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off-set

English translation: at an angle to each other

06:54 Nov 11, 2014
English language (monolingual) [PRO]
Marketing - Real Estate
English term or phrase: off-set
The phrase comes from here:
http://www.realestateview.com.au/Real-Estate/4-2-12-crows-ne...

Located on the 1st floor of this landmark building, the apartment features timber floors throughout and accommodates 2 light filled bedrooms (main with built-in robe), separate internal laundry room, renovated kitchen and bathroom, spacious off-set dining and living room that opens out to the generous balcony with its sunny aspect.

What does "off-set" mean here?

Thank you for your help!
Marvin Sun
China
Local time: 20:52
Selected answer:at an angle to each other
Explanation:
I think that Charles is describing an open-plan rather than an off-set arrangement of rooms. I understand off-set rooms to mean that, while they are open-plan, they are arranged at an angle to one another or with the central axes of the rooms parallel to each other so that the opening from one to the other doesn't occupy the whole of that dimensional plane in either room, leaving some of that plane as wall space in both rooms. Hope that's clear!

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Note added at 6 hrs (2014-11-11 13:02:08 GMT)
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Just looked at Charles's links and they show what is meant more clearly than my explanation.
Selected response from:

B D Finch
France
Local time: 14:52
Grading comment
Thanks, I believe it means an L shaped open-plan space.Also thanks Charles for his contribution.
4 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer



SUMMARY OF ALL EXPLANATIONS PROVIDED
4 +3not a separate room but an adjoining space
Charles Davis
4 +2at an angle to each other
B D Finch


  

Answers


19 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5 peer agreement (net): +3
not a separate room but an adjoining space


Explanation:
"Off-set" is used to describe a dining room that is part of the same space as the living room, with no wall or door between them, but is an identifiably separate space. The best way to appreciate what it means is to look at these ground plans.

"Large living room with off set dining room"
http://photonet.hotpads.com/search/modelLayout/Move/377593/5...

"Featuring a spacious living room, off set dining room, and a large balcony"
http://photonet.hotpads.com/search/modelLayout/MoveFree/3967...

"off-set dining and living room"
http://images.realestateview.com.au/pics/346/4-2-12-Crows-Ne...

In other words, as the last example shows, "off-set diining and living room means a single space that serves as both, with identifiably separate sections for each purpose, but no partition wall between them.

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Note added at 22 mins (2014-11-11 07:16:10 GMT)
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In British English, which I am more used to, this arrangement is commonly called "open plan": "an open-plan dining and living area", for example.

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Note added at 49 mins (2014-11-11 07:43:06 GMT)
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It would have been a little more accurate, for your context, to say that the dining and living rooms are "not separate rooms but adjoining spaces": they are therefore strictly a single room, which is why it says "dining and living room" in the singular, not "rooms".

Charles Davis
Spain
Local time: 14:52
Native speaker of: English
PRO pts in category: 4

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  Tony M: Yes, as you say, I think more common in AE; I guess it comes form the fact that one room is 'set off' from another...
28 mins
  -> Absolutely: "set off from" must be the idea, and it's well worth adding that. Thanks, Tony :)
agree  B D Finch: After struggling to explain it, I finally looked at the plans you linked to and realised that a picture is worth a thousand words!
5 hrs
  -> Sometimes it really is. Thanks! You're right that all these examples are set at an angle, and that may be the defining feature of "off-set".
agree  Salam Alrawi: If you sit in one room you can see both room, open space or like you said adjoining spaces
12 hrs
  -> Thank you, Salam :)
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6 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5 peer agreement (net): +2
at an angle to each other


Explanation:
I think that Charles is describing an open-plan rather than an off-set arrangement of rooms. I understand off-set rooms to mean that, while they are open-plan, they are arranged at an angle to one another or with the central axes of the rooms parallel to each other so that the opening from one to the other doesn't occupy the whole of that dimensional plane in either room, leaving some of that plane as wall space in both rooms. Hope that's clear!

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 6 hrs (2014-11-11 13:02:08 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

Just looked at Charles's links and they show what is meant more clearly than my explanation.

B D Finch
France
Local time: 14:52
Specializes in field
Native speaker of: English
PRO pts in category: 16
Grading comment
Thanks, I believe it means an L shaped open-plan space.Also thanks Charles for his contribution.

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  Charles Davis: Yes, I think you're right. Not easy to explain!
15 mins
agree  Yvonne Gallagher: I think the angle is being referred (naturally, "adjoining" or "open-plan" follows on from "offset"). Look at plan in Marvin's link.
21 hrs
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