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From: Loki Harfagr <l0k1@thedarkdesign.free.fr.INVALID>
Subject: Re: "off" or "of" when listing quantities.
Newsgroups: alt.languages.english
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Date: 13 Nov 2008 15:08:48 GMT
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Thu, 13 Nov 2008 04:53:06 -0800, gustavfenk did cat :
> Which is the correct word to use, "of" or "off", when listing
> quantities? I often see "off" used and it just looks wrong.
it really depends...
"thumballyruled" it'd go "may use 'off' when the material can be 'partialized"
for instance as "a slice off ham" Vs "a piece of mind" ;-)
> For example
> -
>
> "Six-inch widgets - 4 off"
>
> shouldn't it be "4 of", with this being a shortened form of "4 of
> (those)" ?
there, I think we're missing the context, I'd believe in your
example the 'off' is related to the price of the stuff, like
`` 6" widgets - SALE - 4 quid price reduction til Monday ''
now, I may well be wrong and I'm sure some other posters will
help to complete and/or correct this :-)
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