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Lucas21c Posted 10 years ago
Grammar

However

Could you confirm whether all the following sentences are okay? Thank you.

1. However we racked all our brains, we couldn’t find the way to reduce costs.
2A. However small they are, I don’t want to take any risks.
2B. However small it is, I don’t want to take any risk.
  

Top answer

1. Awkwardly worded, but grammatically correct. ” (It is unlikely that there was just one way.

— Wilpeter

  • 1.
  • Awkwardly worded, but grammatically correct.
  • ” (It is unlikely that there was just one way.
  • ) 2B.
  • is preferable to 2A.
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6 Answers
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1. Awkwardly worded, but grammatically correct.
“However we tried, each racking our brains, we couldn’t find a way to reduce costs.”
(It is unlikely that there was just one way. One can only rack his own brain.)
2B. is preferable to 2A. However, both appear to be grammatical.
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A google search finds a lot of interesting discussions about rack versus wrack.

Clive
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CliveA google search finds a lot of interesting discussions about rack versus wrack.Clive
It shouldn't make much difference whether you use one or the other. Merriam-Webster even cross-defines them in this meaning. Even "wreck" gets involved in the mix. I don't think much of any importance hinges on whether you torture your brain or you ruin it in the idiom
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CalifJimrack to cause to suffer torture, pain, anguish, or ruin
According to my 1936 Roget’s Thesaurus, “wreck and wrack” are included as synonyms for Destruction, including “wrack and ruin”; whereas “rack one’s brains” is synonymous with Thought. It obviously evolved after that (but perhaps I didn’t).
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Does "each racking our brains" mean "each racking his or her own brain"? How about "each racking our own brains"?
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lucas21cDoes "each racking our brains" mean "each racking his or her own brain"?
Yes.
lucas21cHow about "each racking our own brains"?
No. It would be redundant to say ‘our own brains’, since we can’t rack anyone else’s.

There is, however, a similar peculiar expression, ‘I saw it with my own eyes’, which emphasizes
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