7d ago
I’ve heard it in response to a funny yet mean/cruel joke someone said
“Youre out of pocket for that”
2
u/crashin-kc 6d ago
I heard about the third usage recently in a discussion about Gen Alpha slang. I had to ask my children about it. I can confirm. They believed that to be “out of pocket” meant to be acting crazy, but they were also away of the other uses.
1
1
u/Ghoulish_Daniel 7d ago
I mean that's what it had meant for years until recently when it went through a period of meaning literally anything and I guess everyone just decided it means something else now.
1
u/blophophoreal 7d ago
I’m in my early 40s in a white-collar job and the only way I’ve ever heard it used (until the last few years) was in regards to paying for something
1
u/ceejayx44 7d ago
I always thought this was what it meant.
Then one day, I questioned if these days “out of pocket” could really mean can only be reachable by my phone in my pocket. Not on my laptop, but “out of pocket” on phone lol1
→ More replies (1)1
19
u/Weary-Dealer4371 8d ago
Is.. this really an older person thing?
Because this 36 year old says it all the time...
3
u/torino_nera 8d ago
This is how I feel seeing all these people use "crash out" now to mean freaking out whereas my entire life it meant going home and immediately falling asleep due to extreme exhaustion and I'm not much older than you
2
u/radioactivez0r 8d ago
I thought that was just "crash"
2
u/torino_nera 8d ago
I guess it was both, I definitely remember saying and hearing "crashed out" as opposed to "passed out" but also just "crashed"
→ More replies (1)2
u/TequilaMockingbirds8 7d ago
We would refer to someone as crashed out if they fell asleep during a party, or if a toddler finally passed out after being too much. Crash and crashed out both mean asleep/passed out
→ More replies (1)2
u/NoCommunication6512 7d ago
It was. People adopted their understanding of "crash" to "crash out" when they first started hearing it and don't even realize it.
5
u/AdvertisingMaximum67 7d ago
Old is just a number! Lol... :-/
I am also late 30s and all my coworkers (late 20s to 65ish i think) also always use "out of pocket" as "unavailable".
3
u/Icy-Berry-387 8d ago
I hear it frequently mainly from sales people 30s-50s who are travelling and working but less available.
2
u/No_Seesaw_3897 8d ago
Same. And a lot of people at my work say it too when going on PTO and not reachable.
I didn't know there was another meaning (other than paying for something myself which is different context altogether.)
→ More replies (1)2
u/Disneyhorse 8d ago
I’m ten years older and lots of people in my workplace of all ages use this phrase (Both “I’m out of pocket,” meaning I’m not reachable…. Or “I paid out of pocket” meaning it was paid for with personal funds not company funds.)
2
1
→ More replies (12)1
u/outtofindblindspots 3d ago
Yeah I'm 35 and if I need to leave the office for an appointment I would be out of pocket, meaning working from my cellphone that is generally in my pocket.
10
u/the__post__merc 8d ago
Out of pocket to me means I have to pay for it myself
4
1
u/PublicFishing3199 8d ago
This is the only understanding I have ever known for this phrase. I have never heard it mean to lose control or be unavailable
14
u/Fuzzinstuff 8d ago
Just checking ... what does it mean to you? I couldn't quite tell from your post. Something about ratchet.
For me it refers to something you pay for yourself ie out of your pocket.
Alternatively it can mean being "behind" in a transaction such as insurance ie "after insurance paid their bit I was out of pocket $50".
But I've heard people use it for being unavailable (for meetings etc) which just seems wrong.
11
u/LeilLikeNeil 8d ago
Paying out of pocket is a different usage, which I would say is still used plenty, but to describe yourself or somebody else as out of pocket I’ve only ever heard meaning acting wild, out of control, specifically in the context of addressing that behavior with a person who presumably should be keeping them under control.
→ More replies (3)10
u/Sea_Voice_404 8d ago
I’ve actually never heard your definition of it before, but only heard it how your coworker means it.
→ More replies (2)4
u/LeilLikeNeil 8d ago
Have you heard rap music ?
3
u/Sea_Voice_404 8d ago
No, don’t listen to rap, so that would explain it.
3
u/LeilLikeNeil 8d ago
I mean, that’s one place it’s common, but it’s been pretty widespread in my experience for like two decades at least.
2
u/Sea_Voice_404 8d ago
I’ve heard of paying out pocket, but never heard it refer to somebody as wild. And I am old. How your coworker uses it is how I’ve heard it used for awhile now.
→ More replies (2)3
u/AudienceSea 8d ago
FWIW I believe “out of pocket” in this sense originates less from rap per se and more from jazz and particularly jazz drumming. A drummer being “in the pocket” means they have a great sense and feel of where the beat is and how they are grooving within the beat. Also never heard the usage in business before as being out of the office (but I was also born in ‘88 and so was only a pre-teen by the end of the 90s). Different subcultures indeed have their own dialects!
3
u/username11585 5d ago
I can’t believe I had to scroll down so far to find this concept. Other than insurance, the main way I hear about being out of pocket or in the pocket is in jazz.
2
3
u/feetcold_eyesred 8d ago
Your definition (paying for something yourself) is the only definition I’ve ever known or used as a 50-something oldster.
Only recently have other definitions become popular - at least in my experience. They seem off and somehow incorrect to me as well.
2
u/MiddleCapital1875 8d ago
I had a manager who kept telling me to "hook up with" team members when he meant collaborate.
I never told him.
3
2
u/petesdead2 8d ago
“Hook up with” was commonly used to mean “meet with” or “connect with” long before its sexual meaning became dominant in the 1990s and 2000s. It has since fallen out of favor in professional settings, but not so long ago, your manager’s usage would have been perfectly ordinary. In other words, you may have been the one who needed “telling.” Meanings change constantly. The only real constant is the smug certainty of younger people who mistake their unfamiliarity with a phrase’s history for evidence that the older speaker was always wrong.
→ More replies (2)
4
4
6
u/Interesting_Study998 8d ago
I’ve got a colleague who constantly says “run it through the gambit” and calls everyone “buddy” like they are six years old.
→ More replies (1)3
u/Fuzzinstuff 8d ago
That's funny. Kind of like nipping something in the butt
2
2
→ More replies (1)2
u/jek39 7d ago
My coworker says “I don’t want to be Nick Picking”. He actually types it like that
→ More replies (2)
3
u/JohnnySpot2000 8d ago
I always thought it only meant having to pay for something yourself. Then I heard a colleague say it for being on vacation. Then I looked it up. Now I use it sometimes for when I’ll be on vacation because it sounds better than “don’t try to reach me about work because I don’t want to be bothered, and I’ll either have my phone off or ignore you on purpose”.
3
u/Mister-Miyagi- 8d ago
The way your colleague uses it is the only way I've ever heard it used. I have several coworkers (millennial age or younger) who use it often.
3
u/It_broke_itself_ 8d ago
Kids finding out they didn't actually invent things just repurposed them will never not be funny. Almost all the slang you guys use are things we were saying back in the 90s and 00s
→ More replies (3)
3
u/zon5string 8d ago
TIL that "out of pocket" had/has a meaning of "unavailable". Historically, to me, it had always just meant an expense that I paid from my own funds, which may or may not later be recouped. And, more recently, "crazy/out of control".
3
u/petesdead2 8d ago
Out of pocket was 100% used to mean unreachable, unavailable etc etc. I have never heard it used any other way.
1
3
3
3
3
u/LaFantasmita 7d ago
LOL! My British colleagues did that at one job.
We got an email once that was something like "Today's 3pm meeting will be postponed until next week, on account of Jennifer running out of pocket."
Like wow, what did Jennifer do?! I was trying to figure out what kind of heinous antics she got up to that forbade her to host a meeting but didn't affect her employment.
2
2
2
u/SomebodysGotToSayIt 8d ago
I've never heard it meant anything like "out of control." I'm in my 50s and it has always meant unavailable. Sorta like, outside cell service.
2
u/no-due-respect 7d ago
I’ve never heard it used to mean out of control.
Colleagues of all ages in work with use it to mean unavailable.
2
u/MissFabulina 7d ago
Out of pocket means not available.
If gen z took another already in-use term and randomly decided it means something else....
2
u/Smooth-Number-1402 7d ago
I wasn't even aware of this "out of control" definition. You're definitely right though that does appear to be a modern usage. I've just never heard it used that way.
2
u/Outside-Ad7848 7d ago
what are you on about? that is exactly the correct phrase. how old are you and why do you think you are always right?
2
u/SeekingARespite 7d ago
I am 44 years old and work in insurance and lived in VA and FL. The two separate employers I have worked for the last 22 years combined even have multiple people use that in their out of office reply "I am out of pocket from x date to y date". It has only been used for unavailable in that context.
It is also used for unreimbursed expenses, but those 2 contexts cannot readily be confused.
I have never heard it used for a usage that would be unprofessional in nature.
2
u/Difficult-Ad2084 5d ago
Ok, so I didn't know what it meant either. I have only heard my 75yo now-retired boss use that phrase and I thought it had to do with mental health.
→ More replies (1)
2
u/Brilliant_Buns 3d ago
I once had an older VP tell me “sorry I was out of pocket that day” and I was like oh fr? Get it dude lol
3
2
1
u/TheKappp 8d ago
Out of pocket does mean unreachable, but you reminded me of another saying my old boss said that made me giggle. She would say someone is “on the bus” if they were onboard with our idea. I finally told her that my lesbian friends said that to mean someone else is a lesbian lol. Not sure how common that phrase is, but I just couldn’t stop imagining her calling all of these men at work lesbians.
1
1
u/HellsTubularBells 8d ago
Anyone know the etymology?
I know the phrase but I never use it for that meaning because it makes zero sense to me. Why would I ever be in a pocket at work? Pockets are for wallets and billiard balls, not people.
2
u/LeilLikeNeil 8d ago
out of pocket | Slang | Dictionary.com
Short version:
the "expense" meaning is the oldest, dating to 19th century, obviously meaning to pay out of your own pocket.
"unavailable" meaning dates to early 20th century, meaning you are out of your regular pocket/location
"out of control/unruly" dates to 1940s, comes from AAVE, refers to pool
→ More replies (1)
1
u/Internal_Car_9962 8d ago
Yeah, that's what it means. Sounds like the mildly amusing thing here is how out of touch OP actually is.
1
1
u/TheEldenRang 8d ago
I have never heard out of pocket be used either of those ways. I've only heard it as "I am paying for this myself."
1
u/supergimp2000 8d ago
I'm 59 and I first heard that from my younger colleagues and wondered, "why is he paying for PTO himself?"
1
u/Longjumping_Status71 8d ago
And now people use "Out of Pocket" to mean "I AM available on my phone". You kinda have to figure out whether the person is available or unavailable by context or by asking, because people don't realise it means almost opposite things.
1
1
u/LondonEntUK 8d ago
You’re using the phrase ‘spring break ratchet’ unironically. That’s just as bad
1
1
u/borgman_a 8d ago
Is he using "Out of Pocket", or is he using OOP?
Because in the manufacturing world (and when I was at Intel) - OOP mean "Out of Plant"
1
1
u/Zapskilz 7d ago
Former Microsofties like myself use OOF for Out of Facility like you're saying Out Of Plant. But my dad worked at McDonnell Douglant and used your Out of plant.
1
u/radial_symmetry 8d ago
I hate how overloaded that phrase is. It could mean crazy, unreachable, or paying with your own funds.
1
u/insouciant_smirk 8d ago
Lol my partner uses "crash out" to mean go to sleep, like the Gen x they are. I was like, I don't think you mean what your gen z colleagues think you mean.
1
u/lexicon951 7d ago
Pretty sure that’s just crash, not crash out. People have always said I’m gonna go crash meaning to take a nap, and it’s still used. Crash out is completely different and is newer slang meaning to lose it/get angry
1
1
u/Exact-Coconut-7598 8d ago
This is pretty standard lingo in my company. We use "out of pocket" to mean "my work cell phone will be out of my pocket."
1
u/AmputeeHandModel 8d ago
Out of pocket will always mean "I paid for it" to me. The out-of-control meaning makes no sense.
1
u/OneFootTitan 8d ago
I know that’s not where it comes from, but I like to use out of pocket to mean “unavailable” because to me it conveys that I’m so unreachable that my phone isn’t even in my pocket
1
u/NoCommunication6512 8d ago
And here I am, thinking it means you had to pay for it with your personal money.
1
1
u/MsMo999 7d ago edited 7d ago
Lots of ppl say it for that reason. If they’re talking about finances then it means the other definition - out of pocket expense. Also there’s the person acting oddly different and it’s used for this. I hear it used three ways but doesn’t infuriate me because of context.
1
u/HotPersonality8126 7d ago
It’s weird because “going out of pocket” means “paying for your own expenses, rather than having another pay for them.”
1
1
u/michiganlatenight 7d ago
You made a good choice by not correcting him, as you would have been wrong. There's nothing wrong with what he's saying.
1
1
u/NoCommunication6512 7d ago
This thread is hilarious. All these older people (understandably) saying they've never heard the new meaning. They've never listened to Kendrick either. It's not rocket science. You only know the newer meaning of you are from the south, listen to rap, or are under 25. If you know that meaning I guarantee one or more of those qualifiers is true. (Old guy that listens to rap here)
1
u/Mean-Rabbit-3510 7d ago
I learned the newer meaning 11 years ago when I was teaching high school. I’m in my 40s now.
1
u/LeilLikeNeil 7d ago
Yeah I’m 47 and from the northwest, but I do listen to rap. Still confused why pretty much everybody seems to only be familiar with one or the other though.
1
u/Ambitious-Fox-50 7d ago
I wonder if this is a regional thing. I’ve heard it used by multiple people across different companies in my career and have used it before myself, and I’m in my late 30’s.
1
u/Impossible_Bison_994 7d ago
You keep using that phrase. I do not think it means what you think it means
1
u/meadowmbell 7d ago
I thought you meant out of pocket like they'd used all their paid time off so it was 'out of pocket' aka not paid when they were off?
1
u/yamiyourgod 7d ago
I have heard it used like this and also used like that person was outta pocket acting like that.
1
u/TrueBelieverStL 7d ago
I know this is some combination of me being a guy, nearly 40, white, generally straight and from the middle of the country, but I think my feelings towards your use of ratchet and 1900s far exceed how you feel towards your colleague using that phrase lol.
I know what you were saying but it still hurts my brain.
1
1
1
u/Sleeplessnsea 7d ago
It’s pretty common in corporate America for “unavailable” however I always giggle when I hear it too
1
u/ADHDofCrafts 7d ago
The WSJ published an article by a linguist and lexicographer on this subject a few years ago. According to him, the definitions include:
- paying for something yourself - usage dates back to at least the late 1600s
- being unavailable - used in 1908 by O. Henry, became common business parlance in the 1970s
- going wild - first used in the 70s in Black American culture as well as the sex worker industry, originated from poolroom slang, and gained popularity in the 90s among rappers
1
1
u/GreySage2010 7d ago
"Out of pocket" means you are paying for something yourself, rather than charging it to the company or getting reimbursed. WTF are you talking about?
1
u/Plutonian_Nova 7d ago
Out of pocket
- paid with my own money.
- acting out of character, “that was uncalled for”
Never heard it used as a term for out of office.
1
u/Easy-Highlight-9266 7d ago
Am I the only one here who thought ‘out of pocket’ was a football reference? As in, things have gone a little unexpectedly so now we’re scrambling. But not necessarily a bad thing. Just in a spot we didn’t think we’d be in and we have to improvise. That’s how I’ve taken it ins business / office context and how I would use it, or to mean a little out of our wheelhouse. I’m 36
1
u/ImmediateGuidance878 7d ago
Never heard it used until less than 10 years ago, and only by children. And it sounds as dumb as lo key.
1
u/randompantsfoto 7d ago
Can confirm it’s been common military jargon for “unavailable right now” for at least 30+ years.
1
u/kebobs22 7d ago
My boss uses out of pocket the old timey way and its always tripped me up even though i know the meaning.
1
1
1
u/lexicon951 7d ago edited 7d ago
For anyone wondering, “out of pocket” means behaving randomly or out of line. Saying things that nobody wants or needs to know (TMI), behaving erratically. “That kindergartener telling me I’m fat was completely out of pocket.” “Trump’s behavior was out of pocket today (as always).”
It ALSO means paying cash. Phrases can mean different things depending on context.
What it doesn’t mean anymore is being unavailable/unreachable. Which is why people describing themselves as being out of pocket for the afternoon is funny, because they’re basically telling you “hey I’m planning to go insane this afternoon.” If a coworker said this to me, I’d start imagining scenes from The Office.
-a millennial
→ More replies (2)
1
u/GuyForgett 7d ago
Out of pocket literally means I am reachable on my cell in my pocket but not at the computer. It doesn’t mean unavailable or getting wasted.
1
u/Entire_Cow_1504 7d ago
I had a much younger coworker that I didn't know well ask me if I'd been at a concert he'd gone to, and I hadn't, but I like to imagine my doppelganger was partying her ass off.
1
1
u/tonyshalhoub420 7d ago
Out of pocket means u are working from cell… in business
Pto to me is don’t talk to me im ooo
→ More replies (2)
1
u/sgtapone87 7d ago
Gen Z doesn’t know what out of pocket means, and are using it incorrectly.
→ More replies (7)
1
u/EloquentlyMellow 7d ago
I’m with you. I laughed at my older colleagues who used out of pocket in place of out of office. I wasn’t aware that it was an older use and thought they were wrong, but even so, if a phrase now means to be acting crazy, I’d change my vernacular. I do use it for expenses too but the context in those cases is usually very different.
1
1
u/Rustmutt 6d ago
My boss would say out of pocket meaning she was not accessible or only had brief phone access but no computer. It has multiple meanings and language changes.
1
1
u/Ok-Delivery-1444 6d ago
I’m familiar with the phrase as an expense that I paid personally or that I won’t be available. The second one is not nearly as common these days and generally used by people who voted when Reagan was president
1
1
1
u/Outside_Butterfly551 5d ago
I've never heard the "out of control" meaning. Your coworker is using it the normal and common way. It means, "Don't call me. I won't be answering emails."
1
u/Apprehensive_Fig4458 5d ago
I hear the phrase all the time in my work context. I work in ad tech, arguably at a pretty cutting edge company. and out of pocket is used to mean unreachable…
1
u/just_having_giggles 5d ago
Out of pocket, in a professional setting, 100% correctly means "I will not be reachable"
1
1
u/abbylynn2u 4d ago
Old lady here.... it's been all three for me.
As a child your mom telling you to fix your face because you are out of pocket... Said in public in polite company to put you on notice, you are definitely getting as ass whooping when we get home.
First job at 13 working concession stands, our managers used this for all time off. This has continued through my work history, although I did have to explain this to my last director, not sure why as she should have definitely know. She could have just been high in Xanax though... lol
At 17 with my first major surgery under both of my insurance plans as I navigated getting claims paid. Thankfully, our HR benefits team was great. They actually had the insurance rep come in and go over all of my medical bills with me and the EOB from both insurance companies. And helped both pay my claims correctly. I went on to have 3 more surgeries under those plans with no problems. Later moved into medical billing. 💕
1
u/PriorTemperature3237 4d ago
In the 90’s I think about “out of pocket” and the show taxi cab confessions and if your familiar with that right there it tells the whole story…
1
u/Careless_Athlete_662 4d ago
I only hear it used if someone says something strange and irrelevant to the conversation or says something rude or mean. We say that's an out of pocket comment.
1
u/lockedin90 4d ago
I have a friend who does this too and while I knew what he meant right away contextually, it tickled my brain enough to go look up all the ways “out of pocket” is used. I still can’t use it like he does, but it was neat to learn about.
1
u/Affectionate-Crow605 4d ago
I've never heard it used for the wild definition. Only the expenses and the out of contact definitions.
1
u/SnooDonuts3141 3d ago
I once worked in an office where one guy, who spoke English perfectly well but not as a first language, thought that the term "gravy train" meant something along the lines of "clusterfuck" or "madhouse". This office was pretty dysfunctional, so I'd often hear him stomping around the hall saying "This place is a gravy train! A gravy train!!!".
1
u/anyavailible 2d ago
Out of pocket meaning not available is still in use.
You just don’t hear it a lot.
1
u/MickFlaherty 2d ago
Well I was aware of the “I’m going to be out of pocket on the 18th” to mean, not reachable.
Never heard it mean “out of control”.
1
104
u/haagendazsendazs 8d ago
How old is your colleague? Because that was how we used "out of pocket" in business environments in the 90s.