to pencil in
9
3.8
- phrasal verb
- /ˈpɛnsl ɪn/
- Informal
:
anotar provisionalmente
- Right now, most fans have him penciled in as the third-line center on the team.
- pencil in a date
Examples
-
Should I pencil you in?
-
Maybe I should pencil in the date two years from now.
-
So when can I pencil you in ?
-
Let me just pencil you in.
-
Can we pencil this in for next Thursday?
-
So, unless something comes up to change my mind, we are penciling in a family Christmas at home.
Blog text (21) -
I have penciled him in for 11:00.
-
We even pencil in tentative dates for the clinic.
Academic text (2007) -
Cool, well, the 14th of Dec is the big night out, so get that penciled in your diary, lad.
Blog text (9) -
Can we pencil in a meeting for Friday afternoon?
Antonyms
How Certain
29
4.4
- Formal
265
2.6
439
1.8
- Informal
9
3.8
∞
3.0
Surface Forms
Morphology
The verb 'pencil' (to mark/write with a pencil) plus the particle 'in' evokes the metaphor of making a temporary mark, so a learner who knows the constituents can often infer a tentative scheduling sense. However, the shift from a literal act of writing to the specific sense 'arrange tentatively' is somewhat metaphorical and conventionalized, so the meaning is only partially predictable without exposure.
Etymology
Pencil in comes from writing a plan lightly with a pencil on a calendar so you can erase it if things change. So, to pencil in something means to arrange it 'for now' because it may change.