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Mr. Tom Posted 11 years ago
Vocabulary

Break the tether...

Hi

Is "break the tether" a natural collocation? Does this sentence work?

The horse broke the tether and ran away/off.

Is there a more colloquial way of saying the same thing -- I mean, when an animal breaks the tether or rope and runs away?

Thanks,

Tom

PS: Run away and run off the same in this context?
  

Top answer

It would be fine to say The horse broke its tether and ran off. You could use alternatives such as "broke its rope" and "bolted". "Ran away" also works but I think "ran off" sounds the better of those two, as the latter to me emphasises more the starting point of the running away in contrast to the destination, thus perhaps better representing how we imagine the horse's mind would be working.

— Meteorquake

  • It would be fine to say The horse broke its tether and ran off.
  • You could use alternatives such as "broke its rope" and "bolted".
  • "Ran away" also works but I think "ran off" sounds the better of those two, as the latter to me emphasises more the starting point of the running away in contrast to the destination, thus perhaps better representing how we imagine the horse's mind would be working.
  • But the difference if any isn't large.
  • d
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1 Answers
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It would be fine to say
The horse broke its tether and ran off.

You could use alternatives such as "broke its rope" and "bolted".
"Ran away" also works but I think "ran off" sounds the better of those two, as the latter to me emphasises more the starting point of the running away in contrast to the destination, thus perhaps better representing how we imagine the horse's min
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