Why do some people (in the South) say 'Ofof him'

[boogieboogie]

It's wiered a friend in London and another one in Reading say this, even a presenter said this on TV.. 'Get it ofof him"
Where did this come from and what's it about, more importantly why?

[scotgal]

English is obviously not their first language?

[purplepoodle]

Surely it's just an alternative way of saying things, e.g.

"Get off my chair" or "Get off of my chair".

Maybe not grammatically correct but not that unusual.

[Ethel]

It's only been over the last few years and I loathe it - "get that dog off of me"

And it's used instead of 'have' - "You should of shopped there"

Equally recent is 'loose' used strangely - 'loose me out the car'

And 'like' pops up in the most odd place - 'and I was like, "Go away, will you?", and he was like, "No, make me."

This isn't people who don't speak English as their first language, so I really can't explain it.

Maybe people don't read so much, so don't get to see how sentences should be formed.

[123everton]

Like appears in alot of speech around here, ofof too, it's just accents.

[boogieboogie]

I'm glad others have noticed this too.
I take it you've not seen Dale in the Big Brother house, he's like proper bad like, you know, like, like proper, proper bad like you know. The funny think is the house has developed this sub vernacular now where others have begun to say 'Like' a lot.
I think this is the new 'Right' it use to be: 'Right I'm going to the shops right, if you want anything right, you'll have to give me the right money right"
"Like" placed anywhere I think originated in US girly teen dramas. 'And I was so like, o my god'
The way the young ones speak in big brother is like huge sentences full of Like and Amazing and Soooo and Coool and Excellent but they don't actually say anything other than these adjectives..
"It's like really wow, you know like proper funny right"!!!

[factor-fiction]

American's have said "off of" for years. Didn't John Wayne used to drawl "get off of your horse...", or have I just heard impersonators invent that.

Yet Americans omit the word of when they say "I walked out the door" or "I threw it out the window".

[Octavius]

Not as bad as typing...

could of, should of, would of.

[naomi24]

Octavius, that's the one that bugs me the most. WHY do people say that?

[Octavius]

I would of guessed it is because of not knowing what should of been writ, when they could of writ it right.

[naomi24]

But it ain't only wot's writ, it's what's spoke an all. You would 'av fort standards of edukashun would of been a bit 'igher these days. Gawd, wot's the weld cummin to?

[jno]

this dates from, what, 1965?

http://www.asklyrics.com/display/Rolling_Stone s/Get_Off_Of_My_Cloud_Lyrics/76212.htm

I suspect it may exist because it's easier to say: 'offmy' is an awkward clutch of sounds, and not very common in English; turning it into 'offamy' makes it easier to pronounce.

As for 'like', I said that when I was a kid, decades ago and far away. Nothing new.

[boogieboogie]

whoa jno I'm impressed with the link. Heard it spoken (only last 4yrs) but never seen it written before.
I dread the day when this travels north.

[123everton]

Scuse me you need to go a wee wee, it already has!
Round here like tends to go at the end of the sentence.
I'll tell what does annoy me though is when you hear this "I'm not being funny but...." I'm not being funny but I will be anyway it's on a par with "I'm not racist but..."

[littleoldme]

Octavius and naomi24 - with regard to the could of/would of question (a real bugbear of mine too), I would guess it's because when we say "would have" in normal speech, it usually gets shortened to "would've" (just as "I have" becomes "I've"). As the abbreviated part comes after a hard consonant, it can sound to the uneducated ear a bit like "would of". Obviously, to people as intelligent as us ;-), it makes no sense at all, but they wouldn't think that far.

My other pet hate is "lose" (as in car keys) being spelled "loose" (as in elastic).

[gelda]

And young girls screaming " Oh my God ".

[Quizmonster]

Off of is very similar to out of. Out' without 'of' in sentences such as, "They threw him out the window," is quite common in American and Australian English but 'out of' is still the standard form in British English. It has to be said, however, that the simple 'out' with no �of' was used historically in Britain, too, as long ago as the 1300s. Shakespeare himself did so! Thus, it has a long history, though it dropped out of common usage.
Strangely, the opposite seems to happen with the word �off'. Despite the Rolling Stones' song �Hey, you, get off of my cloud", in British English, we tend to say, "Get off the grass!" whereas Americans may well say, "Get off of the grass!" Clearly, the Stones just needed the word �of' to achieve the rhythm/line-length they wanted.
So, off plus of and out minus of are perhaps just making a comeback.

[ruby27]

Octavius and naomi24

Is it your intention to sound as smug and self satisfied as you appear? If it is congratulations as you have excelled yourselves.

It may be news to you, but some people are not able to grasp the grammatical rules that specify how 'good' english is to be spoken and written currently. The reason some people like myself may commit such heinous crimes as writing or saying off of, is that they didn't know any better. There have to be lesser mortals like myself in order for you to be in your elevated position.

[ludwig]

Ruby, get off of your high horse.

[boogieboogie]

I always thought it was 'Get offaaa my cloud' but then I'm not as old as the song. It just sounds so stupid. I'm northern so I know about missing words out. "Where's bin" = Where have you been. "Shut door" where as the Australians would say "Shut bloody door".
But 'off of' sounds like baby/child talk and I just cant grasp why anyone would consciously choose to use this.
I think your (another one 'your' instead of 'you're' annoys the hell out of me) being a little harsh ruby. They/we are in banter and not condemning those lesser mortals like yourself.

[Octavius]

So one is not allowed to refer to a common mistake or historical (comeback) nuance in the English language � as suggested within the original Q � without being accused of smug self satisfaction?

Ruby, I apologise for such a foolish notion as to respond to such a Q. Now you can be smug and self satisfied yourself.