questions

[Anonymous]

Hello!
Please explain the difference b/n following phrasal verbs
put off, put back, call off
are they interchangable?
Thant you!

[Susie Smith]

Hello!
Please explain the difference b/n following phrasal verbs
put off, put back, call off
are they interchangable?
Thant you!

put back = postpone
put off = postpone
call off = cancel

[RonBee]

I would say that put back means return something. Example:

• Tommy, put that back where it belongs.

Otherwise, I agree with Susie.

:)

[Susie Smith]

I would say that put back means return something. Example:

• Tommy, put that back where it belongs.

Otherwise, I agree with Susie.

:)

Put back has more than one meaning. I agree with you, but in this case it's obvious that the question refers to the meaning I used. Before I was initiated into the mysteries of the "British" language, I also knew only the meaning you know.

[Casiopea]

Put back has more than one meaning. I agree with you, but in this case it's obvious that the question refers to the meaning I used. Before I was initiated into the mysteries of the "British" language, I also knew only the meaning you know.

To my North American knowledge it has one general meaning.
I believe it's push back that you may be referring to, as in

Let's push back (i.e. postpone) the day of the meeting.

All the best,

Are there really 'mysteries of the "British" language'? Psst, what's the difference between English and the "British" language?

[Susie Smith]

Put back has more than one meaning. I agree with you, but in this case it's obvious that the question refers to the meaning I used. Before I was initiated into the mysteries of the "British" language, I also knew only the meaning you know.

To my North American knowledge it has one general meaning.
I believe it's push back that you may be referring to, as in

Let's push back (i.e. postpone) the day of the meeting.

All the best,

Are there really 'mysteries of the "British" language'? Psst, what's the difference between English and the "British" language?

Not really. None whatsoever. :wink:
George Bernard Shaw said that the United States and Britain were two nations divided by a common language.

In BE:
put back phr v to arrange for an event to start at a later time or date; postpone ( Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English)
In AE: same as RonBee said

Why anybody would call a trunk a boot or a hood a bonnet is a mystery to me. :D :wink:

[Tdol]

Why anybody would call a trunk a boot or a hood a bonnet is a mystery to me. :D :wink:

That's because you don't know any better.

[Susie Smith]

Why anybody would call a trunk a boot or a hood a bonnet is a mystery to me. :D :wink:

That's because you don't know any better.

Touché!

[Tdol]

Anytime.

[Casiopea]

Why anybody would call a trunk a boot or a hood a bonnet is a mystery to me. :D :wink:

boot, n., automotive UK, the sense “luggage compartment” evolved from the meaning “outside step for attendants on a coach.”

bonnet, n., automotive, UK, hood.

Hope some of the mysteries have been cleared up. :D