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Ukraine flagJessicamessica
What is the meaning of 'foist off'? What are the synonyms? The salesman foisted the faulty coffee-machine (off) on the lady.

Answers · 4

2
Bizarrely, a common colocation (at least in the US) is "foist him off on X!" To "foist someone off on something" means to get someone to take something that you want to get rid of, rather than the thing you know they actually want. For example, if my grandchildren are visiting, even though we have ice cream in our freezer, if they ask for ice cream I might try to foist them off on yogurt. If I go to an appliance store and try to buy a Cuisinart coffeemaker, and the salesman knows that few people are buying Keurig coffeemakers and they have too many of them in stock, he might try to foist me off on a Keurig coffeemaker.
1
Hi Jessica! To foist means to impose an unwelcome or unnecessary thing (or person). In this context, the salesman most likely sold her an unnecessary coffee machine! Feel free to message me if you need any more clarification :)!

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