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"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 st
by 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 agoWhy 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 agoI 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.