To find “off of” so incredibly annoying

[Tonylepony]

I keep hearing this all the time at the moment, “she got off of the bus” , “it’s off of the path”. I know in the scheme of things this is completely unimportant, but does anyone else find this as annoying and baffling as me?

Smelt for smelled
Spelt for spelled

These are normal words. Why would they be annoying?

Yanbu if a bit smug

“From off of” is worse though!

“It was taken by a person from off of the street”

Now I’m smug!

Plenty is another Americanism I cannot abide. As in 'He's plenty old enough to make his own bed'. Again, a superfluous word.

Use of such words/phrases make me wonder if the speaker just sits there, letting the media infiltrate their brains.

I don't mind 'off of' in the sense you are describing (physical movement).

I don't like it when it is used to describe gifts, because it gives the impression of greediness to me, whether the 'of' is there or not. 'I got a book off (of) my aunt, and some money off (of) my granddad' just somehow has a feeling of things being taken rather than given.

@CabernetSoWhat

I've always thought "off of" was a Scott Mills reference. Also, 'love you' when hanging up the phone to people you barely know.

Yes that's exactly what I thought! They are not saying it seriously. And 'off of the telly' is something he would say, to sound funny.

My kids have picked it up from bloody you tube.

I correct them every single time.

You are not alone OP, I find it infuriating.

I use it occasionally, but assumed it was a Scottish phrasing (there are plenty of things I say which turn out to not to be English words/phrasing, I'm still finding them out now, 35 years after moving south!)

@jessstan2

I agree, it is appalling. It's up there with 'couldn't of', 'bored of' and 'renting out', never mind all the 'gots' 'gets' and 'gottens'. What is the matter with people?

I don’t understand the problem with ‘bored of’ . Surely ‘I’m bored of playing this game ‘ is ok?

It's awful, I agree OP. 'Off' is fine on its own, or even 'from' in many instances. For example, 'I bought a book from Amazon.' But unfortunately the people who say it won't be reading this thread, or will criticise you for even bringing it up.

I don’t understand the problem with ‘bored of’. Surely ‘I’m bored of playing this game ‘ is ok?

In theory, it’s “bored with”. It’s probably got confused with “tired of” over time. I admit, I don’t feel so strongly over that one.

'Bored with' or 'bored by' are the correct terms.

Language is fluid so I choose not to get annoyed by most phrases, spellings, etc. But I do write in UK, Canadian, and US English depending on where my work is based, so I've had to jump between different "-isms."

The thing that annoys me the most is using the wrong word in the context of a sentence. The wrong there/their/they're (and similar) or a missing comma/full stop can get to me purely because it can change the meaning of a sentence and I've been caught out because of that in the past.

I pick up on some of these trends in students' writing (although am not eager to become a member of the Grammar Police on this site. It's fine to discuss it in general, as on this thread, but seeing people correct others' posts makes me wince).

'Oftentimes', I really don't like. I know it's perfectly correct, if more frequently used in the US than here. But it grates.

'Massively' is never anything other than hyperbolic overstatement. The vast majority of the things being described as 'massively' are nothing of the sort.

Another one cropping up more and more frequently is the addition of 'By' and 'it' to sentences (the 'it' invariably being really vague). Ie. BY emphasising light IT abolishes dark. Why add these two words? What's the 'it?' All this does is obscure the sentence meaning. I know language is in constant flux and this is fine, but this weird phrasing is becoming commonplace and drives me barmy.

It would be interesting to be a linguist so as to trace where these odd trends come from!

Re. 'off of', it's funny the way Americans will sometimes add or omit words the British habitually use/don't use.

'Off of' does sound awkward.

Similarly, no British person would be likely to say 'she wrote him'.

It could of been worse.....

@Notanotherhun

It could of been worse.....

Get off!

One American phrase that always sounds clunky to me is ‘on accident’. ‘I didn’t mean to drop the plate, I did it on accident’.

Just doesn’t sound right!

Of what?

For free annoys me, surely the for is superfluous. Or use for nothing instead.

@CabernetSoWhat

I've always thought "off of" was a Scott Mills reference. Also, 'love you' when hanging up the phone to people you barely know.

Me too. He makes a big deal of it and it’s a big part of the reason I don’t listen to him on radio 1!

I loathe the Americanism "I'm excited for burgers/my birthday/tonight".

Sadly it's a losing battle as it's too far ingrained now.

I agree but we are in danger of being seen to be language pedants with the usual mantra of " language evolves."
My bug bears are 'disoriented' which Americans say correctly but British folk say 'disorientated' ... sets my teeth on edge , particularly when google tries to correct this.
Also 'myriad'
It's 'myriad colours' not 'a myriad of colours.'
Myriad is a collective in its own right and doesn't need 'a' or 'of.'
Don't even get me started on would/could/should have/'of.'

@Chunkymenrock

It's awful, I agree OP. 'Off' is fine on its own, or even 'from' in many instances. For example, 'I bought a book from Amazon.' But unfortunately the people who say it won't be reading this thread, or will criticise you for even bringing it up.

Or, they will read it, shrug it off and continue as they have been.

Nobody's criticising this thread, there's nobody being attacked for their SPaG but I'm do you believe that your preference should be acknowledged and incorporated just because you find x, y, z annoying?

I find some terms clunky, eg. needs washed, I'd never say that but apparently it's English. What do I care? I don't have to use it.