Lock into
Hi,
"When I was cycling the other day, two flies locked on to me and wouldn't leave me alone"
"The media latched onto the scandal."
"After playing the melody for about five minutes, I managed to lock it into my head."
These are sentences from random sources. Is it just me or is there no discernible rule when it comes to 'on to' x 'onto' and 'in to' x 'into'. It seems to me that in many cases people use them willy-nilly.
Thank you.
Top answer
"on to" versus "onto" can be tricky. However, as far as "in" versus "on" is concerned, "in(to)" implies "inside" or "within", while "on(to)" implies a surface contact or attachment; both senses may be figurative of course Thus it is weird to say that you locked a melody "onto" your head, since we perceive the retention of information as happening within the head. Conversely, we perceive latching to a scandal as (figuratively) being a surface action, so "on" is appropriate.
- "on to" versus "onto" can be tricky.
- However, as far as "in" versus "on" is concerned, "in(to)" implies "inside" or "within", while "on(to)" implies a surface contact or attachment; both senses may be figurative of course Thus it is weird to say that you locked a melody "onto" your head, since we perceive the retention of information as happening within the head.
- Conversely, we perceive latching to a scandal as (figuratively) being a surface action, so "on" is appropriate.
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"on to" versus "onto" can be tricky. However, as far as "in" versus "on" is concerned, "in(to)" implies "inside" or "within", while "on(to)" implies a surface contact or attachment; both senses may be figurative of course Thus it is weird to say that you locked a melody "onto" your head, since we perceive the retention of information as happening within the head. Conversely, we perceive latchi
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