Out of Pocket
Batteries
Yesterday, I went down to the main office to get some AA batteries. By the way, most people say, “double-A batteries.” In Korea, I often hear A A (ay-ay). Anyways, I am not sure why the AA batteries are so protected at work. We have AAA (triple A) batteries in our teacher’s office. But the main office didn’t have any either. So, I had to buy some later that night out of pocket. My sister bought me a dancing moose a long time ago and the batteries were dead. When I removed them, it looked like some of the battery acid had leached out. So, unfortunately, the new batteries didn’t work.
Meaning
Out of pocket means that you pay for something yourself even if you will be reimbursed afterwards. The money is coming out of YOUR pocket. Out of pocket is an adjective phrase. When it is used before what it modifies, we hyphenate it (out-of-pocket expenses). But if it is used after what it modifies, we don’t hyphenate it (the expenses were out of pocket).
Example: We are going to have dinner together but if you want to buy alcohol it will be out of pocket.
Other Meanings
I also read about two other definitions of out of pocket that I have never heard before. It can also be used to say that someone is missing or unreachable. It seems to be a term used by journalist and might have arisen from African American slang. Out of pocket can also mean rude or inappropriate. Among American, there might be a distinction based on race. White people thought it meant “unavailable” while black people understood it to mean “inappropriate”.
Either way, out of pocket usually refers to money transactions. About 94% of usage is related to finances. Unreachable accounts for 4% of usage and inappropriate makes up 1% of usage. The final 1% of usage is for the literal meaning of the phrase, out of pocket.
See Also: Raincheck, A Penny for Your Thoughts, Impulse Buying
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Reference:
https://www.quickanddirtytips.com/education/grammar/3-meanings-of-out-of-pocket
https://grammarist.com/usage/out-of-pocket/