Thursday, February 24, 2005

presently/currently
Presently - at once; immediately. The word itself does not mean "in the present," rather, "soon." To discuss something happening right now, the suggested term is "currently."

An original meaning of presently was 'at the present time.' That sense is said to have disappeared from the literary language in the 17th century, but it has survived in popular usage and is widely found nowadays in literate speech and writing.

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