I said “Hey you!”

He was keeping

Wallace River wrote in post #18923200
He was keeping

Hosted photo: posted by Wallace River in
./showthread.php?p=189​23200&i=i116679541
forum: Wildlife

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What was it that he was keeping?

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Tom Reichner wrote in post #18926973
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What was it that he was keeping?

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Oops sorry, he was keeping off into the woods. Was in mid-edit and something cut out. Thanks Tom!

Wallace River wrote in post #18927100
Oops sorry, he was keeping off into the woods. Was in mid-edit and something cut out. Thanks Tom!

Great picture!! .....but I do not know what "keeping off into the woods" means??

Thank you

Wallace River wrote in post #18927100
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Oops sorry, he was keeping off into the woods. Was in mid-edit and something cut out. Thanks Tom!
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Inspeqtor wrote in post #18927135
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Great picture!! .....but I do not know what "keeping off into the woods" means??
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I don't understand that, either. . Maybe Ian means that the Fox was staying in the woods.

I think that in Canada they might use some words and expressions that those of us in the U.S. are not familiar with.

Regardless of what Ian was trying to say, those woods do make for a nice backdrop in this photo.

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Sometimes "off" is used where other speakers would say "away." It might sound a little British to Americans, maybe stilted. But everyone understands "Keep off the grass." I understood "keeping off into the woods" to mean staying out of the open, retreating to the trees for cover.

And an afterthought: You have to hit on the right meaning of "keep," too. It can mean "keep oneself." Keep under the radar, keep close to home, keep to the right lane (U.S. drivers), keep back, keep out of trouble, keep away, keep to the trail.

Tom Reichner wrote in post #18927174
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I don't understand that, either. . Maybe Ian means that the Fox was staying in the woods.

I think that in Canada they might use some words and expressions that those of us in the U.S. are not familiar with.

Regardless of what Ian was trying to say, those woods do make for a nice backdrop in this photo.

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OhLook wrote in post #18927192
Sometimes "off" is used where other speakers would say "away." It might sound a little British to Americans, maybe stilted. But everyone understands "Keep off the grass." I understood "keeping off into the woods" to mean staying out of the open, retreating to the trees for cover.

I thank you both for your input to my question!

OhLook wrote in post #18927206
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And an afterthought: You have to hit on the right meaning of "keep," too. It can mean "keep oneself." Keep under the radar, keep close to home, keep to the right lane (U.S. drivers), keep back, keep out of trouble, keep away, keep to the trail.
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Yes, of course "keep" can be used that way, but it is very uncommon for me to see it used like that.

Maybe in times past it to be used that way more frequently. . Maybe in other English-speaking countries it is used that way regularly ... but here in the U.S. the word "stay" is the word that is normally used in those instances. . In fact, using "keep" for this sentence, "keep to the woods", is so unusual that it caused me to not be sure what it was that Ian meant to say.

I am interested in knowing if "keep" is normally used instead of "stay" in Ian's part of Canada, in everyday common vernacular.

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Tom Reichner wrote in post #18927248
. . . here in the U.S. the word "stay" is the word that is normally used in those instances. . In fact, using "keep" for this sentence, "keep to the woods", is so unusual that it caused me to not be sure what it was that Ian meant to say.

Shades of meaning are involved. Ian said the deer "was keeping off into the woods." I'd never see "He was staying off into the woods," and an alternative, "He was staying in the woods," probably wouldn't describe what the deer was doing. He wasn't settled in deep woods. In my mental picture, the deer was hesitantly shying away somewhat, at the edge of the woods, neither here nor there.

"Keep" in this sense sounds older or perhaps more literary than "stay," but I think it's still current. Aren't there road signs that say "Keep right"?

We drove around the Cabot Trail in Nova Scotia this week. It is a beautiful mountainous trail that hugs the the cliff faces in places, looking out over the sea (similar in ways to Highway 1 in California or the Garden Route in South Africa.

There were “ Look off’s “ at the side of the road. Where I come from, these would have been signed as “Look outs”.

Greg, if those lookoffs/lookouts were sections of shoulder, paved or at least leveled to accommodate parking, they'd be called turnouts here.

How do people ever manage to communicate!

Tom Reichner wrote in post #18927174
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I don't understand that, either. . Maybe Ian means that the Fox was staying in the woods.

I think that in Canada they might use some words and expressions that those of us in the U.S. are not familiar with.

Regardless of what Ian was trying to say, those woods do make for a nice backdrop in this photo.

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OhLook wrote in post #18927192
Sometimes "off" is used where other speakers would say "away." It might sound a little British to Americans, maybe stilted. But everyone understands "Keep off the grass." I understood "keeping off into the woods" to mean staying out of the open, retreating to the trees for cover.

Makes perfect English (that phrase) to this downunder bod so maybe the British instilled similar thought patterns

Wallace River wrote in post #18923200
He was keeping

Ian that's a very nice photo. You caught it very well.

Gregsiem wrote in post #18927272
We drove around the Cabot Trail in Nova Scotia this week. It is a beautiful mountainous trail that hugs the the cliff faces in places, looking out over the sea (similar in ways to Highway 1 in California or the Garden Route in South Africa.

There were “ Look off’s “ at the side of the road. Where I come from, these would have been signed as “Look outs”.

OhLook wrote in post #18927326
Greg, if those lookoffs/lookouts were sections of shoulder, paved or at least leveled to accommodate parking, they'd be called turnouts here.

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In most places that I frequent, they would be called turnouts if they were simply areas of wide shoulder to facilitate getting off the road temporarily .... such as, "slower traffic use turnouts" (to allow other motorists to pass).

If they were places specifically created to provide motorists with areas to get off the highway in order to enjoy pleasing vistas, then they would be called "overlooks" or "scenic overlooks" or "scenic views" or "scenic viewpoints". . This is the lingo that I most often see on road signs for such parking areas.

I have not seen the terms "lookout" or "look off" used for such areas ..... probably because I only travel here in the U.S., where terminology differs from that used in other English-speaking nations.

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Good grief. I agree with all of you. He was keeping away from the world, off to himself, in the edge of the woods, and not out in the open. I often keep to myself, which is different than staying to myself.