I've always thought of 'off ' to mean off the production process, like a
new car rolling 'off ' the production line. Everything we make is really the
end result off the end of some production process.

regards,

John

"Michael" wrote in message
...
No one seems to know for sure. We discussed this back in August over
at alt.usage.english, with no real conclusive result:


IIRC, one-off refers to boats made in the shipyard. A custom boat was
always
a one-off. At least this was the term used in the early 19oo's.....Maybe
one-off the ways, and not a bunch of 'em.