[General] "lower than 25 degrees out"

[Olympian]

Hello,

The following sentence is from a news story about a young couple who built a 128 sq ft tiny house for $10,000.

One of their biggest challenges was figuring out how to endure Rhode Island's brutally cold winters in such a small structure. They use a small 400-watt electric heater for above-freezing temperatures and switch to a mini propane heater when it's lower than 25 degrees out.

Does 'lower than 25 degrees out' mean 'minus 25 degrees'? Usually, I read '25 below zero' or something similar. I had not read '25 degrees out' before.

Thank you

 

[5jj]

No. It means below 25 degrees Fahrenheit, which is about minus four degrees Celsius. 'Out' here means 'outdoors'.

 

[Olympian]

No. It means below 25 degrees Fahrenheit, which is about minus four degrees Celsius. 'Out' here means 'outdoors'.

@5jj, thank you. It would have been easier for me if it had just said 'lower than 25 degrees outside/outdoors'.

 

[emsr2d2]

It would be easier for all learners if all English was written with easily recognised words and no slang/colloquialisms and alternative phrases were used. ;-)

 

[Amigos4]

Typically, Americans would not end this sentence with the word 'out'. We would use the word 'outside".
"...when it's lower than 25 degrees out." sounds Canadian to me.

What is the source for your news story?

 

[SoothingDave]

It doesn't sound that odd to me.

 

[MikeNewYork]

"Out" doesn't sound unusual to this AmE speaker.

 

[Olympian]

Typically, Americans would not end this sentence with the word 'out'. We would use the word 'outside".
"...when it's lower than 25 degrees out." sounds Canadian to me.

What is the source for your news story?

Sorry for the late reply. The new story appeared on Yahoo Finance (the link is in my original post). I don't have any other information which might offer a clue regarding a Canadian connection.

 

[Barb_D]

As two Americans have pointed out, it's totally natural to say "it's X degrees out."