Is the phrase:
A new lease of life
or
A new lease on life?
Lease/Life
- Slava
- Great Grand Panjandrum
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Lease/Life
Life is like playing chess with chessmen who each have thoughts and feelings and motives of their own.
Lease on/of life
I am surprised that the previous poll on this subject (two years ago in the Grammar section) went 4-0 in favour of "on". I have always heard and said "of". Google reveals 86,000 instances of "of" and 66,000 of "on".
Incidentally, the phrase (in either form) may be a bit of a cliché, but I wouldn't call it slang.
Incidentally, the phrase (in either form) may be a bit of a cliché, but I wouldn't call it slang.
- Slava
- Great Grand Panjandrum
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Good catch, Audiendus. I'd completely forgotten that I'd done this poll before. Sad that of all the "registered" users only 4 chimed in.
What made me post the poll was seeing "of" in a BBC article on the Internet. Perhaps this on/of question is one of locality. I'm in America, you're in the UK. I go for "on," you go for "of."
What made me post the poll was seeing "of" in a BBC article on the Internet. Perhaps this on/of question is one of locality. I'm in America, you're in the UK. I go for "on," you go for "of."
Life is like playing chess with chessmen who each have thoughts and feelings and motives of their own.
It looks like Slava has it right.
My Collins Cobuild English Dictionary, published in the UK, gives the phrase as "a new lease of life"
My American Heritage Dictionary, published, naturally, in the US, gives the phrase as "a new lease on life"
To me, "on" makes more sense because if I leased, for example, a car, I would say "I have a lease on a car" or "The lease on the car will expire next month."
To say "The lease of the car will expire next month" seems most unnatural.
My Collins Cobuild English Dictionary, published in the UK, gives the phrase as "a new lease of life"
My American Heritage Dictionary, published, naturally, in the US, gives the phrase as "a new lease on life"
To me, "on" makes more sense because if I leased, for example, a car, I would say "I have a lease on a car" or "The lease on the car will expire next month."
To say "The lease of the car will expire next month" seems most unnatural.
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- Great Grand Panjandrum
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I would say "on," but I can see where "of" can come from:
Then again, what do I know? I was a science major!
Perhaps it's a matter of whether you use "lease" as a noun (on) or a verb (of).Noun:
The lease on the care will expire next month.
Verb:
The leasing of the car will expire next month.
The lease(ing) of the car will expire next month.
Then again, what do I know? I was a science major!
Regards//Larry
"To preserve liberty, it is essential that the whole body of the people always possess arms, and be taught alike, especially when young, how to use them."
-- Attributed to Richard Henry Lee
"To preserve liberty, it is essential that the whole body of the people always possess arms, and be taught alike, especially when young, how to use them."
-- Attributed to Richard Henry Lee
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