Take a backseat...

0 Two words. 0-

0Hi Philip,02br
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00Is that correct in UK English or US English?02br
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00Thanks,02br
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00Andy0-

0His profile says he's from the US.0-

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01cite10Andyw1234512cite10 If I wanted to say that somebody took a backseat11b10 (i.e. they didn't do much)12b10 is it written back seat or backseat 12blockquote

10Spelling question aside, I thought "01i00to take a back seat02i00" had another meaning ... something like to

0Google "Take a backseat" and "Take a back seat" - you'll see 3x the number of hits for the two-word version.02br
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00Yes, 05000 shows backseat as one word and uses the example "won't take a backseat to anyone.:02br
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00So this tells me that it's not fixed. 0230hrefhttp://www.m-w.comcwww.m-w.com

0 01blockquote

01cite10Grammar Geek12cite10So this tells me that it's not fixed.12blockquote

10I'd say "not fixed" sums things up nicely. The American Heritage Dictionary has it as two words. 05002br
00I think the most likely usage for 'backseat' (one word) might be as an adjective. For example, 'a backseat driver'.

0Yes, Tanit - that's right. You're not in the driver's seat - you're in the backseat/back seat.02br
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00I want Stacey to take a back seat on this one - speak up if you see anything going awry, but otherwise, I want Peter to take the lead. But Peter, Stacey's done this a dozen times now, so she can be a good resource for you.0-

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01cite10Yankee12cite10I think the most likely usage for 'backseat' (one word) might be as an adjective. For example, 'a backseat driver'. 12blockquote

10I agree, Yankee. I guess MW doesn't list the two-word version of "take a back seat to" because it's an expression. 02br
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00The following Googles sh

0Thanks very much guys - I'll go with 'back seat' then :-)0-