Legal Writing

?Based in? and ?based out of?

By Maeve Maddox

M. Arun writes:

Is it correct to say “I work out of New York”- to mean that one’s workplace is in New York. Or to say “I am based out of New York” to mean you live in New York? It sounds a wrong to me!

The use of “out of” described here may be a regional thing. It is not standard English.

Ordinarily, the expression “to work out of a place” is used this way:

Mr. Patel works out of his house.
Mr. Patel has a home office where he runs his business or fulfills the obligations of a job (telecommuting).

George works out of New York.
George lives in New York, or his company’s office is in New York, but his work takes him to various places.

As for “based,” a person or a business can be based in New York. To say that one is based out of New York seems to mean that the person or business is located somewhere other than in New York.

It seems a curious choice for someone to say “I’m based out of New York” to mean merely “I live in New York.” I suppose that the use of based in this context could represent an effort to distance oneself from the place lived in: I’m based in New York for now, but my real home is in Alabama.

Full post as published by Daily Writing Tips on May 17, 2010 (boomark / email).