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20-Oct-2006, 11:49
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| |  last but one
What is the other word for "last but one". It is on the tip of my tongue, but can't get it. |
20-Oct-2006, 13:32
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| |  Re: last but one
Penultimate. And the one before that is antepenultimate.
b |
20-Oct-2006, 14:19
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| | Re: last but one
Also Second to last or Second last |
20-Oct-2006, 18:40
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| |  Re: last but one
Quote:
Originally Posted by BobK  Penultimate. And the one before that is antepenultimate.
b | Which ( penultimate or last but one) is used more often in writing and which in speaking?
Best,
Nyggus  |
20-Oct-2006, 19:26
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| | Re: last but one
Quote:
Originally Posted by nyggus Which ( penultimate or last but one) is used more often in writing and which in speaking?
Best,
Nyggus | IMO, the most common form is "next to last". |
20-Oct-2006, 19:35
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| | Re: last but one
I found something interesting: penultimate/next to last
Best,
Nyggus |
20-Oct-2006, 19:46
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| | Re: last but one
Tnx, Nyggus, seems to be a nice resource. |
21-Oct-2006, 03:47
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| | Re: last but one
Maybe it's a BrE/AE difference, but I think that 'last but one' would be more common that 'next to last' in BrE. I checked with the British National Corpus and they gave 2 for next to last and 22 for last but one. They also gave 161 for penultimate, many of which appear to be spoken instances.  |
21-Oct-2006, 06:18
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| | Re: last but one
dictionary.com defines penultimate as 'next to last'. 'last but one' is descriptive but awkward to my AmE ear. |
21-Oct-2006, 10:53
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| | Re: last but one
Quote:
Originally Posted by nyggus Which ( penultimate or last but one) is used more often in writing and which in speaking?
Best,
Nyggus |
Definitely the second. Penultimate is formal, and antepenultimate only used in academic circles (I'd say). I only mentioned it because I thought you were looking for a single word.
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