Re: Drugstore or pharmacy?

In article <WvqdnS0XJ8cpYjTVnZ2dnUVZ_rrinZ2d@xxxxxxxxxxx>, skitt99
@comcast.net says...
Robert Bannister wrote:
Wood Avens wrote:
"Skitt" wrote:
LFS wrote, in very small part:

*And a very good one, which we can still recite off by heart.
ObAUE: recite *off*?

Idiomatic and unremarkable ib BrE. Not so in AmE, then?


However, I don't see it as "recite off", but as "off by heart".

Neither one makes much sense, innit? In fact, the "off by heart" makes less
sense than the "recite off" combination, to my mind.

I know the Lord's prayer off by heart. I can learnt the school song off
by heart. He recited his lines off by heart after one night's rehearsal.

All unremarkable to me.

Oooh, look: http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/teachers/offbyheart/ - it's a
poetry recital competition.
--
Linz
Wet Yorks via Cambridge, York, London and Watford
My accent may vary
.

Relevant Pages

  • Re: "par coeur" origin
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  • Re: "par coeur" origin
    ... Neeraj Mathur wrote: ... "By now, you must be able to recite it off, pretty quickly. ... standard compound verb. ... You have a choice of 'by heart' or 'off by heart', ...
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  • Re: "par coeur" origin
    ... "By now, you must be able to recite it off, pretty quickly. ... standard compound verb. ... You have a choice of 'by heart' or 'off by heart', ...
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  • Re: Drugstore or pharmacy?
    ... Not so in AmE, then? ... "recite off by heart" = 246 ... Skitt (AmE) ...
    (alt.usage.english)