
by Jay Gish
At a recent improv rehearsal, I asked another character in a scene to “cheese off” someone. Our coach noted afterward that he had never heard the term before. Is it really so obscure? I think the answer is no, and so here is a collection of links using the term:
* 1. Cheesed
pissed, pissed off
damn she she waz cheesed
* cheesed off - greatly annoyed; out of patience; “had an exasperated look on his face”; “felt exasperated beyond endurance”
* Angry, fed up, annoyed, as in I’m cheesed off about watering their plants twice a week. This term was originally military slang and sometimes put simply as cheesed. [Slang; mid-1900s]
* Quote from the movie Juno: I mean, you know, you broke MY heart. I should be royally ticked off at you. I should be really cheesed off, I shouldn’t want to talk to you anymore.
* Quote from the movie The Thin Blue Line: I’ve booted up, I’ve patched in, I’m online, offline, downloaded [shouts] and extremely cheesed off!
* Cheesed? I haven’t heard anyone say that since Sports Night went off the air!
* More broadly thieves used cheese it to mean “To stop, give up, leave off” have done! “run away!” This steadily came to mean, more or less, “leave or depart”. So, P G Wodehouse writes: “Jeeves had been clearing away the breakfast things, but at the sound of the young master’s voice he cheesed it courteously.”
* One sister says she can’t talk now but she will call me back. She never does and I am very cheesed off. I am so sick of excuses. I am so cheesed off that I want to call her and say its NOT OK. If she won’t answer, leave a message on her answering machine expressing how really cheesed off I am!
That last writer really gets it.
For the record, my scene partner (and CIC’s Executive Producer) said at the time she equated “cheese off” with an unrelated pornographic act. The two terms share only the “z” sound, so that seemed a little odd. However, I guess you could argue that “Jizz Whiz” would be a good name for a grocery product.
And for the future, my scene partners and coaches should be forewarned, that I will also be using the term “cheese it!” which carries a different meaning entirely. Something to look forward to.