overall or All

Question

Overall attendance dipped at the New York State Fair in 2008, but paid attendance was up.Overall means All in this sentence?Thankswhat are different between Overall and All?

Avangi · Accepted Answer

Hi,
Technically, there's no difference. But in contexts like this where different categories of a thing are mentioned (eg. "paid attendance"), "overall" is used to make it clear that all the categories are lumped together in this particular count.

I don't believe you'd use "overall" in a discussion where a breakdown into categories was not mentioned.

Best wishes, - A.

Boutsady · Answer

Can i  say? " overall workers go on strike"

Avangi · Answer

boutsady " overall workers go on strike"

That could be a newspaper headline about an "overall" factory, but I know that's not what you mean.

I don't think it would be used, because union contracts and negotiations have their own language, and I don't think this would fit.

Are you thinking of a situation in a particular company, or factory, in which different skills are represented by different unions - that is, electrical workers, clerical workers, pipe fitters, machinists, etc.?

Companies often try to have the contracts of the various unions expire at different times so they can't all gang up.

Perhaps if it were a "wildcat" strike (mid-contract) over some hot issue and all the unions decided to go out in sympathy, your expression could be used. But I think they'd more likely call it a general strike. Of course that expression is also used when all the workers in an entire country go on strike.

It's surely not a common expression, like "overall income."

- A.

Boutsady · Answer

thank you !

it helps me a lot

overall or All

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