Maple  +  388897 Fri, 06 Jul 07 10:36 PM But the pair, openly hostile by the end of last year, will patch up their mutual differences. I can comprehend mutual interests, mutual respect, but what does mutual differences means? Thank you! Maple Joined on Tue, Jul 11 2006 An ESL student in China Contributing Member 1,110

	Cool Breeze  +  388898 Fri, 06 Jul 07 10:41 PM Hi Maple "What does mutual differnces means?" To my mind, nothing. It's redundant at best. Leave it out. Cheers CB Cool Breeze Joined on Fri, Apr 7 2006 Senior Member 3,979 "I hope you'll all live to be 150 years old - and the last voice you hear is mine!" Frank Sinatra on stage in Oslo, Norway, 28 September 1991

	Maple  +  388904 Fri, 06 Jul 07 10:54 PM Thank you, Cool Breeze!                                Have I just written "does...means"? How sad! What an ass I was! Maple

	MrPedantic  +  389242 Sun, 08 Jul 07 12:19 AM mutual differences It veers towards oxymoron. MrP MrPedantic Joined on Tue, Oct 12 2004 Veteran Member 12,592 ...opella forensis / adducit febris...

	Maple  +  389247 Sun, 08 Jul 07 12:45 AM Oxymoron, a new word.  Look it up in the dictionary, and I found these: a deafening silence a mournful optimist. Interesting! Maple

	Cool Breeze  +  389355 Sun, 08 Jul 07 09:43 AM  Maple wrote: Oxymoron, a new word.  Look it up in the dictionary, and I found these: a deafening silence a mournful optimist. Hi Maple I didn't know MrP's word either. Nothing to worry about! We don't have to know everything he knows. This is what I found in a dictionary (Random House Unabridged Dictionary, in effect exactly the same as Webster's): ox·y·mo·ron, n., pl. -mo·ra. Rhet. a figure of speech by which a locution produces an incongruous, seemingly self-contradictory effect, as in “cruel kindness” or “to make haste slowly.” Cheers CB Cool Breeze

	MrPedantic  +  389472 Sun, 08 Jul 07 03:19 PM  Cool Breeze wrote: We don't have to know everything he knows. I would have to leave the country and assume a new identity in South America if you did. MrPedantic

	Maple  +  389836 Mon, 09 Jul 07 01:49 PM  Cool Breeze wrote:   I didn't know MrP's word either. Nothing to worry about! We don't have to know everything he knows. This is what I found in a dictionary (Random House Unabridged Dictionary, in effect exactly the same as Webster's): ox·y·mo·ron, n., pl. -mo·ra. Rhet. a figure of speech by which a locution produces an incongruous, seemingly self-contradictory effect, as in “cruel kindness” or “to make haste slowly.” Cheers CB Hi, the online dictionary I like best is www.m-w.com, but somehow the speed of the openness of the webpage is very slow on my computer. So I don't use it often. About the worry-stuff, actually, I was not worrying. I was just curious and have found the point is interesting. Hmmm, yes, I'm really curious about the native speakers' points of view about the language. And I'm learning HARD! So I'm on the way sending MrP to the flight towards swamp in Brazil… Maple

	CalifJim  +  390140 Tue, 10 Jul 07 04:44 AM Mr. P. in a Brazilian swamp?  Will that work for you, Mr. P.? CJ CalifJim Joined on Mon, Aug 2 2004 California Veteran Member 22,463 "There are no facts, only interpretations" - Nietzsche