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R H Draney
Guest
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| Posted: Sun Nov 07, 2004 12:15 pm
Post subject: Re: "off of" |
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Jess Askin filted:
| Quote: |
"Areff" <me@privacy.net> wrote in message
news:2v4k6dF2hb24uU1@uni-berlin.de...
Jess Askin wrote:
No, that's fine for a rough estimate. V. ingenious. (Except do keep in
mind
that there's more than one Bay Area.)
That's something that residents of the San Francisco Bay Area seem not to
be aware of.
Once in a while they hear somebody on TV say "I live in the Bay Area" and it
takes them a minute or so to realize they mean LA (somewhere down there).
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I bet my money on a bobtailed nag, but....r
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Sean O'Leathlobhair
Guest
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| Posted: Sun Nov 07, 2004 7:57 pm
Post subject: Re: "off of" |
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John Hatpin <nospam@brookview.karoo.co.uk> wrote in message news:<d32oo0dnbe5ola510s5vcp5f4d1fcj6ct4@4ax.com>...
| Quote: | Areff wrote:
Donna Richoux wrote:
Adrian Bailey <dadge@hotmail.com> wrote:
"Kate P" <abcde@abcde.com> wrote in message
news:S6Rid.28257$OD3.1360318@news20.bellglobal.com...
Is it OK to say "He can't keep his eyes OFF her" instead of "He can't
keep his eyes OFF OF her"?
Of course. "off of" is dialect or slang.
For an amazingly large value of "dialect."
"off of" 5,900,000
"off of" uk 1,460,000
"off of" london 432,000
"off of" "bay area" 79,100
"off of" manhattan 104,000
I know those geographical tests aren't at all scientific, but I was
hoping to find any evidence that it was overwhelmingly limited to the
West Coast use or something. I haven't.
I think "off of" is Standard Universal AmE, but it is (traditionally
regarded as being) appropriate in informal registers only. I believe that
"off of" is generally nonstandard in BrE, or dialectal.
"Off of" is pretty much unknown in UK English. I was surprised by
Donna's 1,460,000 Google hits, but on looking into it further, pretty
much all of the ones I saw were either written by Leftpondians or were
false hits such as "IT will fuel the take-off of airline customer
services".
It's a shame that we can't (yet?) be more specific in Google searches.
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As some of the other Brits, I am surprised by this. I hear "off of"
quite often. I have not noticed if it is more prevalent in some areas
than others. I spend most of my time in the Midlands or South East.
It does appear to limited to low prestige registers. If you wish to
impress then I would suggest avoiding it. I would discourage my son
from using it.
Some uses grate on me more than others. One that I like the least is
where "from" would seem suitable. E.g. "Can I borrow a fiver off of
you?". In some other cases, it is less unpleasant and I expect an
example, in which it was defensible, could be constructed.
Seán O'Leathlóbhair
(Not to be confused with John Lawler) |
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nemo
Guest
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| Posted: Mon Nov 08, 2004 8:05 am
Post subject: Re: "off of" |
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Kate P <abcde@abcde.com> wrote in message
news:S6Rid.28257$OD3.1360318@news20.bellglobal.com...
| Quote: | Is it OK to say "He can't keep his eyes OFF her" instead of "He can't
keep his eyes OFF OF her"?
I have heard the combination "off of" in other contexts. How/when
exactly is "off of" used?
Thank you.
My English teacher at school, Mr. Snell (sic.) used to say that even "from |
off of" was a good example of technically correct usage sounding utterly
ridiculous.
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Peter Moylan
Guest
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| Posted: Mon Nov 08, 2004 12:44 pm
Post subject: Re: "off of" |
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Ben Zimmer biped:
| Quote: | R H Draney wrote:
Frankie Valli is anything but West Coast, and that pair of prepositions should
have made you think of his line "Can't Take My Eyes Off Of You"...
Hey! You! Get off of my cloud.
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Are these examples of hypercorrection? I've always heard those lines
as "Can't take my eyes offa you" and "Get offa my cloud".
--
Peter Moylan peter at ee dot newcastle dot edu dot au
http://eepjm.newcastle.edu.au (OS/2 and eCS information and software) |
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raymond o'hara
Guest
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| Posted: Wed Nov 10, 2004 6:07 am
Post subject: Re: "off of" |
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"Areff" <me@privacy.net> wrote in message
news:2v4k6dF2hb24uU1@uni-berlin.de...
| Quote: | Jess Askin wrote:
"Donna Richoux" <trio@euronet.nl> wrote in message
news:1gmts37.18tt2zlmwuppmN%trio@euronet.nl...
Better measures are welcome.
No, that's fine for a rough estimate. V. ingenious. (Except do keep in
mind
that there's more than one Bay Area.)
That's something that residents of the San Francisco Bay Area seem not to
be aware of.
--
Steny '08!
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I live on the right coast {Massachusetts, the Bay State} and when I read
Bay Area I thought of 'Frisco. |
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Areff
Guest
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| Posted: Wed Nov 10, 2004 6:07 am
Post subject: Re: "off of" |
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raymond o'hara wrote:
| Quote: |
"Areff" <me@privacy.net> wrote in message
news:2v4k6dF2hb24uU1@uni-berlin.de...
Jess Askin wrote:
"Donna Richoux" <trio@euronet.nl> wrote in message
news:1gmts37.18tt2zlmwuppmN%trio@euronet.nl...
Better measures are welcome.
No, that's fine for a rough estimate. V. ingenious. (Except do keep in
mind
that there's more than one Bay Area.)
That's something that residents of the San Francisco Bay Area seem not to
be aware of.
--
Steny '08!
I live on the right coast {Massachusetts, the Bay State} and when I read
Bay Area I thought of 'Frisco.
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Don't let them win, bro.
--
Steny '08! |
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Adrian Bailey
Guest
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| Posted: Sun Nov 14, 2004 3:01 pm
Post subject: Re: "off of" |
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"Adrian Bailey" <dadge@hotmail.com> wrote in message news:<5yRid.36474$Bk6.467@fe2.news.blueyonder.co.uk>...
| Quote: | "Kate P" <abcde@abcde.com> wrote in message
news:S6Rid.28257$OD3.1360318@news20.bellglobal.com...
Is it OK to say "He can't keep his eyes OFF her" instead of "He can't
keep his eyes OFF OF her"?
Of course. "off of" is dialect or slang.
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There are many people who use "off of" for "off", but how many also
use it for "of", and in what circumstances? Here's one:
"the new wing off of the H&M in mid-town"
http://www.morethandonuts.blogspot.com/ @11.10.2004
The lady also uses the expression "the clown car of..." which I hadn't
heard before.
Adrian |
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