Green’s Dictionary of Slang

1. go away!

1906		Marvel 10 Nov. 492: Oh, buzz off, old hoss!
1910		Magnet 27 Aug. 20: Buzz off, Bunter!
1924		C.J. Dennis ‘The Crusaders’ in Chisholm (1951) 81: ‘Buzz off!’ ’e orders. So we done a guy.
1933		S. O’Casey Within the Gates Act i: Buzz off, I tell you.
1934		Sheffield Indep. 16 Oct. 1/6: Now buzz off and leave me to enjoy my shave.
1935		G. Ingram Cockney Cavalcade 202: Gaw on, buzz off!
1946		F.J. Hardy ‘The Load of Wood’ in Man From Clinkapella 6: Buzz orf and have yer dinner.
1957		G. Kersh Fowlers End (2001) 57: All right, Mr. Yudenow—buzz off. Kind of scram. Go on.
1960		‘Hergé’ Tintin and the Red Sea Sharks 52: Buzz off, you stool-pigeon.
1971		F.J. Hardy Outcasts of Foolgarah (1975) 209: Buzz orf! You mob of Commos!
1984		W. Ammon et al. Working Lives 94: You buzz off.
1989		A. Ahlberg Heard it in the Playground (1991) 21: Now, buzz off to bed!
1991		Dandy Comic Library No. 205 8: Buzz off!
2000		T. Fontana ‘A Town Without Pity’ Oz ser. 4 ep. 7 [TV script] I said I’d protect you from Keller. I’ll protect you [...] Now buzz off.
2001		OnLine Dict. of Playground Sl. 🌐 buzz off n. a request to go away. Probably related to the noise an irritating insect makes.
2003		McGill Reed Dict. of N.Z. Sl. 87: give her/him a vibrator and tell her/him to buzz off Tell someone to go away.
2008		M. Hanif Case of Exploding Mangoes (2009) 19: ‘Buzz off,’ I say, regretting it immediately.

2. in fig. use: don’t make me laugh! shut up! don’t talk nonsense!

1918

Kia Ora Coo-ee 15 June 4/2: ‘D’ye call that a fair cut? Why, a man can hardly see it?’ The trooper-waiter was not less aggressive. ‘Buzz off’, he said, ‘what d’yer think Allenby gives yer binoculars for?’.

3. (US campus) be quiet!

1943

‘Whitman College Sl.’ in AS XVIII:2 Apr. 153/2: buzz off. To keep quiet.