# Is it correct to say: "I am out of stock of meat? " **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [March 21, 2015, 6:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-correct-to-say-i-am-out-of-stock-of-meat/715574 "2015-03-21T06:32:26Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![davidmich](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e56c9b/32.png) [@davidmich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davidmich)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2015, 6:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-correct-to-say-i-am-out-of-stock-of-meat/715574/1 "2015-03-21T06:32:26Z")
Hi, It sounds grammatically incorrect but I wanted to check it anyway. Is it correct to say: "I am out of stock of meat "?. “I’m out of meat” or “I’m out of everything” sounds correct. But “I’m out of stock of meat” doesn’t sound correct to my ears. I look forward to your feedback. davidmich ---
**Author:** ![Ignotus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/ecc23a/32.png) [@Ignotus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ignotus)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2015, 7:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-correct-to-say-i-am-out-of-stock-of-meat/715574/2 "2015-03-21T07:10:59Z")
To me, it seems as correct as saying “I’m out of supplies of medicine” or “I’m out of crocks of gold”. English is not my first language though. ---
**Author:** ![Claverhouse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/13edae/32.png) [@Claverhouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Claverhouse)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2015, 7:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-correct-to-say-i-am-out-of-stock-of-meat/715574/3 "2015-03-21T07:13:39Z")
Sounds fine if you were a storekeeper, or shop manager. ---
**Author:** ![SeaDragonTattoo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/df705f/32.png) [@SeaDragonTattoo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SeaDragonTattoo)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2015, 7:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-correct-to-say-i-am-out-of-stock-of-meat/715574/4 "2015-03-21T07:25:46Z")
More context might help, but I would be inclined to phrase something like that as, “meat is out of stock.” ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2015, 7:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-correct-to-say-i-am-out-of-stock-of-meat/715574/5 "2015-03-21T07:26:37Z")
It sounds a bit awkward, but not grammatically incorrect. I’d say, “I don’t have any meat in stock,” myself. Or just, “I’m out of meat.” ---
**Author:** ![thelurkinghorror](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7c8e57/32.png) [@thelurkinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelurkinghorror)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2015, 7:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-correct-to-say-i-am-out-of-stock-of-meat/715574/6 "2015-03-21T07:59:22Z")
> [@Claverhouse](#): > > Sounds fine if you were a storekeeper, or shop manager. Maybe not if you were a coroner. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2015, 5:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-correct-to-say-i-am-out-of-stock-of-meat/715574/7 "2015-03-22T05:45:29Z")
It’s grammatically correct. It does sound a little unusual to my ears, but not horribly so, and I can think of contexts where it would make sense. “What’s out of stock?” “We’re out of stock of chicken, fish, beef. Heck, we’re out of stock of meat.” ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2015, 6:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-correct-to-say-i-am-out-of-stock-of-meat/715574/8 "2015-03-22T06:43:04Z")
“Meat is out of stock.” ---
**Author:** ![doreen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/858c86/32.png) [@doreen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doreen)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2015, 1:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-correct-to-say-i-am-out-of-stock-of-meat/715574/9 "2015-03-22T13:10:07Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > It’s grammatically correct. It does sound a little unusual to my ears, but not horribly so, and I can think of contexts where it would make sense. > > “What’s out of stock?” > > “We’re out of stock of chicken, fish, beef. Heck, we’re out of stock of meat.” In that context, “We’re out of stock _on_ chicken,fish, beef. Heck, we’re out of stock _on_ meat.” sounds more natural to me. ---
**Author:** ![TwoCarrotSnowman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/twocarrotsnowman/32/15879_2.png) [@TwoCarrotSnowman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TwoCarrotSnowman)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2015, 1:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-correct-to-say-i-am-out-of-stock-of-meat/715574/10 "2015-03-22T13:42:31Z")
Doesn’t the descriptor “out of stock” refer to the product, rather than the vendor? If so, it would be more correct to say “meat is out of stock.” ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2015, 1:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-correct-to-say-i-am-out-of-stock-of-meat/715574/11 "2015-03-22T13:59:33Z")
It’s grammatically correct. It just sounds awkward because of the repeated of. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2015, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-correct-to-say-i-am-out-of-stock-of-meat/715574/12 "2015-03-22T15:29:31Z")
“86 Meat”. ---
**Author:** ![SciFiSam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/47e85d/32.png) [@SciFiSam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SciFiSam)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2015, 11:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-correct-to-say-i-am-out-of-stock-of-meat/715574/13 "2015-03-24T11:02:23Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > It’s grammatically correct. It just sounds awkward because of the repeated of. Agreed. And it would be understood by anybody. Awkward but comprehensible is better than elegant but ambiguous. “Meat is out of stock” wouldn’t have the same meaning (it would imply that there’s no meat anywhere! That could actually cause confusion if you were ordering meat from a specific trader in a specific food market that sold various goods) so I’d go with “we have no more meat in stock.” Plus an “I’m sorry to report that…” or something similar. ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2015, 11:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-correct-to-say-i-am-out-of-stock-of-meat/715574/14 "2015-03-24T11:43:51Z")
Native English speaker here: I had to read it three times to figure out what you were trying to say. My brain kept trying to turn it into, “I am out of stock meat,” as in, “I have no meat for making stock, a soup made out of meaty bones.” That being said, I cannot identify an actual grammatical error, it’s just not how anyone would actually say it. ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2015, 1:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-correct-to-say-i-am-out-of-stock-of-meat/715574/15 "2015-03-24T13:31:49Z")
> [@SciFiSam](#): > > “Meat is out of stock” wouldn’t have the same meaning (it would imply that there’s no meat anywhere! I don’t see that. If I go to a shop to buy something, and the staff tell me the item is out of stock, I would go to another shop looking for it. “Item, X is out of stock” would imply the unstated “in this particular shop.” I wouldn’t think they are speaking for all shops everywhere. ---
**Author:** ![chrisk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@chrisk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chrisk)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2015, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-correct-to-say-i-am-out-of-stock-of-meat/715574/16 "2015-03-24T15:45:37Z")
> [@WhyNot](#): > > Native English speaker here: I had to read it three times to figure out what you were trying to say. My brain kept trying to turn it into, “I am out of stock meat,” as in, “I have no meat for making stock, a soup made out of meaty bones.” > > That being said, I cannot identify an actual grammatical error, it’s just not how anyone would actually say it. I think it’s somewhat ambiguous because “stock of meat” is a phrase somebody could use for the stock/soup itself. (As opposed to stock of vegetables.) ---
**Author:** ![Kimballkid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b5a626/32.png) [@Kimballkid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimballkid)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2015, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-correct-to-say-i-am-out-of-stock-of-meat/715574/17 "2015-03-24T18:16:10Z")
We ain’t got no damn meat! ---
**Author:** ![johnspartan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/a183cd/32.png) [@johnspartan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/johnspartan)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2015, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-correct-to-say-i-am-out-of-stock-of-meat/715574/18 "2015-03-24T18:31:10Z")
Yes, it’s incorrect because what you would have in stock would be an item with some specificity. It’s not as if you’d say you have one meat and then it’s sold and you have zero meat, then some chicken gets delivered and you have one meat again. Meat is a broad category, not a specific item. Stock is amount of a specific item in readily accessible quantity and storage. So a store may find that fresh pork is out of stock, but not that meat is out of stock. Also-also… it wouldn’t really be used practically anyway, inasmuch as “chicken stock”, “beef stock” etc. are pretty common products with a completely different meaning. So you’re not often going to hear “We need to stock our stock of chicken stock” 😉 ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2015, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-correct-to-say-i-am-out-of-stock-of-meat/715574/19 "2015-03-24T19:43:11Z")
> [@johnspartan](#): > > Yes, it’s incorrect because what you would have in stock would be an item with some specificity. It’s not as if you’d say you have one meat and then it’s sold and you have zero meat, then some chicken gets delivered and you have one meat again. I’m not following you. Of course you can have meat out of stock. You don’t need to be specific if, in fact, all your meat is out of stock. There’s nothing grammatically incorrect about that. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2015, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-correct-to-say-i-am-out-of-stock-of-meat/715574/20 "2015-03-24T19:49:47Z")
> [@TwoCarrotSnowman](#): > > Doesn’t the descriptor “out of stock” refer to the product, rather than the vendor? This is the key question right here. Anybody got a definitive cite for an answer? [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-correct-to-say-i-am-out-of-stock-of-meat/715574.md?page=2)