But this pales in comparison to the powerful acids

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Farya

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Would you kindly take a look at these sentences and tell me what "pales" as a singular noun means here?

Rain is never just composed of water. Chemicals and particulates[ in the atmosphere can be found in every drop, and some compounds— like carbon dioxide— make even regular rainfall slightly acidic. But this pales in comparison to the powerful acids produced when water interacts with oxides of nitrogen or sulfur dioxide.

thanks in advance

.
 

Barque

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But this pales in comparison
This is not very important/not very significant in comparison ...


You do know the origin of the exclamation "Gee", I assume? Soft g. It's short for Geez, which in turn is short for Jesus. It can sound odd from someone who doesn't follow the Christian faith or who doesn't live in a predominantly Christian country.
 
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Farya

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That point was interesting and believe it or not I had thought of it as a simple exclamation and had no idea about that cultural point. By the way, I'm sorry if it sounds inappropriate or outrageous.
And I do appreciate the explanation
 
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teechar

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That point was interesting and believe it or not I had thought of it as a simple exclamation
You're right. It is commonly used as an exclamation.
and had no idea about that cultural point.
It's actually so common now, that the "cultural" background is unimportant.
By the way, I'm sorry
There's no need to apologise.
if it sounds inappropriate or outrageous.
It's certainly not outrageous, but just note that it's informal, so it may not be suitable in certain contexts.
 

Barque

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By the way, I'm sorry if it sounds ... outrageous.
Not at all. Just thought I'd explain the background in case you didn't know.
 
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Tarheel

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I do appreciate the kind response.
Please note Barque's responses in this thread. They can be models for how to use the quote feature. (If you put your response first it doesn't look like a response.)
 
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