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When did we start saying 'likely' instead of 'probably' and... 20:05 - Nov 19 with 882 viewsNthQldITFC

...was it always going to happen?

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When did we start saying 'likely' instead of 'probably' and... on 20:18 - Nov 19 with 838 viewstonybied

It was always likely it was going to happen...probably!
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When did we start saying 'likely' instead of 'probably' and... on 20:23 - Nov 19 with 819 viewsWeWereZombies

When it started to look favourable to do so...

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When did we start saying 'likely' instead of 'probably' and... on 22:57 - Nov 19 with 705 viewsfactual_blue

Well, 'likely' comes from Old English and Old Norse, whereas 'probably' comes from Latin.


So 'quite a long time' would be my guess. It's probable that the common folk used 'likely, and the Norman aristocracy would have been more likely to use 'probably'.

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When did we start saying 'likely' instead of 'probably' and... on 08:06 - Nov 20 with 561 viewsTangledupin_Blue

Probably about the time we stopped 'persuading' people to do things and (wrongly) began 'convincing' them to do so.

They are not interchangeable. Properly used you might persuade a person to act having convinced them that it is a good idea.

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When did we start saying 'likely' instead of 'probably' and... on 08:28 - Nov 20 with 531 viewsCafe_Newman

It's been the government's go to expression in risk assessment for years:





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When did we start saying 'likely' instead of 'probably' and... on 08:38 - Nov 20 with 521 viewsbsw72

Depends on context, if something is *likely* then it is expected to happen and can often be used when discussing past events with a known outcome, while *probably* indicates more doubt or less nearness. *Probably* is used more with reference to future events.

It's a suitably vague and interchangeable difference to be honest.
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When did we start saying 'likely' instead of 'probably' and... on 08:53 - Nov 20 with 491 viewsnodge_blue

Likely is less probable.

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