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What's Leporello?

What's Leporello?

What's Leporello?

(OP)
My Siemens pressure transmitter has conventional screw cover caps on the electronics head.   Underneath one of the screw cover caps is a neat little folding instruction sheet for use with the push buttons for set-up.  There are 10 sections that zig-zag fold up to one another.  One might say this instruction sheet is fan-folded or another described it asa "folded like an accordian".

The word describing this little document is Leporello.

Dictionary.com provides no definition for Leporello.

I suspect the word has to do with the way the sheet folds up.

Maybe someone fluent in a language other than English can shed some light on what the etymology of the word Leporello is.

Dan

RE: What's Leporello?

I presume, though you do not explicitly say so, that this word was used in the document itself?

Quote:

The word describing this little document is Leporello.

If so, then the other word you need to know is "sophistry". I don't mean this in the sense of
1. Plausible but fallacious argumentation.
2. A plausible but misleading or fallacious argument.
(http://www.bartleby.com/61/64/S0566400.html)

But in the sense used here, i.e. using obscure or complex words when simple would suffice:

Quote:

...word choice is not about prettifying your writing or sounding sophisticated; it is about expressing your ideas clearly and effectively
(http://www.unc.edu/depts/wcweb/handouts/word_choice.html)

Why did they use the word "Leporello" in something for engineers, not bookbinders, when the term "Z-Fold" would have served.
It would also appear not even to be necessary since it would be quite apparent from the document itself that it is "Z" folded.
Documents do not usually describe themselves as "A4 double sided"
 
Did this term serve any useful purpose? Or did it just waste some time and cause you some angst?

JMW
www.ViscoAnalyser.com

RE: What's Leporello?

(OP)
Kenvlach:
Thanks for the link to the etymology.   

Mintjulep:
Yes, the document I referred to is a Z-fold document as illustrated on the link you provided

jmw:
Yes, the document refers to itself as Leporello (the document shows the word "Leporello"with a graphic arrow pointing to a graphic of the the screw cover on the transmitter).  I couldn't agree more that the term is obfuscatory.
Thank you for your discussion of "sophistry".   The term fits exquisitely.

I suspect that Leporello might have more recognition in German than English.  The instrument is German in origin; the instruction sheet is German on one side, English on the other.

Designating the document as Z-fold or fanfold would have been more appropriate, because no one in the Siemens US organization could tell me what it meant, and it's bugged me for months now until I stumbled onto this erudite forum.

Thanks all for comments.

Dan

RE: What's Leporello?

Wow!
They even included a graphic of the document itself?
That has to be way over the top.

JMW
www.ViscoAnalyser.com

RE: What's Leporello?

Showing you how to re-fold the document so that you can tuck it back into its intended home is an example of German thoroughness.  Leporello is probably a lot shorter than whatever the High German word for Z-fold might be.

Mike Halloran
Pembroke Pines, FL, USA

RE: What's Leporello?

German for "fanfold" is

Quote:

leporellogefaltet

which might explain a few things (though I think I prefer the alternative "zickzackgefaltet")

A.

RE: What's Leporello?

Thoroughness?
Maybe, but how many of you have problems folding bits of paper; you don't, surely, need to be an Origami Grand Master to fold a "z-fold" up nor to open it in the first place.... unless, of course, this is folded through more than the usual number of dimensions.

Yes, zeusfaber, some German words are particularly to be savoured; my favourites include steckdozer, bremstrahlung and   bier but I shall add "zickzackgefaltet" to my list, thanks.

JMW
www.ViscoAnalyser.com

RE: What's Leporello?

Leporello probably gained popularity in German-speaking countries since the popular opera Don Giovanni was composed by Wolfgang A. Mozart.  Leporello is Don Giovanni's servant, a bass role.  Text by Lorenzo da Ponte, first performance: Prague, Oct. 29, 1787.  
Pre-dates Siemens by 60 years & Eng-Tips by a bit more.

RE: What's Leporello?

A document which includes a plan on how to fold the document itself?!

It reminds me of Captain Parminter's ongoing dramas of trying to re-fold his US Army maps in the '60s classic TV show "F Troop". (They usually ended up being roughly stuffed into the drawers of his desk.)

In one brilliant episode, he ordered a US Army plan on how to fold maps. The document duly arrived - as a huge folded plan, of course!

RE: What's Leporello?

   It sounds like you guys have never wanted to kill someone for folding drawings wrong.  

                     JHG

RE: What's Leporello?

You mean that wadding the drawing up and stuffing it back into the mailing tube with a stick is not right?
Oh my.
B.E.

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