off and on

Idioms  

1. Also, on and off.

2. Intermittently, from time to time. For example, I read his column off and on , or We've been working on the garden all summer, on and off . [Early 1500s]

3. Also, off again, on again ; on again, off again . Uncertain, vacillating, as in Theirs is an off again, on again relationship , or The peace talks are on again, off again . Some believe this term originally referred to minor railroad accidents, where a train went off track and then on again. [Mid-1800s]

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Example Sentences

After frantic work in the garage, Mercedes managed to fix Russell's car by applying a series of default procedures such as switching the car off and on again and swapping out the steering wheel.

From BBC

I studied off and on with Sheila for a few years.

From The Wall Street Journal

Spiritualist friends wanted the powerful Maggie Fox to return to the séance table; and off and on, she did.

From Literature

Moira was there for me off and on as I tried to settle into a new life and stop the pattern of moving every couple years.

From Los Angeles Times

“This type of tremor came and went, off and on,” remembered Malone.

From Literature