An English sentence can be flipped upside down like a pancake, its meaning completely changed by the mere variation of a syllable.
The few remaining individual wolves have been called a distinct species, a mere variation of the much more widespread gray wolf species and even a hybrid between gray wolves and coyotes.
The admission that there may be some mental states (as Freud has shown) that are not within the sight of our "mental eye" as such, is a mere variation, rather than a major deviation, Ryle points out, from the basic framework of the Official Doctrine.
Chip's twin brother, Dale, is a one-dimensional, aggro-effeminate jerk, and a mere variation of what is, from Galifianakis, a familiar tone.
Instead, the court stated it was "questionable" whether plaintiffs could copyright the shapes of the letters used, and it cited the regulation that provides "mere variations of typographic ornamentation" are not copyrightable.
Using a cross-country comparative analysis of three implementations of the 'MIT model' of innovation in the UK, Portugal and Singapore, we show how key features in the design, implementation and performance of the model cannot be explained as mere variations on an identical solution to the same underlying problem.
As noted above, neurologists are finding that the anatomic and physiological differences underlying ADHD appear to be mere variations in the timing of brain development, not outright defects.
A Martian confronting the Roman alphabet, for instance, would need years of painstaking study just to be certain that dissimilar-looking characters like "A" and "a" are mere variations of the same letter, while similar-looking ones like "O" and "Q" are different letters altogether.
Nor could they object, considering the applicable regulations provide no copyright protection for "familiar symbols or designs" or "mere variations of... lettering". 37 C.F.R. § 202.1(a) (2000).
Other material ineligible for copyright protection includes the utilitarian elements of industrial designs; familiar symbols or designs; simple geometrical shapes; mere variations of typographic ornamentation, lettering or coloring; and common works considered public property, such as standard calendars, height and weight charts, and tape measures and rulers.
Some paleoanthropologists believe that the evolutionary picture has become overcomplicated, and that certain creatures described as "new" are mere variations, leading to "species inflation".
