Percolate

Question

Hi,1) Can 'percolate' be used instead of 'spread' or is it too formal? For instance: "The news about the geography professor is already percolating." I heard this word once when I was watching The Vampire Diaries.2) "The system requires an access key for me to register." There's something about this sentence that doesn't sound quite right. I came across it in an article but I'm not sure if it's entirely correct.Thank you.

CalifJim · Accepted Answer

Ann2251) Can 'percolate' be used instead of 'spread' or is it too formal? For instance: "The news about the geography professor is already percolating."

No. That substitution does not work.

I think that a great many native speakers associate 'percolate' with only two things: coffee and cesspools.

How long do I percolate coffee in a stove-top percolator?
Cesspools are pits with concrete walls. Wastewater flows into the cesspool and percolates into the soil through perforated walls.

Ann2252) "The system requires an access key for me to register." There's something about this sentence that doesn't sound quite right.

If the sentence is about the entire system, it is extremely unlikely that the system requires a key for just for one person. Leave out 'for me'.

The system requires an access key to register.
OR An access key is required to register in the system.

For a particular person, phrase it differently:

I need an access key to register in the system.

CJ

Percolate

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