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off of

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary

English

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Pronunciation

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  • (UK) IPA(key): /ˈɒfəv/, (reduced, before a consonant) /ˈɒfə/
  • (US) IPA(key): /ˈɑfəv/

Preposition

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off of

  1. (now colloquial) Off; from. [from 15th c.]
    • 1591 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Second Part of Henry the Sixt, []”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies. [] (First Folio), London: [] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act II, scene i]:
      Card. What, art thou lame?
      Simpc. I, God Almightie helpe me.
      Suff. How cam'st thou so?
      Simpc. A fall off of a Tree.
    • 1741, [Samuel Richardson], Pamela: Or, Virtue Rewarded. [], volume (please specify |volume=I to IV), London: [] C[harles] Rivington, []; and J. Osborn, [], →OCLC:
      Do, my dearest child, get me off of this difficulty, and I can have no other [] .
    • 1870–1871 (date written), Mark Twain [pseudonym; Samuel Langhorne Clemens], chapter XX, in Roughing It, Hartford, Conn.: American Publishing Company [et al.], published 1872, →OCLC, page 151:
      The coach bounced up and down in such a terrific way that it jolted the buttons all off of Horace’s coat, []
    • 1928 September 28, “Eye of Gawd”, in Time:
      "The green curtains that hung there for years and years... have been taken down and the blood-red cardinal velvet curtains have been hung up, and they have taken the green top off of the President's desk and put a red one on that..."
    • 1967, Bob Crewe / Bob Gaudio, Can't Take My Eyes Off You:
      You're just too good to be true / I Can't take my eyes off of you.
    • 1995, Alan Warner, Morvern Callar, Vintage, published 2015, page 13:
      Though it was only bass and drums I could hear, you could tell it was that (Don't Fear) The Reaper, offof Some Enchanted Evening.

Usage notes

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  • The use of off of as a preposition is now considered tautological or incorrect by some usage guides and is not suitable for formal or business use. Off of can be replaced with on, from or off: "This is based on (off of) his first book"; "I got the information from (off of) the Internet"; "He took a paper off (off of) his desk".