Clear of ...

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HiI'm making a conscious effort to clear my mind of racing thoughts.---- Should it be "of racing thoughts" or "off racing thoughts"?

GPY · Accepted Answer

of

Sinhmani · Answer

The phrase "off " is NOT grammatically incorrect.
=> I'm making a conscious effort to clear my mind off racing thoughts. (CORRECT)
=> I'm making a conscious effort to clear my mind of racing thoughts. (CORRECT)

Now, look at this sentence:
I'm making a conscious effort to clear my mind off of racing thoughts. (CORRECT)

Note:
In America, "off of" is perfectly fine usage. Not just in spoken English, but in magazines, newspapers, and academic journals as well. “Off of” is well-established as standard in American English. (Google search identifies the usage of "off of")

Remember- It is simply no rule of English grammar that if a word could be removed it must be removed.

GPY · Answer

SinhmaniThe phrase "off " is NOT grammatically incorrect. => I'm making a conscious effort to clear my mind off racing thoughts. (CORRECT) => I'm making a conscious effort to clear my mind of racing thoughts. (INCORRECT) Now, look at this sentence: I'm making a conscious effort to clear my mind off of racing thoughts. (CORRECT)

I'm afraid I totally disagree with this answer.

* Since I wrote the above, the post I was replying to has been edited and an "INCORRECT" has been changed to "CORRECT". Nevertheless, I still disagree with other aspects.

Blue Jay · Answer

I agree with GPY. I'm making a conscious effort to clear my mind off racing thoughts doesn't make much sense.

Fivejedjon · Answer

Blue JayI agree with GPY

So do I.

Fivejedjon · Answer

Sinhmani => I'm making a conscious effort to clear my mind off racing thoughts. (CORRECT) => I'm making a conscious effort to clear my mind of racing thoughts. (CORRECT) Now, look at this sentence: I'm making a conscious effort to clear my mind off of racing thoughts. (CORRECT)

The first and third are not correct in BrE. I am pretty sure they are not correct in AmE.

Sinhmani · Answer

@fivejedjon, Sir.
I understand that there is no hard-and-fast rule in US usage , however,
And I am sure that in England, "off of" is supposedly ungrammatical ...

This almost makes sense, but where "of" would normally indicate what is leaving the speaker's mind, it is instead linked to "off" in the prepositional phrase, "off of trivial thoughts." This, however, would make sense:

Get your mind off of trivial thoughts and get back to work.

My opinion/reference:
Please review the following link on "complex prepositions".
http://grammar.about.com/od/c/g/comprepterm.htm

GPY · Answer

Sinhmani@fivejedjon, Sir. I understand that there is no hard-and-fast rule in US usage , however, And I am sure that in England, "off of" is supposedly ungrammatical ... This almost makes sense, but where "of" would normally indicate what is leaving the speaker's mind, it is instead linked to "off" in the prepositional phrase, "off of trivial thoughts." This, however, would make sense:

There are two separate issues here. The first is whether "off of" is an acceptable alternative to "off". In my view, "off of" is a loathsome abomination, but I know from previous discussions that other forum members do not necessarily agree, or, at least, would not express it as strongly.

The second issue is whether "off" is correct anyway in the original sentence. "clear X of Y" means to remove Y from X. My assumption is that this is the intended meaning of the original sentence. "clear X off Y" means to remove X from the surface of Y (as in "clear the plates off the table"). This does not seem applicable to the original sentence.

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