English for Today by Ganiu Abisoye Bamgbose (Dr GAB)
Idioms with -ing verbs
The man is stinkingly rich (nonstandard).
The man is stinking rich (standard). To be extremely rich is to be stinking rich.
You shouldn’t fight a lost battle (nonstandard).
You shouldn’t fight a losing battle (standard). A struggle that seems certain to end in failure is a losing battle.
GAB
