student asking question

What does "fork off" mean?

teacher

Native speaker’s answer

Rebecca

A "fork" describes when a road or path converges into two different paths, much like how a "fork" has several "tines" (teeth) that branch off separately. If you can picture this imagery, you can think of "forks off" in this video as meaning the divergence of the brain stem into different, separate paths. It is an informal, intransitive expression that can be used in diverse ways. A similar expression is "branch off." Ex: This road forks off into two different directions. Which one should we take? Ex: This road branches off into two different directions. Additionally, it may be helpful to know that "fork off" is sometimes used euphemistically as an alternative to "fuck off." Ex: Fork off! Can't you see I'm busy?

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