The Word Cloud

'Around' and 'round' can have quite different meanings but can they also be synonomous? e.g. are, 'he put his arm around her shoulders' and, 'he put his arm round her shoulders' both correct and do they have identical meanings? Or should you always only say one and not the other? If so, which?!!

There was once a clear divide between the two when used as adjectives or prepositions. 'Round' was the UK version and 'around' was the American version. These days, as with so many other words, we are getting so used to hearing the American version that we are gradually absorbing it into British English.

Hi Spangles!

Tony, where I grew up (Kansas), both 'round' and 'around' were used interchangeably; I heard both regularly. 'Around' comes from the phrase 'on round', entering English about 1300, so it predates America, which makes me think that it is originally British English (which then lost it when influences from French swept through the language of the British Isles in one of its many waves before the French Revolution). 'Around' is rare before 1600, but it was there... 'About' comes into the mix as well, which is the more appropriate word to use for 'approximate.'

My advice is what I give to students: choose one or the other in a particular usage and be consistent in its use throughout a given document.

I hope that helps.

Thanks guys. Yes, both very helpful.