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Chris -- 2018-04-11

#1 2005-11-04 21:34:35

mckernan
Member
Registered: 2005-11-04
Posts: 2

"Make or Brake"

‘Make or brake’

Not in ADS-L archives

‘Brake’ is interesting as a near-synonym to break (as in, ‘put a stop to’).

(10,800 raw Google hits:)

California Senate Could Make or Brake Global Warming Bill
California Senate Could Make or Brake Global Warming Bill. If you were car-shopping,
would knowing how much global warming pollution one car emits compared …
ucsaction.org/ucsaction/ alert-description.tcl?alert_id=3368282 – 25k – Cached – Similar pages

Essential ingredients of a successful CPA Referral Program
The Three Essential Make-or-Brake Points of a Referral Program: Your existing
system is 90% GOOD – don’t scrap it! But DO check …
www.cpareferralsguide.com/essentials.html – 31k – Cached – Similar pages

Bain Rome News
Their book, “Mastering th e Merger – Four Critical Decisions that Make or Brake
the Deal,” published in Italy by Etas, is the result of analysis performed on …
www.bain.com/bainweb/LocalOffices/office_publications. asp?menuinit=1&office_id=141&language=1&... – 24k – Cached – Sim ilar pages

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#2 2005-11-05 03:15:28

patschwieterman
Administrator
From: California
Registered: 2005-10-25
Posts: 1680

Re: "Make or Brake"

The near-synonymy of the two words may also figure in “brakewater” for “breakwater”—i.e., a manmade coastal barrier. Over 1400 ghits, but that figure is inflated by many hits for a brand of fishing reel called “Brakewater.” In some ways, “brakewater” makes a bit more sense than “breakwater”: waves can break on the shore, but you can’t break water—at least not in its liquid state. But you can try and slow down coastal waters before they reach the shoreline. Then again, maybe it’s just a more phonetic spelling.

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#3 2005-11-05 13:23:52

klakritz
Eggcornista
From: Winchester Massachusetts
Registered: 2005-10-25
Posts: 674

Re: "Make or Brake"

Continuing Pat’s observation, ‘brake up,’ brake down,’ and ‘give me a brake’ are all extremely common. The line between misspelling and semantic overlap is hard to maintain.

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