Anonymous  +  524906 Mon, 09 Jun 08 10:54 AM "They are fishing off the side of a pier." -- from a TOEIC preparation book. What does this sentence mean? I understand " by = next to " so " fish by the side of pier" makes sence to me. I don't understand why "off" is used here?Does "off" mean " away from" ?? Off = away from ?? So " fish off the side of a pier"  = "fish away from the side of a pier" ?  Does the original sentence mean "They are standing (far) away from the side of a pier to fish?"  Or it might have some other meaning?    Anonymous

	optilang  +  524916 Mon, 09 Jun 08 12:02 PM  It means they are standing on one side of the pier and fishing. optilang Joined on Tue, May 13 2008 Poland Senior Member 2,521 OptiNative British English Speaker Wherever I may roam, I'm still a Londoner.

	nona the brit  +  524931 Mon, 09 Jun 08 12:47 PM They are standing on the pier. They are fishing 'off' the side of it into the sea. nona the brit Joined on Wed, Sep 22 2004 England Veteran Member 11,713 The name says it all.

	optilang  +  525026 Mon, 09 Jun 08 04:13 PM I see nothing wrong with that. I was fishing on the pier when someone asked me to show them my licence.  optilang

	Grammar Geek  +  525071 Mon, 09 Jun 08 06:29 PM It's just a collacation. The lines goes off the pier into the water. Not all prepositions make sense!   Grammar Geek Joined on Tue, Jan 10 2006 Veteran Member 19,659 Barbara, who answers in American English. My housekeeping skills attest to the truth of the second law of thermodynamics: Left to themselves, things get more and more random!