Question
Updated on
17 Aug 2015
- Japanese
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English (US)
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Spanish (Spain)
Question about English (US)
What is the difference between onlookers and lookers-on and bystanders ?Feel free to just provide example sentences.
What is the difference between onlookers and lookers-on and bystanders ?Feel free to just provide example sentences.
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- English (US)
On-lookersはあまり見ない書き方ですね。Onlookersとbystandersの違いは…はっきりは言えませんが、bystandersの方がやや多いかもしれません。
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- Japanese
Thank you for the comment.
But I'm a little confused. Did you mean 'you don't see "lookers-on" a lot'?
But I'm a little confused. Did you mean 'you don't see "lookers-on" a lot'?
- English (US)
Onlookers are people watching an incident take place.
Bystanders are people who witness the incident but are not involved in how it unfolds.
Both of these words are often used to describe people who watch catastrophes or other bad things take place, such as an airplane crash or someone running into the street and getting hit by a car.
The difference in nuance is very slight: both "bystanders" and "onlookers" witness the incident but I think when "bystander" is used it stresses the innocence of the people watching (how they don't have anything to do with it).
"The bank robbers threatened to shoot an innocent bystander."
"Onlookers gathered in the parking lot, watching the child struggle to get free from the man trying to kidnap him."
As for "lookers-on", I have never used this word before, actually, and I don't imagine other people in America do either.
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- English (US)
ごめんなさい、間違いました。上の投稿と賛成です。lookers-onは見たことが一切ありません。
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- Japanese
良く分かりました、お二人とも、親切なコメントをありがとうございます!
So, it's not a good idea to trust your dictionary too much. It sometimes carries odd/outdated phrases.
So, it's not a good idea to trust your dictionary too much. It sometimes carries odd/outdated phrases.
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