off the hook

"The US basically wanted to have China cough up some money for that fund as well. Now they won't be able to do that. That leaves China off the hook," Prof Klein said.

Letting them off the hook “sends the wrong message: big banks can still buy get-out-of-jail-free cards for their executives by paying big fines and agreeing to other penalties,” Kelleher commented.

"I think that anything that gets Putin off the hook in Ukraine, that delivers at least something of a victory, something of a win for him, would be catastrophic for the rest of us."

“And now you want to wriggle out of it and inconvenience all these people. It just gets you off the hook with your problem killing fish.”

Because so many of the teachers have a cult following, the phone rings off the hook, he added.