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Difference between two expressions Hello. I'll be happy, if somebody explain me, what's a difference between two expressions: I went cold turkey on a smoking habit more the 18 years ago. And. I shook off a smoking habit more the 18 years ago. I know that those both expressions are informal. Thank you.

Corrections · 7

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Both of theses expressions have the same meaning.  The person stopped smoking.  The difference is in how they stopped.

""Cold turkey" describes the abrupt cessation of a substance dependence and the resulting unpleasant experience, as opposed to gradually easing the process through reduction over time or by using replacement medication."

"shook of"  To free oneself of; get rid of: We shook off our fears.

The process of going cold turkey implies an very unpleasant experience and requires a large amount of mental strength.  It tells us the method of stopping.  

The process of shaking something off implies a less difficult  situation, which is easier to overcome.  With shake off ( or the past tense  here "shook off" it is not known the method of stopping.  Did the person cut down gradually?  Did the person use other substances to help stop?  With this phrase we don't know.

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Difference between two expressions

Hello. I'll be happy, if somebody would  explain to me, what's a difference between these two expressions:
I went cold turkey on a smoking habit more the 18 years ago.
And.
I shook off a smoking habit more the 18 years ago.
I know that those both expressions are informal. Thank you.
1
If you go cold turkey, you stop totally and just don't do more. If you shake off a habit you may do that as well, but you may also slowly step down and eventually stop.

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You need "more than" rather than "more the" in both sentences. "Went cold turkey" means you stopped one day and never smoked again. "Shook off" just means you got rid of the habit, maybe by slowly decreasing the number of cigarettes, maybe by switching to something else.

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