Learn English – What does “switch off” mean exactly in this sentence

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I need some help to interpret a sentence. I would like to know what "switch it off" means here for a native speaker. The girl here is thinking about how some people have the ability (which she doesn't have) to remember music and to always hear music in their minds. (The garage is the place where the girl works):

Whenever anything did get stuck in her head— a jingle from a television commercial, some popular tune— she found it claustrophobic and couldn’t wait for it to stop. When music was playing on a stereo or in the garage, she could tune
it out or switch it off if it got tiresome, but now she wondered if this was a shortcoming on her part.

Does "switch off" mean "turn off physically the stereo or the music", or just the mental action of ignoring it?

Best Answer

When music was playing on a stereo or in the garage, she could tune it out or switch it off . . .

Switch off is used literally to designate turning or flipping a switch to end the functioning of a machine or appliance. But it may also be used metaphorically of mental function: we might speak of "switching off" your attention to some phenomenon.

In your example, where actual music is being played, switch off is probably meant literally, since it contrasts with tune out, a similar expression (drawn from 'tuning' a radio to a particular channel) which today is almost always employed metaphorically.

PARAPHRASE:

When music was playing on a stereo or in the garage, she could ignore it or turn the stereo off . . .

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