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Pay in cash vs. pay by check



 
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Pay in cash vs. pay by check #1 (permalink) Thu Apr 26, 2007 2:16 am   Pay in cash vs. pay by check
 

Hi,

I'm getting curious about these two everyday expressions:

Pay in cach and pay by check.

I feel that it's yet tolerable to say 'pay by cash' but not to say 'pay in check'.

Could you please tell me why 'in cach' but 'by check'? Or they are just idiometic?

Thank you!

Haihao
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Pay in cash vs. pay by check #2 (permalink) Thu Apr 26, 2007 5:42 am   Pay in cash vs. pay by check
 

.
I'd say (for want of a brainstorm) that the usage is idiomatic: 'pay in cash'; 'pay by check'; 'pay by credit card'. ''Pay with a check/with my credit card/with cash'.

A googling, out of curiosity:

176,000 English pages for "pay with cash".
612,000 English pages for "pay in cash"
275,000 English pages for "pay by cash"

1,220,000 English pages for "pay by check"
1,430 English pages for "pay in check"

Whatever else holds true, evidently the check is the more popular instrument!
.
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Pay in cash vs. pay by check #3 (permalink) Fri Apr 27, 2007 0:11 am   Pay in cash vs. pay by check
 

'evidently the check is the more popular instrument!' comforts me satisfactorily, Mr. Micawber. :)
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Pay in cash vs. pay by check #4 (permalink) Sat Apr 28, 2007 14:22 pm   Pay in cash vs. pay by check
 

Mister Micawber wrote:
.
I'd say (for want of a brainstorm) that the usage is idiomatic: 'pay in cash'; 'pay by check'; 'pay by credit card'. ''Pay with a check/with my credit card/with cash'.

A googling, out of curiosity:

176,000 English pages for "pay with cash".
612,000 English pages for "pay in cash"
275,000 English pages for "pay by cash"

1,220,000 English pages for "pay by check"
1,430 English pages for "pay in check"

Whatever else holds true, evidently the check is the more popular instrument!
.

How many of these Google results were on pages from English-speaking countries, and how many were written by non-native speakers? "Pay by cash" sounds like foreigner English to my fallible ears.
Jamie (K)
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Pay in cash vs. pay by check #5 (permalink) Sat Apr 28, 2007 15:10 pm   Pay in cash vs. pay by check
 

.
There is no shame in fallibility, Jamie. Let us know how your research on website origins goes.
.
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Pay in cash vs. pay by check #6 (permalink) Sun Apr 29, 2007 17:28 pm   Pay in cash vs. pay by check
 

Just to add my two pence worth: 'pay cash', i.e. without preposition, is a very common way of saying it.
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Pay in cash vs. pay by check #7 (permalink) Tue May 01, 2007 0:13 am   Pay in cash vs. pay by check
 

Whereas pay check is something way off what was talked about here and always very welcome by me. :D
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Pay in cash vs. pay by check #8 (permalink) Tue May 01, 2007 7:41 am   Pay in cash vs. pay by check
 

Hi,

And now a euro's worth (Oh how I wish we in the UK used the euro!); That'll be a cash payment.

A
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Pay in cash vs. pay by check #9 (permalink) Tue May 01, 2007 9:40 am   Pay in cash vs. pay by check
 

I've always used "pay in cash" and "pay by check" i don't know why , it seems natural to me... :)
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In Trivial Pursuit of the Euro (or Counter-eulogy) #10 (permalink) Tue May 01, 2007 10:16 am   In Trivial Pursuit of the Euro (or Counter-eulogy)
 

Alan wrote:
And now a euro's worth (Oh how I wish we in the UK used the euro!);


I don't want to pursue a dispute of the euro issue or even accuse you of deluding yourself, but if you used the euro in the UK, I assume you wouldn't be too euphoric (view it as a pure euphemism) at first, as you'd need to get used to the unusual, unique, uniform, unifying, singular, not too alluring and sometimes abused currency unit of the European Union (phew!).

My immune view on the soluble issue might be inaccurate and refutable, but it hopefully won't raise an acute hue and cry in unison.
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