In Nouns^x, Idioms^x, Clauses^x

In that case, the quote is probably: To quit in space is the same as to quit in the corridor.   As Clive points out, you need the as  in the sentence (always write the same as )  The infinitives can be used instead of the gerunds to give it more of a sense of 'if you do it', other than...

It's called heavy movement if I'm not mistaken. A heavy (wordy) phrase or clause is moved from its usual position in a sentence to make other grammatical relationships more clear. In the two cases under consideration, the movement occurs to place the head of the subject noun phrase closer to...

Inchoateknowledge wrote: something is in the making is a quite frequently used idiom : if someone is an athlete, star, writer, etc. in the making, they are likely to develop into that thing This young swimmer is an athlete in the making. (Cambridge dic) "an economic catastrophe in...

something is in the making is a quite frequently used idiom : if someone is an athlete, star, writer, etc. in the making, they are likely to develop into that thing This young swimmer is an athlete in the making. (Cambridge dic) "an economic catastrophe in the making characterized by...

Hi, HSS It's only a hunch but 'Pass for fair' didn't seem as an idiom to me. But I'm sure Fair could only be an adjective since it modifies the noun 'visage'. As a relative clause, 'which age turned more knowing and severe' can not suggest a question. It is acting as an adjective in the...

Hello MrP So I can only assume that either Dickens got his idiom slightly wrong, or ‘Child as he was’ had a simple complementary sense in his day. I feel your sense that children are not immune to hunger and misery is very modern one. Children of poor social classes in Dickens' times...

Thanks, Eagle, Paco, and MisterM for all your painstaking posts! Much to chew on. 1. It's odd that both your and K's dictionaries give this structure, which I seldom if ever hear. Maybe it's more common elsewhere. Sorry, all: I should have been clearer. I meant the ‘Child as he was…’...