Longer and Shorter?

[tsdragon]

This came to me last night as I was driving up to the Legion post for a few beers (before, not after I had the beers). I was taking one of my "shorcuts" and thought to myself:

"This way never takes me longer then the other way, and sometimes takes me ..."

That's when I realized that the opposite of "longer" - "shorter" would not fit. To be grammatically correct I'd have to complete that thought with:

"and sometimes takes me less time." or
"and sometimes takes me a shorter length of time."

Does anyone else find this interesting?


Tracy Dryden

Meddle not in the affairs of dragons,
For you are crunchy, and good with mustard.

 

[SkipVought]

Maybe....

"This way never takes me [a] longer [period of time] th[a]n the other way, and sometimes takes me [a shorter period of time]..."



Skip,

_{[red]Be advised:[/red]When Viscounts were guillotined just as they were disclosing where their jewels were hidden, it shows to go that you should...
Never hatchet your Counts before they chicken!}

 

[tygressjanie]

You might be able to get away with it if you said "This way never takes me longer then the other way; it's shorter.

 

[MakeItSo]

How about "briefer"?

[blue]An eye for an eye only ends up making the whole world blind. - "Mahatma" Mohandas K. Gandhi[/blue]

 

[tygressjanie]

You know, I was so tired yesterday I was only focusing on the statement and how to solve it...you escaped my radar. It's THAN not THEN.

 

[CajunCenturion]

How about:

"This way never takes me longer than the other way, and sometimes it's even quicker/faster ..."

Good Luck
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[tsdragon]

There are a lot of ways I could say it, but why doesn't the obvious use of "shorter" to complement "longer" work?

tygressjanie: see my explanation of how I got "then" instead of "than" in the other thread.


Tracy Dryden

Meddle not in the affairs of dragons,
For you are crunchy, and good with mustard.

 

[CajunCenturion]

Interestingly, longer/longest is used regularly used as a comparative and superlative with both implied time and implied distance, but shorter/shortest is rarely used as a comparative and superlative with respect to implied time. I really don't know why.

Good Luck
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To get the most from your Tek-Tips experience, please read FAQ181-2886
As a circle of light increases so does the circumference of darkness around it. - Albert Einstein