Stuart's Daily Word Spot: Partly or partially?

Freddie Mercury statue in Montreux, sculpted b... Image via Wikipedia
Partly or partially? Partly:adverb - as a part of, in part; notwholly, but to some extent. Partially:adverb - to some extent, partly, inpart, not completely; biased, partial, unfair, unjust; (now a rare usage) -with special affection or favour.
Yetanother English pairing which excites some into defending the use of oneagainst the other, when, in most respects, they're interchangeable.
Ifyou're discussing something that's not complete, you can use either. Only ifyou're talking about preference, justice, fairness etc., do you need to becertain to use 'partially'. Think of its antonym, 'impartial', which means'neutral' and it should help avoid any confusion.
So:'Theleg of the buried body was partly exposed when Genevieve's dog dug around themound in the forest.'
'Genevieve'sleg was partially exposed when Gordon shifted the sheet before he slipped inbeside her.'
But:'Thejudge treated Mary partially, giving her a non-custodial sentence when sheflashed her most inviting and provocative smile at him.'
5 September 1946 Queen singer, Freddie Mercury was born: sobering tothink that, had he live, he would have been 65 and therefore an old agepensioner today.

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Published on September 04, 2011 23:00
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