quotation marks

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Allen165

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Should "diversion" and "amusement" be in quotation marks?

As for the word "sport," it derives from Old French "desport," which means diversion or amusement.

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kfredson

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Should "diversion" and "amusement" be in quotation marks?

As for the word "sport," it derives from Old French "desport," which means diversion or amusement.

Thanks.

No, they shouldn't. Perhaps I am misunderstanding you, however. Is there some situation you are thinking of where quotation marks might be called for?
 

Allen165

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No, they shouldn't. Perhaps I am misunderstanding you, however. Is there some situation you are thinking of where quotation marks might be called for?

No, I wasn't thinking of any particular situation. I just thought I might have to use quotation marks because "amusement" and "diversion" are English translations of the word "desport."

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isedehi

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I don't think its necessary. You could but its better you do not. The reader has already got the picture with the first two. The other words are otherwise further explanations which should be left without quotation marks.
 

kfredson

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No, I wasn't thinking of any particular situation. I just thought I might have to use quotation marks because "amusement" and "diversion" are English translations of the word "desport."

Thanks.

I guess I don't understand what you mean. They are just basic English words. Thousands of words come from other languages, especially French. I wouldn't say they are translations; I'd say they are derived from. "Derive," too, derives from a French word: "deriver."
 

tedtmc

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Should "diversion" and "amusement" be in quotation marks?

As for the word "sport," it derives from Old French "desport," which means diversion or amusement.

Thanks.

'Derive' means to receive or obtain from a source or origin.
I think it is more appropriate to use 'is derived'.

Notice I didn't use quotation marks to explain the meaning of the word.

Not a teacher
 

kfredson

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'Derive' means to receive or obtain from a source or origin.
I think it is more appropriate to use 'is derived'.

Notice I didn't use quotation marks to explain the meaning of the word.

Not a teacher

Thank you very much for the correction. You may, in fact, be right. You will commonly see "derives from" used in the way that I did, but that doesn't make it correct. I would ordinarily use "derived from," as I did in the previous sentence of the earlier post. Perhaps there are other teachers out there who have insights concerning this.
 

bhaisahab

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Thank you very much for the correction. You may, in fact, be right. You will commonly see "derives from" used in the way that I did, but that doesn't make it correct. I would ordinarily use "derived from," as I did in the previous sentence of the earlier post. Perhaps there are other teachers out there who have insights concerning this.
I would say both "derives from" and "is derived from" are correct.
 

emsr2d2

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Thank you very much for the correction. You may, in fact, be right. You will commonly see "derives from" used in the way that I did, but that doesn't make it correct. I would ordinarily use "derived from," as I did in the previous sentence of the earlier post. Perhaps there are other teachers out there who have insights concerning this.

I would say "is derived from".
 

Raymott

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No, I wasn't thinking of any particular situation. I just thought I might have to use quotation marks because "amusement" and "diversion" are English translations of the word "desport."

Thanks.
No. With 'desport' you are referring to a word; with 'amusement' and 'diversion' you are referring to meanings. I've used quotes here because I'm referring to them as words not meanings.

I don't have a problem with 'derives from'.
 
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