sign off (was dialect in novels)

[Laurence Horn]

At 9:44 PM -0500 3/1/01, Tony Glaser wrote:
>>As it happens the Constitution requires the President to sign a document when
>>he signs off on it.
>>
>>                    - Jim Landau
>
>Not that I know anything about the constitution - but if he has to
>sign off on something to sign it, why  not just sign it without the
>two redundant and almost oxymoronic prepositions.
>
>Sorry, just a little pet peeve.
>
But as we've been saying there's no oxymoron (since the "off" and
"on" aren't part of the same constituent), and there's no redundancy
(since you can sign off on something without signing it and vice
versa, especially when you're not a President).  And even if everyone
did have to sign a document when they sign off on it, the two acts
are the same--I always chill a beer before I drink it, but chilling
and drinking aren't the same act.

Larry