Friday, October 19, 2018

word usage - Is there a significant difference between "rock" and "stone"?


I found this pretty good small research, but I am still concerned about "regular usage" in life, say, when I am talking in the office, especially because of this comment:



To me: Stone is something you can pick up with one hand (for throwing). A rock takes two hands.



http://geologywriter.com/blog/stories-in-stone-blog/rock-or-stone-is-there-a-difference/



Answer



I don't think the distinction you make is generally recognized. Lots of people talk about "throwing rocks" and also about "throwing stones".


A "stone" can be in its natural shape or it can have been cut into a desired shape, while "rock" indicates only the natural shape. That is, you can have a "tombstone" or "paving stones". If you say that you built a wall from "stone blocks", that will normally be understood to mean that they have been cut into a rectangular shape or whatever desired shape. But a wall built of "rocks" means in the shape you found them when you dug them up.


Dictionaries I checked listed them as synonyms.



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