American English v British English

[Cestriana]

Why do Americans say: "get off of"? (Eg "She got off of the bus.") I'm a speaker of British English and it sounds a bit odd to me.

 

[Anglika]

Welcome to the forums.

What makes you think it is not heard in Britain as well? It is an increasingly common colloquialism, chiefly because no-one corrects children when they misuse language so incorrect usages become accepted usages.

 

[2006]

Why do Americans say: "get off of"? (Eg "She got off of the bus.") I'm a speaker of British English and it sounds a bit odd to me.

It sounds odd to me too.

 

[riverkid]

Why do Americans say: "get off of"? (Eg "She got off of the bus.") I'm a speaker of British English and it sounds a bit odd to me.

Hi Cestriana.

It's used in both BrE, and come to think of it, probably all other English dialects to give added emphasis.

Get off of my bed!

Rolling Stones - Get off My Cloud

I said, Hey! You! Get off of my cloud
Hey! You! Get off of my cloud
Hey! You! Get off of my cloud
Don't hang around 'cause two's a crowd
On my cloud, baby

 

[2006]

I don't understand how adding "of" adds emphasis. To me, it's just bad English.

 

[rewboss]

I don't think it's a question of emphasis: I think it's commonly used by analogy with "out of", as in: "Get out of my pub."

There's no particular reason why we should say "out of" but not "off of" except that in standard English "off of" is considered incorrect. You might make the point that the "of" is superfluous, and that is true; however, it's also superfluous in "out of", but "Get out my pub" is also non-standard.