When I was young, I was often curious when characters on American TV would occasionally mention cursive. I could never figure out what they meant, and it was mentioned rarely enough that I never really got enough context to figure it out. It also sounded quite strange as it sounded so much like the word curse (and a joke in a classic Simpsons episode is based on this resemblance).
I’ve noticed this phrase a lot online recently. I haven’t heard it much in real life, with it being an American-English term, but it certainly seems to have cropped up a lot lately.
Some of you might go to the gym regularly, to keep fit. Good for you, if you do. You might know that gym is short for gymnasium, which would be quite a long word to say all the time, so the abbreviation makes sense.
… and they’ll take a mile. Or, how about…
Give someone a centimetre, and they’ll take a kilometre.
Only one of these is an actual phrase in English, but it doesn’t make reference to the system of measurement in use in every country except three.
It seems like a stupid question, doesn’t it? You just… write them, don’t you? Well, yes, but there are some guidelines you can follow too.
Good question. And I think it’s one I’ve answered here and there across different posts, if not all in one go. It’s a question I’ve been asking myself more often recently.
Well, you can actually. You don’t always have to, but there’s no rule saying you can’t. But what exactly is an infinitive, and what does it mean to split one?
English-Language Thoughts 