of / from the shark

.
The cruel fisherman cut the fins off (of) the shark.

Hi MM,
I think I have heard of "cut off .... from". Is there any difference?

No difference; just awkward.

"Cut off" is idiomatic, but I often hear "cut from" in the sense of "removed from." "He cut the fins from the shark," in the sense of "He cut three minutes from his speech." "He cut three minutes off his speech" may be heard, but would be considered lower register, in my opinion.

He removed the jib from the mast. Not, He removed the jib off from the mast. Not, He r

How about" The boy cut off the bill from his cap with a boxcutter", Avangi?

The boy cut the bill from his cap, would be higher register, but to me, your example is fairly common.

The boy took his new cap out of the bag, and cut off the bill (tag?) with a box cutter. No one could fault that!

Vincent TeoThe cruel fisherman cut off the fins of / from the shark.

Looking back at the original, I'm wondering if Vin meant "off/from" or if he was thinking of the possessive. "The cruel fisherman cut off the shark's fins." " - - the fins of the shark." I should think in this sense, it would be permissible.

AvangiNo one could fault that!

What do you mean?

I meant bill to match the seriousness in the original. I guess it's no where near.

New2grammar The boy cut off the bill from his cap with a boxcutter

BTW, are we talking about the bill from the store, or the visor??

The visor.