WRITTEN off. 'Wrote aff'. Depending on the circumstances, those phrases can have different meanings.
In parts of the country, they may represent a great night out - and an awful morning (and afternoon) to follow. In the car world, a 'write-off' might be perfectly roadworthy but the ridiculous costs charged by many outfits for repairing a few dents and scrapes may make it more cost-effective to buy a different vehicle.
There's an element of that 'unnecessarily discarded' meaning when it comes to considering 'writing off' in a sporting context. Over the years, many reporters have listened to jubilant managers and players crowing after a victory that 'you wrote us off' when they had done nothing of the sort. Expressing your view that one particular county will win a competition, or a match, doesn't equate to saying that other teams definitely won't win it, or can't win it.
The Ulster Senior Football Championship is usually a fine example of that. Pundits pick one likely winner, but there are always a few serious contenders. Champions Monaghan and last year's beaten finalists Donegal, who have collected the Anglo-Celt Cup between them over the past five seasons, are obviously in that category.
On the other side of the draw, Tyrone are favourites, but they could slip up against Derry in Celtic Park, while Cavan and Armagh will both feel they are capable of reaching the final.
It's hard to see Fermanagh winning four ties - against Antrim, Donegal, Monaghan (or Down) and then the final - but you never know what the Erne men might do. They might lose to the Saffrons this Sunday, for starters.
Most match previews are packed with caveats - 'ifs', 'buts' and 'maybes', a smattering of 'shoulds' and 'mights', the odd 'probably' and 'are likely to'. Qualifications, basically, about who's going to go into the Qualifiers and who will progress in their provincial championship.
There's one major exception at the moment, of course - Dublin. Everyone knows - absolutely knows - the Dubs will win their Leinster quarter-final against either Laois or Wicklow, even though they will play that game in the strange surroundings (for the boys in blue) of Nowlan Park in Kilkenny.
Almost all will also be utterly confident that Jim Gavin's superb side (and squad) will be far too good for either Meath, Louth or Carlow in the subsequent semi-final. And realistically, there's no one good enough to come close to troubling them in the provincial decider from the other side of the Leinster draw either, ensuring that Dublin will make it six in-a-row for the first time since 1979 (and chalk up their 11th Leinster triumph in a dozen years).
Even beyond that, many are questioning whether anyone can truly trouble Dublin at all in their quest to retain the Sam Maguire Cup for the first time in almost 40 years.
There's no doubt Dublin are the best team, having won three of the last five All-Irelands and completed a third consecutive triumph in finals of the National Football League Division One, with their 22nd match win in-a-row.
Yet, should we 'write off' everyone else, as some pundits are actually doing? Clearly not. Dublin are brilliant and have the greatest strength in depth but, even without the apparently obligatory mention of a certain soccer club from the English east midlands, hope springs eternal in sport. All winning runs come to an end at some stage, as Barcelona found out to their cost earlier this season.
Five counties can believes themselves capable of defeating the Dubs if they face them this year: Kerry, Mayo, Tyrone, Monaghan and Donegal. The Kingdom may have been well-beaten in that recent Division One final, but Dublin only pulled away after their opponents were reduced to 14-men. Kerry are an older team, but they shouldn't be overly exerted in coming out of Munster, so their smart boss Eamonn Fitzmaurice can harness all that experience to have another crack at Dublin and end their recent winning streak in that particular rivalry.
Mayo are similar to Kerry in that they should come out of their province fairly comfortably, or at least reach the final and they have a very fine squad of players under an excellent, albeit new, management team. The westerners have pushed Dublin very hard in recent years, including beating them in 2012 and taking them to an All-Ireland semi-final replay last year.
Tyrone are considered by many the dark horses who could overtake the Dubs, thanks to their combination of pace, power, defensive organisation and good forwards, all managed by the canny Mickey Harte.
Like the Red Hands, Monaghan will want only to meet Dublin in the All-Ireland final, as that's where the Ulster and Leinster champions will collide if both come through their All-Ireland quarter-finals and semi-finals.
Malachy O'Rourke's men will be delighted to make a major breakthrough by winning an All-Ireland quarter-final for the first time, whatever way they can get there, but if they do come up against Dublin, they will remember they ran them very close in last year's league semi-final and in this year's Division One proper, both times at Croke Park.
And Donegal? Well, they beat the supposedly invincible Dublin side of 2014 to reach that year's All-Ireland final, having won Sam two years earlier. This year could be one last hurrah for many members of this great Tir Chonaill team, but it's not beyond them to defeat the Dubs if they do meet. Any side including Michael Murphy and the McBrearty, McHugh and McGee brothers will be dangerous opponents.
Dublin may have won all their league matches this year, but they only edged past Roscommon, Monaghan and Mayo, so they're not necessarily streets ahead of other Division One teams. Their defensive record was still excellent, even without reigning Footballer of the Year Jack McCaffrey and Rory O'Carroll, but no team is unbeatable. Even the Harlem Globetrotters lose once in a while.
Although, just for the record, I'm not writing off Dublin…
