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Re: [OM] Common language, was Cleaning Old Price Tag

Subject: Re: [OM] Common language, was Cleaning Old Price Tag
From: andrew fildes <afildes@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Date: Sat, 26 Jul 2003 19:58:31 +1000
That's a common American usage I think. One of my pet horrors. The confusion of 'In a moment' for 'For a moment.' Shudder. It's rapidly becoming the accepted use (not while I live and breathe), like the substitution of 'pressurised' for 'pressured.'
Andrew

"The doctor will be with you momentarily."
"Oh, I need to speak to him for longer than that!"





And there's the one about the two Chicago-bound Brits on a plane NY - LA
and the flight attendant announced "We will be stopping momentarily at
Chicago". To which the Brits asked quite reasonably "Will the plane be on
the ground long enough for us and our luggage to get off?".

For the benefit of those who don't get it; the usual meaning of "momentarily"
comes from "moment" point or brief space of time;  "momentary" lasting only
a moment. The stewardess however, gave it the novel meaning "in a
moment".

Brian


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