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old hand
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OP
old hand
Joined: Nov 2000
Posts: 866 |
(Look at ol' stales go - his second post in as many minutes!! There's more to come now that I've disocvered this site!!)
Another one that's bothered me a long time is that, in English English (well Australian English at least), we say, "The key fitted the lock".
In the US you say, "The key fit the lock".
Why?
Is the difference purely US vs. English English or should both be the same?
Stales
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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Yes, I think it's just a difference between UK and US English. Fit is a regular verb in the UK and irregular in the US.
Bingley
Bingley
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Sep 2000
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Allo Stales,
In Québec, Canada, we would never say the key fits the lock. The lock is definitely not wrapping the key around itself. We say 'the key fits in the lock' - just an other variation for your compendium.
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Aug 2000
Posts: 3,409 |
In Québec, Canada, we would never say the key fits the lock. The lock is definitely not wrapping the key around itself. We say 'the key fits in the lock' - just an other variation for your compendium.As an example of the even-handedness that makes NZers such remarkably effective peacekeepers, it is not at all unusual to hear both here, "the key fits the lock", and "the key fits in the lock." 
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Pooh-Bah
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Pooh-Bah
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- - - whilst, on the other hand, it is not an expression that I have ever heard in the UK.
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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Which one Rhu? The "fit the lock" or the "fit in the lock" expression?
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Pooh-Bah
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Pooh-Bah
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Neither, either or both. 
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