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Brainer
"budge" vs "budge an inch"
Literally, is "budge an inch" more emphatic than "budge"?
Example:
The horse wouldn't budge an inch.
The horse woudn't budge.
Perhaps the 1st one can mean "the horse wouldn't budge at all".
Jun 16, 2013 3:26 PM
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Answers · 2
Hi Brainer,
Yes, you're right regarding your first example.
The first example means the horse wouldn't budge at all, as you said, not even an inch. The specificity of "not even an inch" implies emphasis that the horse didn't move at all. The second example could possibly mean that the horse did indeed budge a little, maybe an inch, but it didn't move much more than that.
Good question!
June 16, 2013
