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Wed 14 Apr, 2010 08:59 am
It recently lost four federal lawmakers, raising the possibility that Najib's ruling National Front coalition may regain its two-thirds parliamentary majority. The Front, which controls 137 of the 222 seats in the legislature, is just 11 seats shy of recovering that majority and the power to change the constitution.
Would it be wrong if I use 'short of' instead of 'shy of', which I often read in the newspapers?
Thanks in advance.
@tanguatlay,
tanguatlay wrote:
Would it be wrong if I use 'short of' instead of 'shy of', which I often read in the newspapers?
Using 'short of' would be perfectly acceptable.
"shy of" usually means something like
"very close to but not quite". I'd be more inclined to use it if they were two seats short, not 11. "short of" doesn't have quite that connotation of nearness
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