What does “work off your tone” mean in this context from Modern Family?

Claire: (while walking on the street with her husband, Phil, she saw a guy on the other end and immediately frowns.) Oh, don’t look. There’s that jerk, Duane.
Phil: Oh, yuck.
Claire: i should say sth to him, shouldn’t I?
Phil: I gotta be honest. I was just **working off your tone**. Who’s Duane and why do we hate him?

Is “work off” here a phrasal verb or does this work specifically in this context only? What does the part marked in stars exactly mean? Thanks in advance!

Question

What does “work off your tone” mean in this context from Modern Family?

Claire: (while walking on the street with her husband, Phil, she saw a guy on the other end and immediately frowns.) Oh, don’t look. There’s that jerk, Duane.
Phil: Oh, yuck.
Claire: i should say sth to him, shouldn’t I?
Phil: I gotta be honest. I was just **working off your tone**. Who’s Duane and why do we hate him?

Is “work off” here a phrasal verb or does this work specifically in this context only? What does the part marked in stars exactly mean? Thanks in advance!

Answer

Ha! I love this and thanks for the context! Yes, "work off of" is a phrasal verb.

In this context it means "I was following you". So, he saw how she reacted and reacted in the way that he thought she wanted. But then she asked for advice and he immediately became honest because he actually has no option of Duane. 
It's cute. Very Modern Family 😁

Work off of:
To use X as an example
To follow
To adhere to

Answer

It’s slang, roughly for, “I’m just improvising on your tone.” In this context, “working” is serving as an intransitive verb, with “off of” as a preposition.

Answer

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