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affinity

affinity

(OP)

What is the correct preposition to be used after affinity: between, with or for ?

RE: affinity

From some website:

Usage Note:  In the sense of "attraction," affinity may be followed by of, between, or with. Thus one may speak of the close affinity of James and Samuel, or of the affinity between James and Samuel, or of James's affinity with Samuel. In its chemical use affinity is generally followed by for: a dye with an affinity for synthetic fabrics.·One might want to avoid using affinity as a simple synonym for liking since 62 percent of the Usage Panel rejects the example Her affinity for living in California led her to reject a chance to return to New York. Nevertheless, the more sophisticated tone inherent in this use of the word can lend an archness to certain contexts, as when Barbara Tuchman writes of Kaiser Wilhelm's "affinity for coarse physical jokes practiced upon his courtiers." This may be why 65 percent of the Usage Panel approved of this quotation when it was presented as an example.

RE: affinity

my favourite is with

RE: affinity

"affinity for" is the right one.

" All that is necessary for triumph of evil is that good men do nothing".
Edmund Burke

RE: affinity

affinity for is probably more common, followed by with and I'd thing between was least common.

RE: affinity

...or like in the movie, Toy Story, where Buzz Lightyear shouts, "To affinity and beyond!!!!"

RE: affinity

I didn’t realize how pretentious I was being with my misuse of affinity.  I’ll have to change my speech patterns now.

"Art without engineering is dreaming; Engineering without art is calculating."

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RE: affinity

Aren't the centrifugal pump laws sometimes called "affinity laws"?

What is the logic in that terminology?

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RE: affinity

between is also normally limited in number to two people or obects; among is used for plural linkages.
http://www.bartleby.com/64/C003/047.html

Between and among imply a mutual relationship, whereas for and with may be simply one-sided.

For the general case, use for.

RE: affinity

(OP)

My thanks to all contributors.

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