Re: "par coeur" origin


"Paul J Kriha" <paul.nospam.kriha@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:4445e76e@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

TOF <fran_beta@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:1145397038.611456.275980@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
I doubt it. Where I come from (Australia) I've not heard someone split
"off" from "by" (although the "off" is occasionally omitted.)

Oh really?
"By now, you must be able to recite it off, you bloody drongo, by heart."

Is this really different from 'absofuckinglutely' and other infixed
vulgarities?

I'm sure that originally the 'off' was felt to be some kind of compounding
element with verbs, but for many people (including me) it has been
transferred, so that 'off by heart' is the adverbial phrase.

- House doors open in two hours - have you learned your lines yet?
- Of course, off by heart!

(Note that normally, in responding, if you leave out the verb, you can't add
a compounding element to it: 'What did you find?' 'Out that she's
cheating!' - doesn't work, except for people trying to be witty. So you
can't change 'learned' to 'learned off' if you leave out the verb in the
reply as in my example - besides which, 'learned off' has no meaning, at
least in my idiolect.)

Neeraj Mathur


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