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Off of
Posted by Lewis on June 16, 2003
In Reply to: Eat off of ? posted by TheFallen on June 15, 2003
: : "We sit down to eat off of the plastic plates that do not all match and drink tea from glasses."
: : I think "eat off" here is well enough but why adds "of" here?
: You're absolutely right. The "of" is both superfluous and strictly incorrect - one eats off plates. However, it's a common error in colloquial English among those less educated, so if the phrase you quote is written dialogue, then the author is likely to be inviting the reader to make certain assumptions about the character of the speaker.
off of = "from"
