Ah, but a cycle is not literally a circle. It can be depicted that way to illustrate cyclical change, but spring-summer-fall-winter is not a circle unless one is seeing time as a dimension or something. We talk about the circle of life, for example, using a circular image as a metaphor for cyclical change returning to its starting point. It is idiomatic.
Great point. The best way I know of to illustrate this is to realize that even though the Earth makes its way around the Sun in the course of a year, by the time the Earth returns to the same place it was in its orbit a year ago, the entire Solar System has moved on to a new position in the Galaxy and the Galaxy has moved on to yet another place in the Universe.
There’s no truer statement than “You can’t go home again.”
Oh man, you got me. I started reading this thinking, I never make those kinds of mistakes. And then you went and got me. It’s not a word I use much anyway, I think I’ll just start looking for synonyms. (I wonder now if it’s because it’s meaning can be similar to “devious”.)
Similarly, I can’t stand the way the British pronounce aluminum. There’s no “i” before the “um” in that one either. I am also consistently amazed at the number of adults who don’t know the difference between no, now, and know. Sheesh!
Augh! My husband is one of these! I’ve even told him that it’s the latter, and he ignores me. Of course, his parents have their female pets “spaded” too, so maybe it’s genetic. (I just say that that’s barbaric; you could’ve simply had the vet sterilize them instead of bludgeoning them to death.)
My grandmother “takes things for granite.” One time my brother asked, “why can’t it be marble?” She didn’t get it.
