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Reader question: What does “off the table” mean in the following passage? Alex makes an offer to Bob, but he rejects it. Later, Bob changes his mind and decides to take the offer after all, but Alex refuses to extend the offer a second time. It is off the table. My comments: It means it’s no longer there. Having been taken off the table, the job or salary offer, whatever it is that Alex offered Bob, was removed and is no longer available. That means Bob will have to look elsewhere. He has now to talk to someone else for a new job or salary package, because Alex will not extend his offer a second time. He will not give Bob a second chance. Here, table refers to the negotiating table – not the dinner table, but you can almost be certain that originally the table in the phrase “off the table” is the common dining table at home. You can imagine the following scenario happening all the time, between mother and child, at the dinner table in the morning. The child has perhaps eaten enough or he’s just being distracted and he begins to play with his food rather than eat it. The mother warns him: “Stop playing with your food. Eat it or I’ll take it away. And once it’s off the table, you will never get anything to eat until lunch time.” OK, before food is taken off the table of course, it must have previously been brought to the table in the first place. And that is where another useful phrase comes from – to bring something to the table. That something represents your contribution in one form or another to a group effort, or a joint venture. | 
