Is this a nuance ?

Re: Is this a nuance ?
1) I stood in the middle / centre of the room. either is fine

2) Did you expect to find a doll with pins sticked / thrust in it ? neither - it should be stuck
3 ) He was that spiffy / elegant man.

4) I opened the closet / wardrobe. probably different in UK/US wardrobe in UK but I suspect it would be closet in US5) How often do you use the word " frisk" to describe searching a person?

6) The cops searched/ rummaged her bag . searched

7 ) The cops searched / rummaged in her bag either rummaged has a subtly different meaning - scrabbling about more actively.

Right, Vivien. In the US a wardrobe is a free-standing piece of furniture, a closet is a part of the house.

Centre is UK, center is US... "Spiffy" is much less formal than "elegant." I wouldn't use spiffy in writing, unless I was trying for a very casual style, or quoting dialog.

Searched/rummaged: "The police searched her bag." "She rummaged around in her bag, trying to find her cell phone."

My police would search a bag, search in a warehouse. Something about scale...

Thanks Vivien, thanks Wy.I got that, but what about frisk; can I say the policeman frisked that man before going inside the building?.Also, is there a difference between a dummy and a manikin ?

frisked is running your hands over someone to check for hidden weapons etc - a fairly specific term

manikin/dummy - mmm not 100% sure - maybe a specific case difference sometimes. Either will do for shop window models showing clothes, a posable little articulated wooden figure supposedly used by artists (I've never found one much use!) is a mannikin, a Guy Fawkes figure roughly stuffed would be a dummy.

I missed spiffy - it certainly isn't a phrase that would ever be used in Britain nowadays except in fun, it would sound very odd and Bertie Wooster.

Dummy is a bigger word than mannequin. By this I mean that a mannequin is only one thing--the wooden models used to display clothing. The word dummy has many meanings, including mannequin; a nasty word for a stupid person; the models that ventriloquists use in their acts. These are just a few of the meanings.

dummy load : electronic device used for tests.

General electronics : cover to put in a rack place with no electronic device.

Hi Roberta, hi Francis.Thanks