Odds and ends

Hello!
When I was checking my students’ tests, I found some of their answers quite confusing. Even though the test is very simple, I still want to make sure that all of my corrections are accurate.

  1. Which word is the perfect synonym for the verb ‘start’ - ‘finish’ or ‘end’?
  2. Is the question ‘What are you?’ still used to ask about one’s job?
  3. ‘In the evening we often visit friends or we go to the cinema’.
    Is it possible to use the verb ‘meet’ instead of ‘visit’ with no change in meaning?
    Thanks in advance!

Thnx for such a prompt reply! One more question:
Is it possible to use the contraction ‘where’re’ instead of ‘where are’. I’ve seen it once on the Internet, however it seems odd to me.

Hi,

It seems odd to me, too. Just as a test, try to say it out loud!!

Alan

Good suggestion, Alan! I’ve tried, it’s impossible)

I beg to differ, if we visit our friends we go to their home, if we meet them we meet together at a different venue, say, at a movie theater.

Skrej wrote:

I beg your pardon, “finish and end” are antonyms of “start”, not synonyms.

Hello,
Could you help me to explain the meaning of “godish”? I looked up the dictionary but I could not find its meaning.

Here is context: “A savage, godish electricity ran through his nerves. From
his chest, a spasm rose.”
Thank you very much
Jung

Oh, excuse my inattentiveness, sure they are antonyms :slight_smile:

I agree, with respect. The verb ‘see’ may be closer to ‘meet’ here but still hardly interchangeable.

Assuming you look only at the definitions of ‘visit’ which cover going to someplace in order to talk, then you have a point.

However, in spoken vernacular we frequently use ‘visit’ to simply mean ‘talk with or discuss’, and in that context, meet/visit are interchangeable.