[General] Weaning

[Tina3]

I wish you wean off from smoking.
You had better wean off from smoking.
You should wean off from smoking.

Are the sentences fine?

The phrasal verb wean off is not a common one.
She smokes a lot. I want her to embark on a programme to get rid of the bad habit.

 

[Tdol]

Quit or give up are more natural terms for smoking IMO.

 

[emsr2d2]

I've never heard "wean" used in relation to smoking. We generally wean a baby onto solid foods from milk. You can say "We are weaning our baby off milk" but more often you will simply hear "We're weaning our baby". Everyone knows what it means.

If I had to use it with smoking, I would say "I am weaning myself off cigarettes" not "off smoking".

It certainly isn't necessary to say "wean off from" - "wean off" is sufficient.

 

[Tina3]

People take a lot of alcohol, chocolates, meat, etc.

So the words wean off do not are not used here.
Only for babies, we use wean off.

 

[emsr2d2]

People [STRIKE]take[/STRIKE] use/eat a lot of alcohol, chocolates, meat, etc.

So the words wean off [STRIKE]do not[/STRIKE] are not used here?
[STRIKE]Only for babies, we use wean off.[/STRIKE] Do we only use "wean off" for babies?

I didn't say we only use it for babies. I said it was more commonly used in relation to babies. My main problems with what you said were your use of "wean off from" and the fact that you used "smoking" instead of "cigarettes". We normally wean ourselves/someone else off a substance, not an action.

I am gradually weaning myself off chocolate.
He is trying to wean himself off cigarettes.
My friend has been slowly weaning herself off alcohol.

 

[BobK]

:up: Note, Tina3, that in all those examples 'wean off' is transitive. Someone weans someone off something. Weaning a baby is different; you don't have to say what you're weaning it off because when the object is a baby the thing they're weaned off is milk.

b