| Kenneth G. Wilson (1923–). The Columbia Guide to Standard American English. 1993. |
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| sound, sound off, sound out (vv.) |
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| Occasionally commentators claim that the out is unnecessary: to sound means literally “to test or measure the depth, to fathom” figuratively “to find out what someone thinks.” But Standard American English much more frequently uses sound out figuratively: I’ll sound her out on the question. Sound off is Standard as a military command, in response to which a marching unit counts cadence aloud or each person in a formation standing at attention speaks or counts off in turn. To sound off meaning “to boast or speak loudly or opinionatedly” is slang: He was always sounding off about how rich his father was. | 1 |
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| | | The Columbia Guide to Standard American English. Copyright © 1993 Columbia University Press. |
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