Groups | Search | Server Info | Login | Register

Groups > alt.spam > #9961

Re: When did on become off?

Show all headers | View raw

Steve Hayes:

> For most of my life the normal prepositions to follow
> "based" were "on" or "in".
>
> But suddenly everyone seems to be talking about things
> being "based off" something or somewhere. When did that
> happen?
>
> I can understand "based off" in a context like "The radio
> station was based off the coast of Germany, on an island
> in the Baltic." But there's still an "on" in the sentence.
>
> But "based off" sounds a little, well, off base.

Indeed. I think the "off" in "based off" performs the same
function as it does in "spin-off" and "offspring", whereas
"on" is of course the right and literary preposition for
"based", evoking the metaphor of a building stating on a
fundament.

-- 
()  ascii ribbon campaign - against html e-mail
/\  http://preview.tinyurl.com/qcy6mjc [archived]

Back to alt.spam | Previous | Next | Find similar

Thread

Re: When did on become off? Anton Shepelev <anton.txt@g{oogle}mail.com> - 2020-09-14 16:23 +0300

csiph-web