Verb or noun “spare” has spawned
numerous weird and wonderful expressions using various forms of the word.
Some go way back in time and others are modern versions like compressor spares and other types of
spares when we need a replacement for something.
Think of the cruel and
humiliating “Spare the child, don’t spare the rod!”. This was a mantra of previous eras when it
was thought best that children be seen and not heard and that to beat them as
punishment was a kind act making them good and decent citizens in later
years. What about the taunting “spare me your pity”,
often used in melodrama, and a million miles away from the kind of compressor spares that we talk about at
Air Supplies? Can you spare me £10
until Tuesday? Annoying to have a friend constantly borrowing from you
especially if Tuesday never comes!
We are often exhorted in hot
weather to “use water sparingly, a drought is coming” by local authorities
anxious to decrease the amount of water supplying households during summers
that are drier than usual. So many different uses of a single word meaning
save, don’t bother, lend, and in little amount.
“Compressor spares” means
something totally different again. As a plural of a noun compressor spares are just that - the spare parts that you would
use in a compressor!
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