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Joined: Oct 2001
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veteran
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veteran
Joined: Oct 2001
Posts: 1,385 |
what do you do with unsplit hours?
While them away? Am I getting any closer?
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Joined: Sep 2000
Posts: 4,757
Carpal Tunnel
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OP
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Sep 2000
Posts: 4,757 |
> All the while, so to speak. I'm wild about your answer, TEd!
Main Entry: 1while
Pronunciation: 'hwI(&)l, 'wI(&)l
Function: noun
Etymology: Middle English, from Old English hwIl; akin to Old High German hwIla time, Latin quies rest, quiet
1 : a period of time especially when short and marked by the occurrence of an action or a condition : TIME <stay here for a while>
2 : the time and effort used (as in the performance of an action) : TROUBLE <worth your while>
Main Entry: 2while
Function: conjunction
1 a : during the time that <take a nap while I'm out> b : as long as <while there's life there's hope>
2 a : when on the other hand : WHEREAS <easy for an expert, while it is dangerous for a novice> b : in spite of the fact that : ALTHOUGH <while respected, he is not liked>
3 : similarly and at the same time that <while the book will be welcomed by scholars, it will make an immediate appeal to the general reader -- British Book News>
Main Entry: 3while
Function: preposition
dialect British : UNTIL
Main Entry: 4while
Function: transitive verb
Inflected Form(s): whiled; whil•ing
: to cause to pass especially without boredom or in a pleasant manner -- usually used with away <while away the time>
Y'all can blame this on Bill,  who got me thinking about these forms of the word. He remarked on the contrast with my Brit usage of whilst, which I gather is not much used in the States. edit:from encarta: [Old English hwîl “period of time.” Ultimately from an Indo-European word meaning “rest, period of rest,” which is also the ancestor of English tranquil and quiet.]
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Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 13,803
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Dec 2000
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Y'all use while and whilst both, don't you? And, if so, what's the difference?
And, no, we don't much use whilst cept'n only whenst we're try and to be cute and/or quaint
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Joined: Sep 2000
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Carpal Tunnel
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OP
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Sep 2000
Posts: 4,757 |
I'm afraid my wily answer is I don't know how I differentiate - it's one of those parts of your own speech pattern that you can't hear and that disintegrates when you try to examine it. I'll give it some more thought tomorrow when my brain's less tired! Mebbe some of the others will have a clearer take on it whilst I am indisposed. edit: I see my difficulty in discriminating is not without foundation! http://www.worldwidewords.org/qa/qa-whi2.htm
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