[solved] English majors to the rescue please!

Post by **Availle** » February 7th, 2013, 2:55 pm

and other people who speak English full-time

First, a short quote from a book I'm reading (elsewhere). Is the following phrase grammatically correct?

Only then will I be able to request that a time be allotted for your appointment.

The PLer suggested " time to be allotted", but somehow it sounds odd to me. But then again, I'm not a native...

And then, there is this video we are making at work. Well, other people make the video, but I will be allowed to narrate it

The video is here, the "offending scene" starts at 1:10 to 1:15, where the "infinite" is replaced by "bounded". The problem is:

"infinite robots" and "bounded robots" works for the layout, but not for the grammar. It would mean that each of those robots is infinite; can you write something like "unbounded # of robots"? and "bounded # of robots"?
I'd like a single word. Something that is short enough for the slides, and also suitable for Ava saying it. Plus the word and it's antonym shouldn't sound too similar (as "bounded" and "unbounded" would)

How about
- unlimited robot supply vs.
- bounded robot suppy
and Ava says "But I don't have an unlimited supply of robots"?

English majors to the rescue! Help!

Let me repeat the last phrase:

Thanks everyone for your input!

Cori · Post by **Cori** » February 7th, 2013, 2:59 pm

IMO the phrase is grammatically correct.

And how about unlimited vs. finite?

catrose · Post by **catrose** » February 7th, 2013, 3:00 pm

Only then will I be able to request that a time be allotted for your appointment.

This makes sense. Time to be allotted does not

To test this, change the word "time" to "hour" or something like that

(Not for the recording, just to check it makes sense)

Post by **Availle** » February 7th, 2013, 3:04 pm

Thanks Cori (eta: and catrose) - at least one riddle is solved

In the second case unlimited as such is not the problem.

If we say "unlimited/bounded robots" it sounds as if the robots' size is unlimited/bounded.
But in fact we are talking about lots of robots coming onto the scene, in the first case, there are infinitely many (an unlimited supply), in the other case we only have a limited number, say around 50.

It would be nice to have a single word in front of "robots" describing that we mean infinitely many or a bounded supply

Post by **TriciaG** » February 7th, 2013, 3:14 pm

The original statement is correct. If the "that" were omitted, the other would be correct.

"Only then will I be able to request that a time be allotted for your appointment." or
"Only then will I be able to request a time to be allotted for your appointment." (although this is cumbersome)

I'm not sure you can have a single-word term for "infinite number". Oh, how about "countless robots"? And for the converse... ummm...

Post by **TriciaG** » February 7th, 2013, 3:16 pm

P.S. I don't like "bounded." That implies to me that they're in a fenced in area.

Maybe "finite" in that case. Hmmm.

Sue Anderson · Post by **Sue Anderson** » February 7th, 2013, 4:11 pm

"fewer" robots ?

carolb · Post by **carolb** » February 7th, 2013, 4:39 pm

I agree with Cori, that the first one sounds grammatically correct - certainly as I was taught English.

As for the robots, how about 'countless'? I checked for opposites, and there's a choice:

Direct Opposite of countless:
calculable, bounded, finite, measurable, restricted, small, brief, limited, moderate, shallow, transient, circumscribed, little, narrow, short, transitory, evanescent.

... and I agree with Sue, that finite is appropriate. I think it fits better than all the other words above.

Carol

eta: Limitless would indicate that they are infinite & therefore with out end, whereas countless just means there are too many to count.

Post by **TriciaG** » February 7th, 2013, 4:41 pm

carolb wrote: I checked for opposites, and there's a choice:

OK, now, that's cheating. LOL!

carolb · Post by **carolb** » February 7th, 2013, 4:46 pm

Just giving a choice, but would anyone want to use evanescent?

Carol

another eta! Just watched the video. Is the little pinman in the air the robot who got away?

earthcalling · Post by **earthcalling** » February 8th, 2013, 1:08 am

Borrowing Tricia's rewording, and playing further with it...
The two meanings are different. Imagine the speaker instructing his/her PA:-

"Only then will I be able to request that a time be allotted for your appointment."
Would result in: "Please allot a time for Mr Smith's appointment."

"Only then will I be able to request a time to be allotted for your appointment."
Would result in: "Please allot 2:30 on Friday for Mr Smith's appointment."

David

Post by **annise** » February 8th, 2013, 1:22 am

I can't tink of a robot single word, I'd have to include number
Would say finite number / infine number
or fixed number/ any number
or etc

Anne

Post by **Availle** » February 8th, 2013, 5:35 am

Thanks everyone for your help! I knew I could count on you.

In this context however, "countless" and "countable" are not a good choice, as "countable" has a rather strict meaning in math. Something can be infinite, but still countable, for example fractions (a/b); there are infinitely many, but I can still count how many there are

I'll point Alex to this thread, let's see what he makes of it.

carolb · Post by **carolb** » February 8th, 2013, 5:52 am

How about limited and loose?

My eyes glaze over when it comes to anything mathematical

but I do like words.

Carol

eta - sorry, forget that. I've just re-read your original post!

RuthieG · Post by **RuthieG** » February 8th, 2013, 6:16 am

I beg to suggest that there is no one word that does the job perfectly. If there were more space, I would suggest:

Unspecified number of robots >> Specified number of robots
Unlimited number of robots >> Limited number of robots
Infinite number of robots >> Specific number of robots

Is there any way you could use an abbreviation of number: No., # or the like?

Ruth