4 ms·

>off of

• aswanson 14y ago
  Yeah. Mayhap 'from' would be a proper fealty to the god of english language parsimony, in substitution.
• pcrh 14y ago
  "Off of" is one of my pet peeves as well. Unfortunately, its usage is legitimate, if sometimes unpopular. "Off of used to be standard in English; the MWDEU starts off with a Shakespearean usage [1592] and continues with Pepys [1668] and Bunyan [1678]. In the last century, they show it used by Hemingway, Faulkner, and Harry Truman, among others. So if it is making a comeback, it’s no harbinger of linguistic doom, just a return to form." http://motivatedgrammar.wordpress.com/2012/07/31/on-off-of/ http://motivatedgrammar.wordpress.com/2012/07/31/on-off-of/
  • omaranto 14y ago
    Why is it a pet peeve of yours? Do you have a reason you could explain our does it just rub you the wrong way?
    • pcrh 14y ago
      I guess my reasons are the same as those described in the link above, i.e. it is a matter of dialect, my own dialect of English doesn't use "off of" and it sounds ridiculous to my ears; it produces a similar reaction to being confronted with mis-use of there/their/they're. However, English is a very ill-behaved language, and "off of" just happens to be one of its irritating aspects I'll have to put up with.