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Linkin Park sings "wash the poison from off my skin" in Castle of Glass.
Shawn Mendes sings "ripping all the skin from off my bones" in Mercy.

As far as I can remember these are the only two occasions where I have heard that expression. To me it sounds like it should be "off from" (if at all).

Is this normal, or did the artists just do it to get another syllable for their rhyme?

Raimund Krämer
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  • 'From off' is almost a variant of 'from' in these examples, although it does indicate that something was on your skin / bones. It would be slightly unusual in the UK. Where the 'off the N' PP is more cohesive, the double preposition usage is certainly used: '... came from off the pace to best a large and formidable field in Friday's $150,000 Yaddo' – Edwin Ashworth Nov 25 '16 at 23:06

1 Answers1

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The off in from off seems redundant, but such redundancy has a long history in the language. Here's the state of Massachusetts in 1780 making law about abandoned timber:

[I]f the owner or owners of such logs, masts, spars, or timber shall not appear and take the same from off said land....

And right up to modern times (from a 2000 memoir byHarry Altman):

... would pull the shoes from off their feet and would steal anything else that was accessible.

Off from is much less common, with the off many times part of a preceding phrasal verb, as in laid off, take off, etc.

deadrat
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