Dave's ESL Cafe's Student Discussion Forums

[kerstin]

The seven dwarves rescue her in the nick of time!=The seven dwarves rescue her in time!

Do they mean teh same thing?


Thanks[/quote]

[bud]

They're similar, but not exactly the same.

"In the nick of time" means that there was no time left to spare. Ten minutes later would have been too late.

"In time" could be the same as above, but it could instead be that there was plenty of time left to accomplish the rescue.

"In time" does not hint at how much of a time "cushion" there was. "In the nick of time" tells us that there was no cushion.