Reader's question: Over the past 25 years, Intel has risen to become the leading supplier of microprocessors for home and business computing, commanding a virtual monopoly in the market for desktop, laptop, and server CPUs. Even Apple has joined the choir. Could you explain “join the choir”?

My comments:

A choir is a group of people singing together. Be it from a church or a school, the choir sings in sync and that is the main character of a choir. Therefore, if you join the choir, you do something together with everybody else.

In the above example, Apple joining the choir means that it joins the fray and begins to do what others have been doing, that is, using Intel chips.

It’s the same to say that Apple has jumped on the Intel bandwagon.

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Zhang Xin has been with China Daily since 1988, when he graduated from Beijing Foreign Studies University. Write him at: zhangxin@chinadaily.com.cn, or raise a question for potential use in a future column.