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Hello all! I was looking for a lyric of Eminem's song and found this; Pry your f***ing mouth up off of it. What did he mean actually?Which idiom was used? Pry off or pry up?Thanks. :-)

Clive · Accepted Answer

Hi,

I don't know the song, but this seems like it may be a sexual reference.

Can you possibly revise this into a non-sexual example?

Thank you.
Clive

Enoon · Answer

I thought rap stank before I read the "lyrics" to this "song". Why subject yourself to that? His movie was actually pretty good, though.

What you are reading is not exactly English. It's a kind of poetry, for one thing, and a kind that revels in trampling the rules even more than other kinds. Also, it employs what is sometimes called African American Vernacular English, which is a creole that developed among American black people over the course of their history here. "Up off of" is part of that creole, and that use of "up", especially, is characteristic. African American Vernacular English resembles an argot to some extent, so only a native speaker of it could tell you exactly what the import of that "up" is, but as I understand it, it serves as an intensive often signifying propinquity.

Nugso · Answer

@Clive

I mean his way of using idioms confused me. Let me explain it clearer;
I came up off of my phone so that I did not get stabbed. Like in this sentence; both come UP and come OFF are idioms and I do not know which one is the 'main' idiom here.
As Eminem said;

Pry your "whatever it is" up off of it.

And sorry I might have not given a proper example. Nothing came to my mind. :/
@Enoon

So Eminem used an informal English( It's a blackish slang, as you said or as I have understood). Well, are there any sentence include two idioms but have the same first word ie taking off out it.( I know this does not make any sense).

Hope I have explained it, sorry for my bad english.

Thank you.

Clive · Answer

Hi,

@Clive

I mean his way of using idioms confused me. Let me explain it clearer;
I came up off of my phone so that I did not get stabbed.I have no idea what this means. Probably just "I stopped talking on the phone and paid attention to my surroundings".

Like in this sentence; both come UP and come OFF are idioms and I do not know which one is the 'main' idiom here.
As Eminem said;

Pry your "whatever it is" up off of it.

And sorry I might have not given a proper example. Nothing came to my mind.

Consider this example.

Tom was talking to me. His hand was on the table.

His hand came up off of the table, and punched me on the nose.

The idea here is

His hand came off the table, ie left contact with the table

His hand came up.

'Off of'' is a somewhat uneducated variant of 'off'. Although some people might disagree with me about 'uneducated'.

And consider this opinion..

Unless your English is perfect in more standard contexts, I think you are wasting your time studying rap lyrics. Most native speakers do not understand all this stuff.

Clive

Nugso · Answer

Thank you, things have gotten clearer now! Also about your last suggestion; Do you know a site where I can do a quiz which helps me to learn my English level( advanced, upper intermediate, intermediate or lower intermediate etc) thus I can improve my english easier. :-)

Thank you again.

Clive · Answer

Hi,

I don't know of any specific sites.

Try googling 'what level is my English'.

Clive

CalifJim · Answer

NugsoWhich idiom was used? Pry off or pry up?

I don't see an idiom here. Prying involves an upward motion. "up" is an adverb. It's redundant, though -- there is no "pry down" -- so "up" only intensifies the directionality already present in the verb "pry".

"off of" is a variant form of the preposition "off". "off it" or "off of it" is like saying "so that they become separated, detached".

We had to pry the cap (up) off (of) the bottle.

Similarly,

The arresting officers had to force the suspect (down) onto the ground.

In this example it may be more obvious that it is not a question of some sort of phrasal verb "force down" versus a phrasal verb "force onto". It's neither. Phrasal verbs don't enter into it.

CJ

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