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New2grammar Posted 19 years ago
Grammar
incoming/oncoming
What is the difference between incoming and oncoming?
Context:
The hitchhiker waived at the oncoming car. => Can I use incoming in here?
There's an incoming missile => Is oncoming correct as well?
Thanks a lot!
Context:
The hitchhiker waived at the oncoming car. => Can I use incoming in here?
There's an incoming missile => Is oncoming correct as well?
Thanks a lot!
Top answer
Hi New2grammar, Upcoming (from coming up ) means “forthcoming, coming soon,” as in There is a carnival upcoming in July; The upcoming meetings will be important. Oncoming also means “approaching,” as in We watched the oncoming train, and incoming means “coming in, arriving,” as in Here is the incoming mail. All three are Standard, as are others of a similar pattern.
- Hi New2grammar, Upcoming (from coming up ) means “forthcoming, coming soon,” as in There is a carnival upcoming in July; The upcoming meetings will be important.
- Oncoming also means “approaching,” as in We watched the oncoming train, and incoming means “coming in, arriving,” as in Here is the incoming mail.
- All three are Standard, as are others of a similar pattern.
- -- (CGSAE) The hitchhiker waived at the oncoming car.
- => Can I use incoming in here?
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15 Answers
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Hi New2grammar,
Upcoming (from coming up) means “forthcoming, coming soon,” as in There is a carnival upcoming in July; The upcoming meetings will be important. Oncoming also means “approaching,” as in We watched the oncoming train, and incoming means “coming in, arriving,” as in Here is the incoming mail. All three are Standard, as are others of
Upcoming (from coming up) means “forthcoming, coming soon,” as in There is a carnival upcoming in July; The upcoming meetings will be important. Oncoming also means “approaching,” as in We watched the oncoming train, and incoming means “coming in, arriving,” as in Here is the incoming mail. All three are Standard, as are others of
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Something that is 'oncoming' is something that is approaching you or getting closer to you, but you are not the destination or target:
The headlights from the oncoming car blinded me.
We were worried about the oncoming storm.
The word 'incoming' has a sense of 'arrival at a destination': mail comes into your mailbox (incoming mail), trains come into the station (i
The headlights from the oncoming car blinded me.
We were worried about the oncoming storm.
The word 'incoming' has a sense of 'arrival at a destination': mail comes into your mailbox (incoming mail), trains come into the station (i
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There were not ( should be no ) hits for 'oncoming missile' in both the BBC's site and NYTimes's site. However, some people do say 'oncoming missile' as proved by the near-128,000 results from Google. I believe 'incoming missile' is being used way
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Oh, yes, now I see that. I guess I must have reacted to the words 'both ... and' ('either ..or' would have been better).
By the way, I always take Google results with a very large grain of salt.
By the way, I always take Google results with a very large grain of salt.
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Ah, I see. Thank you for your suggestions and advices, Yankee. 
I think I have a foggy idea of the idiom "a very large grai
I think I have a foggy idea of the idiom "a very large grai
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Hi PBF
The idiomatic phrase is "with a grain of salt" (and it is usually used with the verb 'take'):
http://www.answers.com/topic/with-a-grain-of-salt
When I wrote "with a very large grain salt", I meant that I look a
The idiomatic phrase is "with a grain of salt" (and it is usually used with the verb 'take'):
http://www.answers.com/topic/with-a-grain-of-salt
When I wrote "with a very large grain salt", I meant that I look a
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I understand what you were trying to say now. Thank you for explaining it to me, Yankee.
I think I am going to bookmark an
I think I am going to bookmark an
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New2grammarThe hitchhiker waived at the oncoming car. => Can I use incoming in here?waved
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PeaceblinkfriendAh, I see. Thank you for your suggestions and advices, Yankee.
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