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Smth ‘can be a real lifeline’



 
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ESL Forums | English Vocabulary, Grammar and Idioms
What is "concessive language"? | "Drop me a line" vs. "Drop me a few lines"
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Smth ‘can be a real lifeline’ Thu Dec 14, 2006 10:19 am  Smth ‘can be a real lifeline’
 

Hi

For many people with MS*, particularly those with reading, writing or communication difficulties, a computer can be a real lifeline.

* MS - multiple sclerosis
( lol )

Some dictionary when taking the ‘lifeline’-request actually give an article for life line. (Or life-line).
And vice versa.
There are also live line / liveline / live-line

Could you give a comment about differences in meaning(s) (if any) and your preferable spelling of the word(s?)
?
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Smth ‘can be a real lifeline’ Thu Dec 14, 2006 10:56 am  Smth ‘can be a real lifeline’
 

Hi Tamara
Don't you think that lifeline and live line are words of quite different meanings
As I see it, live line deals with voltage.
Pamela
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Smth ‘can be a real lifeline’ Thu Dec 14, 2006 14:34 pm  Smth ‘can be a real lifeline’
 

Hi Pamela,

Yes, I had checked dictionaries before posting.

Quote:
lifeline and live line are words of quite different meanings
As I see it, live line deals with voltage.

And yes again, I am aware of that.

But sometimes it is used this way:
http://www.britishweatherservices.co.uk/live_line.htm

...My initial question was rather about the (preferable) spelling for:
lifeline
life-line
life line
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Joined: 25 May 2006
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Smth ‘can be a real lifeline’ Thu Dec 14, 2006 15:05 pm  Smth ‘can be a real lifeline’
 

Hi Tamara

Here are my interpretations:

Lifeline:
(1) A rope on a ship or boat used for rescuing people in the water
(2) Assistance given at any critical time/in any critical situation
See also the definitions here.

Life line:
A line on the palm of your hand that fortunetellers "read" (to tell you how long your life will be).

Life-line:
(I wouldn't use a hyphen to talk about either one of the above.)

Live line:
This is simply an adjective and a noun and could refer to any line that is "live". For example:
- a line with electrical current
- a working telephone line
- a phone number that connects you to a real person rather than recordings or computers

Liveline:
An invented word (which I don't think I've ever seen before) or possibly the name of something.

Live-line:
If you've actually seen this, I'd say that it's either an invented word or the person just doesn't know how to spell 'lifeline'. Laughing

Amy
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Yankee
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Smth ‘can be a real lifeline’ Fri Dec 15, 2006 9:59 am  Smth ‘can be a real lifeline’
 

Hi Amy,

Thanks a lot for your interpretation.
Quote:
lifeline
(2) Assistance given at any critical time/in any critical situation
Quote:
live line:
- a phone number that connects you to a real person rather than recordings or computers

I understand that I feel the words being 'close' and tend to mix them up just because they both can have the meaning 'supportive communication' or something like that.

For example, a phone line that provides vulnerable people some advice and personal assistance at their critical time, not even asking their names, can be referred both as ‘lifeline’ and ‘live live’ – within your interpretation.

Just to add a word here, a lifeline across the Ladoga (that was operated in the period of the Leningrad blockade) in Russian is called "Road of Life" ("Doroga Zhizni", literally).

PS
Yankee wrote:
life line:
A line on the palm of your hand that fortunetellers "read" (to tell you how long your life will be).
The link you gave is a good example that it is also can be
lifeline noun
1. a crease on the palm; its length is said by palmists to indicate how long you will live [syn: line of life]
WordNet® 2.1, © 2005 Princeton University
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Smth ‘can be a real lifeline’ Fri Dec 15, 2006 10:22 am  Smth ‘can be a real lifeline’
 

Hi Tamara

I do not consider lifeline and live line to be interchangeable. However, a lifeline might consist of or include a live line in some cases.

A lifeline at a critical juncture carries the sense that it saves someone's life -- i.e. that's the degree of 'critical' I'm referring to.

A "live line" could also be, for example, one of those "erotic phone numbers" that you sometimes see advertised on TV in the middle of the night ... Rolling Eyes

Amy
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Amy
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ESL teacher, translator, and a native speaker of American English
Yankee
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Joined: 16 Apr 2006
Posts: 7834
Location: USA

Smth ‘can be a real lifeline’ Fri Dec 15, 2006 10:45 am  Smth ‘can be a real lifeline’
 

Quote:
a lifeline might consist of or include a live line in some cases.

Yes, Amy, I meant just that (= 'a live line can be a lifeline in some cases.' )
Not saying a word about a place of 'erotic live lines' in smb(s)' lives. Smile

and I don't/didn't insist the words are generally interchangeable.
(Just trying to consider/play with them in the context of the phrase from my initial post.)

Thank you, indeed. Now I feel more confident with the words.
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Tamara
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Location: UK

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