Off the record

    私下里说

    A: What do you think is the reasonable exchange rate between U.S. dollar and RMB?

    B: Unfortunately, I'm not in a position to talk about this on or off the record.

    Note: Something "off the record" is said in confidence and the speaker doesn't want the words attributed to them. This is an American phrase that began to be used there in the 1930s. A report of a social event attended by U.S. President Franklin Roosevelt in the North Carolina newspaper The Daily Times: News used the phrase in 1932: He [Roosevelt] said that he was going to talk off the record, that it was mighty nice to be able to talk off the record for a change and that he hoped to be able to talk off the record often in the future. He told a couple of funny stories and everybody laughed and cheered.