There was the following statement in Washington Post (July 29) article that came under the title, “John Kelly, Trump’s new chief of staff, ‘won’t suffer idiots and fools.’”
“Officials there had grown tired of the four-star general speaking off
message – about the president’s plan to shut down the prison in
Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, about the perceived vulnerability of America’s
borders, about the threat posed to American interests by any number of
terrorist organizations. Their relationship had become so strained
that in the weeks before he retired, multiple administration officials
went to the media and accused Kelly and other military leaders of
endeavoring to undermine the Guantánamo closure plan.”
There are “speak of,” “speak off-the-cuff,” “speak out (up)” as idioms in the dictionary at hand, but I don’t find “speak off.”
What does “speak off message” mean? Does it mean to give an outright message? Is it popular use of “speak”?
Additionally, though my question might look naïve to you, what does the new Chief of Staff won’t “suffer idiots and fools” exactly mean?
Best Answer
It's not speaking off. It's speaking off message. The verb is not important. Off message (or off-message) means deviating from a prescribed message. Staying on message means sticking to the prescribed message.
-- WordWeb Online
(Off the cuff is another idiom, with a different meaning. But there too, it's not the verb "speaking" that is important.)