mutual, common

mutual, common
 Many authorities continue to insist, with varying degrees of conviction, that mutual should be reserved for describing reciprocal relationships between two or more things and not loosely applied to those things held in common. Thus, if you and I like each other, we have a mutual friendship. But if you and I both like Shakespeare, we have a common admiration. The use of mutual in the sense of common has been with us since the sixteenth century and was given a notable boost in the nineteenth with the appearance of the Dickens novel Our Mutual Friend. Most authorities accept it when common might be interpreted as a denigration, but even so in its looser sense the word is generally better avoided. It is, at all events, more often than not superfluous, as here: "They hope to arrange a mutual exchange of prisoners" (Daily Telegraph). An exchange of anything can hardly be other than mutual.

Bryson’s dictionary for writers and editors. 2013.

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  • mutual, common —    Many authorities continue to insist, with varying degrees of conviction, that mutual should be reserved for describing reciprocal relationships between two or more things and not loosely applied to those things held in common. Thus, if you and …   Dictionary of troublesome word

  • mutual, common —    Many authorities continue to insist, with varying degrees of conviction, that mutual should be reserved for describing reciprocal relationships between two or more things and not loosely applied to those things held in common. Thus, if you and …   Dictionary of troublesome word

  • mutual — 1. • That done, our day of marriage shall be yours, One feast, one house, one mutual happiness. Shakespeare, Two Gentlemen of Verona, v.iv.170–1. Until the 19c, mutual was used with little difficulty in two main meanings: (1) that reflected in… …   Modern English usage

  • mutual — mu·tu·al / myü chə wəl/ adj 1: directed by each toward the other: reciprocal mutual orders of protection in domestic violence cases L. H. Schafran and Norman Wikler 2: shared in common …   Law dictionary

  • Mutual — Mu tu*al, a. [F. mutuel, L. mutuus, orig., exchanged, borrowed, lent; akin to mutare to change. See {Mutable}.] 1. Reciprocally acting or related; reciprocally receiving and giving; reciprocally given and received; reciprocal; interchanged; as, a …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • Mutual insurance — Mutual Mu tu*al, a. [F. mutuel, L. mutuus, orig., exchanged, borrowed, lent; akin to mutare to change. See {Mutable}.] 1. Reciprocally acting or related; reciprocally receiving and giving; reciprocally given and received; reciprocal;… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • Mutual insurance company — Mutual Mu tu*al, a. [F. mutuel, L. mutuus, orig., exchanged, borrowed, lent; akin to mutare to change. See {Mutable}.] 1. Reciprocally acting or related; reciprocally receiving and giving; reciprocally given and received; reciprocal;… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • mutual — [myo͞o′cho͞o əl] adj. [LME mutuall < MFr mutuel < L mutuus, mutual, reciprocal < mutare, to change, exchange: see MISS1] 1. a) done, felt, etc. by each of two or more for or toward the other or others; reciprocal [mutual admiration] b)… …   English World dictionary

  • Mutual knowledge (logic) — Mutual knowledge is a fundamental concept about information in game theory and logic. An event is mutual knowledge if all agents know that the event occurred [1]:73. However, mutual knowledge by itself implies nothing about what agents know about …   Wikipedia

  • Common-law marriage in the United States — was affirmed by the United States Supreme Court in Meister v. Moore (96 U.S. 76 (1877)), which ruled that Michigan had not abolished common law marriage merely by producing a statute establishing rules for the solemnization of marriages. Common… …   Wikipedia

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