on and of

[jctgf]

"... was acquitted on/of several of the charges brought against him..."

hi,
the sentence above was originally written with the preposition ON but I would like to know if OF would fit it well.
thanks

 

[banderas]

She was acquitted of all the charges against her.
Five months ago she was acquitted on a shoplifting charge.

Both are correct.

 

[stuartnz]

I am not a teacher, but I would say either works just fine. "He was acquitted of all charges" would be unremarkable, but perhaps "on all charges" might be heard more often because of a parallel with phrasing often used when a judge asks the jury for its verdict(s): ON the charge of,..., do you find the defendant(s) guilty or not guilty?"

 

[jctgf]

thanks!

what about "war on terror" ? I know it's a well established term but could I say "war against terror" ?
and what about "the war of the society on/against the drug traffic" ?
thanks.

 

[stuartnz]

thanks!

what about "war on terror" ? I know it's a well established term but could I say "war against terror" ?

That would be very clear and acceptable. Interestingly, in light of the subject line for this thread, Sacha Baron Cohen played with "on" and "of" in the "Borat" movie, where he had his 'kazakhstani' character talk about the US "war of terror", which definitely does not mean the same as the "war on terror". :-D

 

[banderas]

thanks!

what about "war on terror" ? I know it's a well established term but could I say "war against terror" ?
and what about "the war of the society on/against the drug traffic" ?
thanks.

war on
war against
to be at war
war on two fronts
all of them are correct

 

[jctgf]

thanks, but what about "the war of the society on/against ..." ?
if OF the correct one here?
thanks again.

 

[stuartnz]

thanks, but what about "the war of the society on/against ..." ?
if OF the correct one here?
thanks again.

I'm not a teacher but I would say that it is technically correct. However, you would be much more like to hear or read simply, "society's war on/against ", rather than "the war of society on/against".