A question about some phrases using "office":
- out of office
- out of the office
- outside the office
Do they mean the same thing?
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No, they don’t. They are used in different contexts to mean different things. Is there a specific context or meaning you are interested in?– Tyler James YoungCommented Sep 10, 2014 at 18:43
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5 Answers
Out of the office: This means "on vacation". Example:
I will be out of the office until January 2. Please leave me a voicemail.
Outside the office: This refers to an area just outside the room. Example:
A long queue formed outside the office after the computer system became unresponsive.
By extension, it might also be used metaphorically to mean "while not at work":
John only shows his sense of humour outside the office.
Out of office: This is a completely different meaning of office: an elected or appointed government position.
After a series of unpopular decisions, the entire board of education was voted out of office.
answered Sep 10, 2014 at 17:12
out of office
doesn't make sense by itself. Since you are referring to specific office that is countable, an article is needed, as in example 2. It works with uncountable nouns though, for example:
I am out of coffee.
next
out of the office
This is normally used, as in:
I am out of the office until Friday.
Basically you are away from your workplace.
And finally
outside the office
This refers to a physical location in relation to the office, as in:
There is parking outside the office.
You could use outside of here with basically the same meaning.
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3Out of office is used in speaking of former officeholders: "George W. Bush has been out of office for almost six years now." Commented Jul 12, 2014 at 1:41
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However, the current business speak uses "Out of Office" (OOO) for announcing one's temporary absence from work: "I'll be OOO Thursday, back Friday."– JimCommented Jul 12, 2014 at 5:21
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In "out of office" as used by @StoneyB, this refers to a position or job title (in this example President of the US), while your examples as I read them refer to the physical office (the building that you work in). Additional detail of the meaning you are thinking of in your question would be helpful.– user3169Commented Jul 12, 2014 at 5:24
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@StoneyB Is "in the office" the correct opposite of "out of the office" or "outside the office" or both?– meatieCommented Jul 12, 2014 at 6:09
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1Although, I tend to reserve "out of the office" for absences from the workplace. If I fielded a phone call for someone who was merely on a smoke break, and the caller asked if they were out of the office, my reply would be, "no, they're here, they're just away from their desk, try calling back in 15 minutes."– JimCommented Jul 12, 2014 at 13:12
Out of office/Out of the office - Usually used as a communication in office mails to say that the person is away. For ex. I am out of office till Monday. I’ll address your query when I’m back.
Outside the office means that the person is just near the entrance or in the vicinity
Out of Office - More common in emails, when I send out company newsletters we get autoreplies saying 'out of office back dd/mm'
Out of the office - again used in emails, more of a formal thing but is more grammatically correct
Outside the office - Usually means when the physical being is only outside teh front door, no more than 6 foot away.
answered Aug 11, 2014 at 12:38
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I'd disagree that "outside the office" only means "nearby" or has any associated distance. To me it could also refer to anything not at work - "your activities outside the office are your business." or "The boss got in trouble for seeing his secretary outside the office."– mc01Commented Sep 10, 2014 at 17:19
No doesn't mean the same thing. To be out of the office and to be outside the office means two totally different things.