- 1不供引述的、不公開的（非正式，不能當新聞報導；台灣媒體也常直接說 off the record）
An off-the-record remark is unofficial. The speaker does not want it treated as public, , or on the formal file. You hear this a lot around journalists and : someone talks, then says the comment is off the record, meaning do not name me, and do not run this as news. It is a social rule, not a lock. If the listener is careless, or not playing fair, the words can still leak. It does not mean the person is joking. It does not mean nobody heard it. It does not mean it was never spoken. It means it is not supposed to go on the public record. In ordinary life people use it more loosely: “off the record, I think the plan is weak” just asks you to keep it quiet. That looser use is common, though actually a lawyer would not trust it. Informal to neutral, and a little inside-the-trade. The form is the adjective: an off-the-record briefing.
off-the-record 的話指不公開、不供引述的內容。說話的人不希望它被當成公開的、可以刊登的，或列入正式紀錄。這多見於記者和政治圈，常見的情況是有人說完話後補一句「off the record」，意思是不要寫出我的名字，也不要當成新聞刊出。
它是一種社交上的約定，不是鎖住的門，聽的人若不小心，話還是可能外流。它不代表說話的人在開玩笑，也不代表沒人聽見，或從來沒說過。日常生活裡的用法比較隨便，像「off the record, I think the plan is weak」只是請對方保密。作為形容詞時，寫成「an off-the-record ＿＿」，例如 an off-the-record briefing（不供引述的簡報）。
組成From the phrase off the record: not on the official record.
原始詞典資料4 筆記錄
以下是外部詞典記錄的用法，摘錄並精簡格式，我們還沒有寫成教學內容。上面的說明才是我們自己寫的；有些用法可能上面已經講過了。
off-the-recordadj
- 1
Unofficial.
- Despite knowing that getting rid of Koeman was going to necessitate putting his hand very deep into what are currently very shallow pockets, Laporta changed tack a couple of weeks ago by summoning journalists for an off-the-record briefing about what was going to happen with the coach.
- 2
Secret; clandestine.
off-the-recordadv
- 1
Unofficially.
- 2
Secretly, in secret, clandestinely.
摘錄自 英文維基詞典 English Wiktionary，已精簡格式；依 CC BY-SA 4.0 授權使用，改動後的內容同樣以此授權提供。