Repair, fix and mend

[graham]

• Repair
  
• Fix
  
• Mend
  

Do the above three words have the same meaning?

I am asking because one of our Directors of Studies told me he had a dream about having to explain to me their precise meanings. I was stumped for a witty reply, principally, because I think they mean roughly the same thing.

Congratulations with the board. It looks great! Why didn't you all think of it before? Do you miss not having a weekly thread on the pluralization of CD's.

[Dave M]

Hi, graham

They're fairly close, certainly: if something is broken, you can fix/repair/mend it. But they're not "pure synonyms", in that each has its own special uses:

Americans will say "I'll fix you some breakfast" (which makes Britons wonder quite how they broke it in the first place).

When someone improves their actions and manner, they mend their ways, but do not "repair" them.

When, in older texts, someone repairs to the garden, they're going there, not fixing it!

[Vadim]

Excellent response there Dave, maybe this thread could go in the above forum.

However, I'd love to know more about the "repairs to the garden". I must admit, I have never heard this being used. I'll have to try it out on my mother tonight!

[Dave M]

> Do you miss not having a weekly thread on the pluralization of CD's <

Aha! That "miss not" construction! I have tried and failed to explain to my other half that, for example, I miss HAVING a tent; I can't miss NOT HAVING a tent, because I do in fact currently not have one!

Only yesterday, I heard someone ask my recently-retired neighbour: "Do you miss not having to go to work?" - when surely what he might miss is HAVING to go to work, no?

[Dave M]

> more about the "repairs to the garden"

It's a rather old-fashioned phrase, as in "Shall we repair to the drawing-room?". To "repair to somewhere" means to take yourself off to that place, usually used in the sense of "to that place rather than staying here". You wouldn't say "On Saturday I'm repairing to the match in town", but you might say "Having had my fill of sunbathing around the pool, I repaired to the cool of the inside bar".

(Blast! I want a tall cool cocktail, now!)

[Barry]

As Dave says, a lot of the difference is in the history/geography of usage. I'd also suggest that, from a UK English point of view, there's a slight difference between repair and mend; you'd use repair for all sorts of things, but you'd generally only use mend for something fairly simple. I'd use repair, for example, for a piece of machinery, but I wouldn't use mend. I think fix in all its connotations tends to be more of an American usage, albeit imported to the UK:

I'l fix the broken sash-cord
I'll fix us a drink
I'll fix you up with a date tonight
Jim'll fix it

[Tone]

You might wish to persuade someone to fix a horse race, but to repair/mend it?

(No way a TS, there, then.)

Tone

[Sue M-V]

Vadim, I'd think twice about using repair to the garden if I were you! It has a slightly Victorian ring to it, and though Dave M might get away with it in a relatively formal context, talking to someone even older than he is ( ;D), and someone with a classical education, coming from someone as young as you, it might sound odd.

It would also depend a lot on whom you said it to, of course. It doesn't sound like the sort of thing you would say to your mother (I doubt Dave would say it to his). You definitely wouldn't say it to your car mechanic:

"I'll repair to yon café while you repair my vehicle."

I'd put this into your passive vocabulary, to be understood, rather than used by you.

Sue

[Vadim]

Jun 17, 2008 22:38:03 GMT Sue M-V said:

Vadim, I'd think twice about using repair to the garden if I were you! It has a slightly Victorian ring to it, and though Dave M might get away with it in a relatively formal context, talking to someone even older than he is ( ;D), and someone with a classical education, coming from someone as young as you, it might sound odd.

It would also depend a lot on whom you said it to, of course. It doesn't sound like the sort of thing you would say to your mother (I doubt Dave would say it to his). You definitely wouldn't say it to your car mechanic:

"I'll repair to yon café while you repair my vehicle."

I'd put this into your passive vocabulary, to be understood, rather than used by you.

Sue

I wish you had told me that before I went home to see my mum for a home-coked dinner.

*Rubs back of head where hand imprint remains*

[Verbivore]

Jun 17, 2008 22:46:37 GMT Vadim said:

[...] a home-coked dinner.[...]

Ooh, Vadim - just what ingredients does your mother use? ;D (Sorry - couldn't resist.)

[Vadim]

Am I missing something again, Verbivore?

Have I mistakingly transformed my mother into a cooker of homes, or was your inquiry merely based on your appetite?

[Dave M]

Home-COKED, Vadim. (Where else does she normally add the coke?)

[Vadim]

Oh come on! That was merely a typo! Never-mind, I'll keep hold of the cloth for a little while longer .

Come to think of it though, I do sometimes hallucinate after eating one of my mother's home-COOKED meals. I could of sworn there was two cream buns on a plate, but then, they just disappear!

[Verbivore]

Jun 18, 2008 10:17:11 GMT Vadim said:

Oh come on! That was merely a typo! [...]

I figured that, Vadim. Sometimes, though, typos get a mention if they appeal to one's funnybone (twisted as it may be). It's not a sackcloth offence. Even though I'm careful to preview and proofread my posts (and all manner of things that I type), I still manage to let the occasional blooper through - and am prepared to take the consequent ribbing. ;D

[Dave]

Jun 18, 2008 10:17:11 GMT Vadim said:

I could of sworn there was two cream buns on a plate, but then, they just disappear!

Uh-oh! Perhaps could've or could have, but never could of!

And the number agreement would make your was a were.