based off = 'as a result of; by reason of; from'

[Ben Zimmer]

This one comes up every couple of years. Check the archives for "based
off" to find discussions from 2006, 2008, 2010, and 2013.

On Wed, Feb 5, 2014 at 2:51 PM, Mark Mandel <thnidu at gmail.com> wrote:
>
> Could be from "on the basis of" (which would sound quite proper),
> misread/heard/remembered.
>
> On Mon, Feb 3, 2014 at 5:50 PM, Jonathan Lighter <wuxxmupp2000 at gmail.com>wrote:
>
> > More Yahoo! news:
> >
> >
> > "Hawking earned his scientific reputation back in the 1970's based off his
> > theory of black holes as cosmic vacuums."
> >
> > Of course, "based on" might have been used instead, and it would have
> > sounded nearly as ignorant.
> >
> > To some of us.

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