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#201411 07/28/11 03:39 AM
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I wrote something a little while ago that put me in mind of the discussion here some time back on the difference between less and fewer, and when each should be used.

I was saying that I had telephoned someone and that I had gotten through faster than I'd expected to.

Should I have said more quickly than I'd expected to? Are there rules or customs re: when one should use fast and when quick is more proper?

Jackie #201412 07/28/11 04:03 AM
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furthermoreover, and in the second place, sport commentators talk about being fast and being quick as being two separate things.

tsuwm #201416 07/28/11 12:23 PM
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Fast for body and quick for mind? Maybe?

BranShea #201420 07/29/11 07:58 AM
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Jackie: I think it's your choice.
tsuwm: Sometimes they seem to be interchangeable, sometimes fast means able to get from one point to another in a short time and quick means able to make moves with the hands, feet, or head in a manner which fools or evades the opponent or gets one to the ball, puck, etc. more expeditiously than said opponent. There can be a difference, but they blend.

Jackie #201423 07/29/11 10:10 AM
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I'd say, at least in the context of American football (and probably real football, too), fast means being able to get from one end of the field to the other in a short period of time. Quick involves being able to do it without being interfered with by opponents.

Faldage #201424 07/29/11 10:36 AM
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Um, yeah. What I said.

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I find I use QUICK more to measure time
and FAST as an indicator of speed!

Candy #201429 07/29/11 03:21 PM
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Originally Posted By: Candy
I find I use QUICK more to measure time
and FAST as an indicator of speed!




I think that is my way of going at the problem as well.


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Fast food, speeding down the highway!

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speeding, quickly! !!


----please, draw me a sheep----
Jackie #201442 07/30/11 12:26 PM
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then there is the FOXTROT.....slow-slow-quick-quick-slow rhythm
One time ballroom dancers had the quick and the slow versions of the foxtrot...never a fast alternative!

Candy #201448 07/30/11 03:38 PM
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I love to watch ballroom dancing: The Fred Astair/Ginger Rogers
movies are terrific.


----please, draw me a sheep----
Faldage #201452 07/30/11 03:55 PM
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Originally Posted By: Faldage
I'd say, at least in the context of American football (and probably real football, too), fast means being able to get from one end of the field to the other in a short period of time. Quick involves being able to do it without being interfered with by opponents.
Yes, very true so. Per consquence this means quick observation, decisions, flexability, an eagle's eye; all things that have to do with keenness, mind.

(btw. some sports clubs here carry names like 'Quick'( my son's football club),
'Quick Steps' and 'Be Quick'. No sports club with the name 'Fast".

BranShea #201468 07/31/11 12:25 PM
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I wonder how 'quick' came to be used as related to finger and toe nails?

Jackie #201469 07/31/11 03:31 PM
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Praps with quick there is an element of shortness to the time involved. With fast there is an element of length. Or praps not.

Jackie #201472 07/31/11 03:46 PM
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fast, rapid, swift, fleet, speedy, quick, hasty, expeditious

These adjectives refer to something marked by great speed. Fast and rapid are often used interchangeably, though fast is more often applied to the person or thing in motion, and rapid, to the activity or movement involved: a fast runner; rapid strides. Swift suggests smoothness and sureness of movement (a swift current), and fleet, lightness of movement (The cheetah is the fleetest of animals). Speedy refers to velocity (a speedy train) or to promptness or hurry (a speedy resolution to the problem). Quick most often applies to what takes little time or to what is prompt: a quick snack; your quick reaction. Hasty implies hurried action (a hasty visit) and often a lack of care or thought (regretted the hasty decision). Expeditious suggests rapid efficiency: sent the package by the most expeditious means.
[AHD4] (italics added)

tsuwm #201480 07/31/11 05:42 PM
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a quick snack of fast food? smile

Jackie #201500 08/01/11 03:49 PM
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Z
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eaten hurriedly.

Zed #201509 08/01/11 10:07 PM
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Eat fast: an oxymoron?

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Heh

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Originally Posted By: Tromboniator
Eat fast: an oxymoron?
smile

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