o que significa "off the hook"?

Imagine one obligation you have you'd do everything to be freed from. Everyone has one of those sometimes. For example, imagine you're in high school and are far from being the nerdy kind. You don't really like to attend math classes. But you know that if you keep missing those classes, you're going to end up held behind.

One night, before the following morning filled with math classes in school, you ask a classmate of yours a big favor. You ask him to sign the attendance register for you, so you can get a day off from all the annoyance that sounds Greek to you. That's a lot of risky for him to do, but since he's your best friend in school he doesn't think twice before getting you off the hook. Again: getting you off the hook. What does that mean?

When you let or get someone off the hook, it means you release them from an annoying obligation, from blame or any difficult situation. If you've never heard of the word hook before, just remember what fishermen use, among many other things, to catch a fish: a fishhook. When a fish is released from one of those fishhooks, it means they're free from something really bad, like death in most cases. I hope that helps. Talk to you next time!