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Difference between "in" and "on"
Hello!
This might sound like a silly question, but I've been wondering about it for a while now... Can you tell me if there's a difference between "in my mind" and "on my mind"? Is it a regional thing or is there a real difference in meaning?
If something is "on one's mind" it means that that person is thinking about it. "in one's mind" usually refers to one's imagination. You might say "I can picture it in my mind.", for example.
Oh, I see!! It makes sense^^
Thank you so much for explaining, it was really clear!
Related: "waiting in line" and "waiting on line"
They have the same meaning but I've only heard "waiting on line" used by people from the east coast (New York, Boston). I'm not sure if "on" is grammatically correct in this instance.
I've never heard "waiting on line." You wait ON someone... You wait in a building or a line (or queue or whatever).
"On a book" to me means what's on the cover. Prepositions are so idiomatic in any language, they just have to be memorized. German for "next in line" is "an der Reihe." Literally, "on the row." Most common for waiting in line is "Schlange stehen," "Schlange" meaning tail or snake, or, ahem, other things. "Queue" comes to English from French and also means "tail."
If someone told me they were reading "on a book" I wouldn't know what they were talking about... "reading up on a book" would be like reading information about a book, and "reading in a book" isn't typically heard unless it's in the past tense... For example "I once read in a book that..."
Related humor:
"At the airport they keep telling me to get on the plane... I say f**k you, I'm getting IN!" --George Carlin
Hmm, for sure these things have to be memorized, but I think the difficulty has more to do with abstract things like, for instance, on the internet, you post "in a thread" or "on a thread"?
Also, the album will be released "on the next month", or "in the next month"? "In May 18, 2009", "on the 2nd of June"... are there any rules regarding these cases?
Also, the album will be released "on the next month", or "in the next month"?
The album will be released next month.
I grew up ON a farm. I've never heard of someone growing up "in a farm"... You can grow up in a farm house though...
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