what is the difference between "minute by minute" and "minute after minute"
what is the difference between "minute by minute" and "minute after miinute"
what is the difference between "minute by minute" and "minute after miinute"
If you search the Corpus of Contemporary American English for these two expressions, you will see that minute by minute can be used as an adverb:
...as well as an adjective:
In both cases, minute by minute describes the pacing of some kind of progress (usually a flow of information).
Minute after minute is substantially less frequent, and its usage is slightly different. It can also be used as an adverb:
But it also has two uses where it functions as a noun:
In the construction "minute after minute of _"
In the construction "for minute after minute"
As you can probably gather from these examples, the emphasis here is not on the pace but rather the duration: minute after minute emphasizes how something continues without stopping.
Asked: 2015-06-30 14:42:47 -0500
Seen: 17,067 times
Last updated: Jul 03 '15