A-Z of Bloopers - O

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Off day or day off

As an expatriate in Singapore, you can imagine my surprise when I first heard the term 'off day' mentioned by a fellow-teacher: She said, "I'm having an off day on Monday." I thought she must be psychic or something and could see into the future. Where I come from, an off day is when things aren't going smoothly or things are going wrong. When you are taking leave from your work, it is your day off.

Outstation

The word outstation seems to be used a lot in Southeast Asia. It dates back to colonial times when a person was not at his/her station. Unfortunately many people in the rest of the world would not understand this. Why not say: not in the office, out of the office, overseas?