Going off at half-cock means doing something in a rushed, poorly prepared, or half-hearted way — like charging into a situation before you've thought it through. In British English it's a classic phrase for plans that flop because someone skipped the preparation. It also describes someone who commits to something but never quite goes all in. If your project launch bombed because nobody tested anything, that's textbook half-cock territory.
Add your own interpretation of "half-cock".
UK and Irish slang — Cockney, Scouse, Geordie, Yorkshire, Glaswegian, Brummie, Welsh, West Country, plus Irish English. Centuries of regional dialects feeding into modern British and Irish street talk.
See all British & Irish slang slang on Slangora.
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They went off at half-cock with the product launch — no beta testers, no PR plan, just vibes.
No comments yet — say something.
(UK) Not with full vigour, half-heartedly.
No comments yet — say something.