ESL General English Grammar Questions

Re: cut/curtail/shorten the length of his speech draft

Marius Hancu — Wed, 12 Mar 2008 15:24:43 GMT

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SHORTEN commonly implies reduction in length or duration

CURTAIL generally adds to SHORTEN the idea of docking, a cutting that in some way deprives of completeness

Merriam Webster Unabridged Dictionary

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I think this example from the New York Times shows the approppriateness of the expression:

New Yorkers, etc. - New York Times

Ms. Nagel said she prefers, as do most people, to curtail the length of a personal conversation by saying something like: "I love talking to you but we'll ...

Re: cut/curtail/shorten the length of his speech draft

Angliholic — Wed, 12 Mar 2008 13:14:24 GMT

Thanks, Mister.

But the dictionary says curtail and cut/shorten are synonyms, so I'm shocked to read your post.

Re: cut/curtail/shorten the length of his speech draft

Mister Micawber — Wed, 12 Mar 2008 13:02:35 GMT

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No. Curtail is wrong; it means place restrictions on, terminate or abbreviate before its intended or proper end or its full extent.

cut/curtail/shorten the length of his speech draft

Angliholic — Wed, 12 Mar 2008 12:17:46 GMT

The teacher suggested that Albert cut/curtail/shorten the length of his speech draft to avoid rushing through all the material.

Hi,

Do all of the bolded words fit in the above and mean about the same to you? Thanks.