get oneself off the hook—(coll.) free oneself from difficulty or trouble:
- Later it was useful to describe this incident to get myself off the hook at a Royal Navy interview panel.
go off the hooks—(sl.) die (also: drop off the hooks): No man was ever able to write his own life complete.
- He’s certain to go off the hooks before he has finished it.
See also: be hooked / go on the hook.