Settle a debate

Teledude · 12 Oct 2011 at 10:55

100 off

or

100 of

As in quantities in a list.

krooton · 12 Oct 2011 at 10:56

Of, obviously.

Teledude · 12 Oct 2011 at 10:58

krooton said:
Of, obviously.

I know that, but someone with an engineering degree won't give up - any online things I can quote at him!?

zootfloot · 12 Oct 2011 at 10:58

krooton said:
Of, obviously.

Agreed, but in what context.

In our purchasing dept they often refer to 100 of something as 100 off, whereas like i have just wrote, if i was writing 100 of something i would write 100 of.

Confusing myself now.

RopAyy · 12 Oct 2011 at 10:59

Of.
Unless your talking about talking about taking 100 items off the list!

WillyNelson · 12 Oct 2011 at 10:59

As in "I'll have 100 of/off those please"?

It's of, obviously. Off means removed or away from.

Teledude · 12 Oct 2011 at 11:00

As in a list.

Server A - 10 of
Server B - 10 of
Switch A - 3 of

etc

sinister_stu · 12 Oct 2011 at 11:01

It's not quite as simple as that. Of course, the word "of" is correct, however in the industry I work in when stating a quantity of something the word "off" is used. I have no idea why, but a quick google says this:

"It comes out of manufacturing, in which off has long been used to mark a number of items to be produced of one kind: 20-off, 500-off. This seems to have begun in foundry work, or a similar trade, in which items were cast off a mould or from a pattern"

WillyNelson · 12 Oct 2011 at 11:01

zootfloot said:
Agreed, but in what context.

In our purchasing dept they often refer to 100 of something as 100 off, whereas like i have just wrote, if i was writing 100 of something i would write 100 of.

Confusing myself now.

A call-off order maybe? You have a PO set for 1000 items and you select 100 off as they are reveived/invoiced.

Mat · 12 Oct 2011 at 11:01

"I'll take 100 off the list."
"That will leave 100 of those left on the list."

Kodiak · 12 Oct 2011 at 11:05

As someone who grew up in an engineering family, the correct answer for me is 100 off

itsallaboutyou · 12 Oct 2011 at 11:06

Scary holy deja vu batman. It is off.

Dave M · 12 Oct 2011 at 11:08

sinister_stu said:
It's not quite as simple as that. Of course, the word "of" is correct, however in the industry I work in..."

There are lots of terms used in specific situations that differ to the norm but if you are asking which is correct - without extra conditions being placed on the context - then the answer is of.

Context is important in language but shouldn't be mistaken for proper use outside of that context.

antijoke · 12 Oct 2011 at 11:09

It's obviously of.

[FnG]magnolia · 12 Oct 2011 at 11:10

itsallaboutyou said:
Scary holy deja vu batman. It is off.

I know, I was convinced that this was the thread from last year :eek:

To save everyone the effort of finding it, the answer is both of and off, depending on context.

Participant · 12 Oct 2011 at 11:10

Having worked in a manufacturing company that always used '100 off please mate', I can say that in industry off is accepted.

Obviously gramatically it's 'of', but not everything is always that simple. There are probably loads of similar examples (none spring to mind!).

Morgoth · 12 Oct 2011 at 11:12

Oh god, not again.

jellybeard999 · 12 Oct 2011 at 11:13

I'd use "of", but my dad will write "off" (pronounced of though, I believe) and he works in engineering.

Cosimo · 12 Oct 2011 at 11:14

Morgoth said:
Oh god, not again.

They need to go off, study a little grammar then they'll be the pick of the bunch.

the_r_sole · 12 Oct 2011 at 11:15

Teledude said:
As in a list.

Server A - 10 of
Server B - 10 of
Switch A - 3 of

etc

save the hassle/confusion and have a list like this:
Server A - 10
Server B - 10
Switch A - 3