A Twitter user has opened up an impassioned debate over an unlikely subject.
Dami Olonisakin, a London-based sex blogger known online as Oloni, said her friends were mocking her for using the word “offy” to refer to off-licences.
“Lmao they say the’ve never heard it before,” she tweeted in the early hours of Sunday. “People from the UK have you heard the term?”
Her question was met with a flurry of responses, racking up more than 2,600 likes and trending at number 10 on the social media platform by the afternoon.
For those unfamiliar, an off-licence (or “offy,” if you prefer) refers to a shop which has a licence to sell alcohol to consume off the premises – hence the name.
Read more:
- Boris Johnson earns £157,372 a year – but apparently can’t afford to pay for his own nanny
- 6 reasons why Princess Charlotte is the sassiest Royal as she celebrates 6th birthday
- Matt Hancock’s viral Guinness pint was actually photoshopped
- New ‘Prince Philip’ Royal Yacht is set to cost £200 million – and people aren’t impressed
- TikToker describes life in Whittier – the town where everyone lives in the same building
The writer said the “mixture of answers” she received in response were “hilarious”, with most users confirming that the abbreviation was, indeed, a thing:
Of course it’s an “offy”!! Very common saying ☺️🤷🏾♀️ I hope these friends are eating humble pie now @Oloni 😂😂 https://t.co/3jFCLjZXaX— Leah Charles-King (@Leah Charles-King) 1619963079
Any Londoner who don’t call it the ‘Offy’ is a psychopath! End of! #londoncitizens https://t.co/dcC7FQzksk— Mr Wuhan Clan 🐻🏳️🌈 (@Mr Wuhan Clan 🐻🏳️🌈) 1619963745
What? Doesn't everyone call it that? Was probably one of the first colloquialisms I used when I moved here 25 years… https://t.co/wZ9qKGNou1— And yet... (@And yet...) 1619963682
@Oloni I don’t trust anyone who refers to it as the off licence. It’s the offy all the way.— 💙ॐ🌳 The Lord II 🌳 ॐ💙 (@💙ॐ🌳 The Lord II 🌳 ॐ💙) 1619958747
Some referred to divides of some sort – be it north vs south, or leftie vs Tory:
@Oloni Only Tories have the time to say it in full, otherwise it's the offy— Heather Doole (@Heather Doole) 1619912289
@Oloni I can verify its certainly used up north as well. Chippy Offy etc However the terms in the picture below wi… https://t.co/N7klfkD0TU— Steve Langton (@Steve Langton) 1619951131
@Oloni Of course , the offy but mainly a southern thing. Older folks at least up north ie war generation used to call it The Outdoor— terry christian (@terry christian) 1619956528
i've been spelling it offie but i did get mocked once for using the word lappy for laptop computer https://t.co/fAmlfQ4oJC— Andrzej Cichocki (@Andrzej Cichocki) 1619963246
Others raised the more unconventional term of ‘beer-off’:
It's always been a "beeroff" to me but "offy" also works https://t.co/m3QunZIFGT— Sartorial Thug 🍸(Secretary of State for Bounders) (@Sartorial Thug 🍸(Secretary of State for Bounders)) 1619951495
While one individual shared an image of an ‘offy’ called, well, ‘The Offy’:
@Oloni There's an off license in my town actually CALLED 'The Offy'. Big sign on it and everything. https://t.co/t9WvShTddN— AdonisNimbus on Twitch (@AdonisNimbus on Twitch) 1619936947
Still, there were a number to whom the term was completely alien:
Never heard of Offy tbh. Sounds like an Essex thing 😷 https://t.co/nIVtEMM5NH— 💫 DANANN'S PUMPKIN PIE 💫 (@💫 DANANN'S PUMPKIN PIE 💫) 1619963550
no https://t.co/IySIJy9Qf9— Joseph (@Joseph) 1619962708
Oloni later shared her amazement at the reaction her query provoked.
“I didn’t expect this,” she admitted.
“But I’m off to go show my group chat now.”