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NNTP-Posting-Date: Fri, 30 Jan 2009 06:25:30 -0600
From: Egbert White <eggwhite@earthlink.net>
Newsgroups: alt.languages.english
Subject: Re: "off" or "of" when listing quantities.
Date: Fri, 30 Jan 2009 04:25:03 -0800
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References: <ccfa50e8-8cad-4c24-8f9c-426bfafface8@q30g2000prq.googlegroups.com> <49828271.ECC76A30@tesco.net>
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On Fri, 30 Jan 2009 04:30:41 +0000, Frederick Williams
<frederick.williams2@tesco.net> wrote:
>gustavfenk@googlemail.com wrote:
>>
>> Which is the correct word to use, "of" or "off", when listing
>> quantities? I often see "off" used and it just looks wrong. For
>> example -
>>
>> "Six-inch widgets - 4 off"
>>
>> shouldn't it be "4 of", with this being a shortened form of "4 of
>> (those)" ?
>
>No. "Off" is technical usage in this case and so may not square with
>everyday idioms.
Okay, so what does it mean in that context?
--
Egbert White, | "I love Americans, but not when they try
Planet Earth | to talk French. What a blessing it is that
| that they never try to talk English."
| -- Saki's Mrs. Mebberley
|
|