Re:Why does my diet soda taste off? Aspartame hydrolysis
by tomjakubowski on Tuesday February 01, 2022 @06:30AM
(#30161195)
Off doesn't only pair with on. You may be at work, or off work, but not on work.
Another case where off is unpaired: "off-kilter".
Re:Why does my diet soda taste off? Aspartame hydrolysis
by OJFord on Tuesday February 01, 2022 @06:27AM
(#30161167)
I'm not suggesting a pairing, but I think expecting that it might be 'on' is perhaps a bit, er, off.
To me (BrE), 'gone off' is like 'has developed off-flavours', which is like off-course & on-course but also off-side & near-side.
Re:Why does my diet soda taste off? Aspartame hydrolysis
by pessimizer on Tuesday February 01, 2022 @10:59AM
(#30164233)
"On-side" is definitely a thing people say.
"Off" can also mean "away", though. If you "go off", you can "come back."
Re:Why does my diet soda taste off? Aspartame hydrolysis
by OJFord on Tuesday February 01, 2022 @11:19AM
(#30164632)
Oh yes that's true - but that's antonym to a different 'off-side'!
Re:Why does my diet soda taste off? Aspartame hydrolysis
by zomglings on Tuesday February 01, 2022 @06:01AM
(#30160997)
It may be unpaired in American English but maybe not in non-American dialects of English?
Have heard people from Great Britain say things like "x is on" before with roughly the opposite meaning as how we use "y is off".
Re:Why does my diet soda taste off? Aspartame hydrolysis
by shawabawa3 on Tuesday February 01, 2022 @07:30AM
(#30161609)
Not sure if it's only the UK but we also use "up" and "down" as synonyms in some sitations. e.g. "I'm up for going to the pub" and "I'm down for going to the pub" mean the same thing
Re:Why does my diet soda taste off? Aspartame hydrolysis
by FroshKiller on Tuesday February 01, 2022 @07:41AM
(#30161693)
This is also true in the US, although I would add that being down for something connotes a tiny bit more enthusiasm than being up for it, since "down" is also used in the context of making a commitment, e.g. "put me down for two boxes" or "I'll mark you down as present."
Re:Why does my diet soda taste off? Aspartame hydrolysis
by evgen on Tuesday February 01, 2022 @08:56AM
(#30162410)
The latter case is related more to 'writing something down [on paper]' than to a standard up/down usage that implies directionality.
Re:Why does my diet soda taste off? Aspartame hydrolysis
by drewzero1 on Tuesday February 01, 2022 @10:45AM
(#30164023)
And certainly being marked down has different connotations from being written up!
Re:Why does my diet soda taste off? Aspartame hydrolysis
by lupire on Tuesday February 01, 2022 @11:50AM
(#30165306)
Don't forget markdown and markup!
Re:Why does my diet soda taste off? Aspartame hydrolysis
by keiferski on Tuesday February 01, 2022 @06:04AM
(#30161016)
I don’t have much direct experience with British English but do people really say the soda tastes on to mean the soda tastes fine?
Re:Why does my diet soda taste off? Aspartame hydrolysis
by have_faith on Tuesday February 01, 2022 @06:06AM
(#30161034)
No we don't say that. We would only say that it tastes off. We really only use the opposite with regards to events, this event is on, Daniell's birthday surprise is on, etc.
Re:Why does my diet soda taste off? Aspartame hydrolysis
by keiferski on Tuesday February 01, 2022 @06:07AM
(#30161037)
Right, the usage is the same in the US. If an event is proceeding ahead as planned, it’s on.
An unpaired word is one that, according to the usual rules of the language, would appear to have a related word but does not.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unpaired_word