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Ambiguities

Ambiguities

Ambiguities

(OP)


It is quite frequent to find newspaper headlines containing ambiguities such as:

Grandmother of eight makes hole in one.
Queen Mary having bottom rubbed.
Safety experts say bus passengers should be belted.
Panda mating fails; veterinarian takes over.
Two ships collide, one dies.
Red tape holds up new bridge.
Prostitutes appeal to Pope.

Question: do this kind of ambiguities also appear in engineering reports ? Any comments ?

RE: Ambiguities

25362,

   Those are poorly written headlines.  In some cases, logically unambiguous headlines would have been more complicated and less attractive.  You have to make sacrifices to achieve brevity.

   Logical ambiguities like that should not appear in engineering reports.  Engineers should all be top notch writers.  Journalists, including headline writers, should all understand engineering and statistics.  While I am at this, I ought to wish for a pony or something.  :)  

                      JHG

RE: Ambiguities

The purpose of news headlines is to grab someone’s attention.  Journalists are allowed artistic license to achieve this end.  Engineering reports should rely on data.

"Art without engineering is dreaming; Engineering without art is calculating."

Have you read FAQ731-376: Eng-Tips.com Forum Policies to make the best use of Eng-Tips Forums?

RE: Ambiguities

These 2 Minnesota cities are about 45 miles apart.
My girlfriend told me about a traffic accident... with one fatality.

The newspaper headline: FERTILE WOMAN DIES IN CLIMAX

It's one thing to grab attention... but not in such a display of tactless-ness.

Of course... it could be just an "urban legend"...


Windows XP / Microsoft Wireless Optical Mouse 5000 / SolidWorks 2007 SP2.2 / SpaceBall 5000 / Lava Lamp
www.Tate3d.com
Jack L. Tate says: "Right-click... It's friggin' magic!"


FAQ376

RE: Ambiguities

Here's a nice one from mcadcentral

(http://www.mcadcentral.com/)

Irish Department of Education Buys SolidWorks (SolidWorks)

I didn't know that the Irish Dept of Education had the resources to buy the entire SW company, I'd have thought that buying a couple of seats would have been the cheaper option

Kevin Hammond

Mechanical Design Engineer
Derbyshire, UK
 

RE: Ambiguities

They bought 25000 seats, but I doubt they paid anywhere near retail for them or the maintenance, as that would be 100's of millions of dollars.

Matt
CAD Engineer/ECN Analyst
Silicon Valley, CA
sw.fcsuper.com
Co-moderator of Solidworks Yahoo! Group

RE: Ambiguities

fc,

I'm sure they are educational seats

Kevin Hammond

Mechanical Design Engineer
Derbyshire, UK
 

RE: Ambiguities

Educational seats of some software come at the amazing discount of 100% (so long as support isn't required).  The age of downloading and on-line manuals means that there is virtually no incremental cost involved with distributing software.

RE: Ambiguities

There are also some pretty good five-finger discounts available from soem of the more unscrupulous places on our fair planet

Kevin Hammond

Mechanical Design Engineer
Derbyshire, UK
 

RE: Ambiguities

Sticking with the original theme:

Where are they going to store 25 000 seats?

A.

RE: Ambiguities

Or more importantly did they buy 25000 desks to go with those seats.

No one example springs to mind but in my current position I help write some company standards, procedures etc.

I'll often write something that makes perfect sense to me but to other people, or even me a few days/weeks later, makes no sense or is ambiguous.

RE: Ambiguities

Two cities in central Illinois prompted the following headline:   "Oblong Man Marries Normal Woman"

RE: Ambiguities

A long time ago, the UK Government commissioned a book to encourage civil servants to write more clearly.

The book (Ernest Gowers' "The Complete Plain Words" - an acknowledged classic which is still in print) has a whole chapter on ambiguity including the, allegedly genuine,

"If your baby will not drink milk, try boiling it".

A.

RE: Ambiguities

The worst offenders I've seen are the on-line news sites.  They write a normal headline and then pull out the keywords and arrange them in the worst or most clickable way; or so it seems.

==========================================
Business Card     http://mech.e.tripod.com
__________________________________________
Cycle Heaven.......www.tailofthedragon.com

RE: Ambiguities

What almost got printed in our standard specifications:  "Use a contractor from the approved list to plug the well."

Hg

Eng-Tips policies:  FAQ731-376: Eng-Tips.com Forum Policies

RE: Ambiguities

Good one.

My responsibilities at work include large electric motors, but not the small ones. So the signature line attached to every one of my emails is as follows:

Quote:


electricpete
large electric motor engineer

(except I use my real name instead of my handle.
Guess I should go on a diet...

=====================================
Eng-tips forums: The best place on the web for engineering discussions.

RE: Ambiguities

The first company credit card I held had the fantastic company name of (company name replaced):


xxxx cons engineers.


I used to tell people it was company policy to print our mission statement on our credit cards.

RE: Ambiguities

Way back in the good ol' days I worked for my university bookstore.  Departments could charge items to their account.  One poor Dean always felt a little slighted.  He was the "A##. Dean of (can't remember exact department)" .  We didn't have the power to change it but laughed every time at that choice for shortening Assistant.

RE: Ambiguities

The last company I worked for in the US had a large central laboratory with over 400 employees. Items from different departments kept finding thier way around the three buildings and had to be located when needed. It was decided that everything had to be labled with the area where it belonged. Soon every thing in our area, including trash bins, prominently displayed large letters with the three letter acronym for Analytical Services Subunit.

RE: Ambiguities

"Panda mating fails; veterinarian takes over."
and "Prostitutes appeal to Pope" are my favorites lol

RE: Ambiguities

When I worked in the Nuclear Industry my boss' title was the Assistant Reactor Services Engineer.........needless to say he did not use it often

RE: Ambiguities

Did the company use him as a spokesman?  "Talking through our ...."

RE: Ambiguities

That'd be a bummer. "I'm the vice-ARSE" "I work under the ARSE" "My ARSE asked me to come and talk to you guys..."

Oh well. I used to work for DES ANAL in our old phonebook, at BL. That's design analysis, you cheeky monkeys.


Cheers

Greg Locock

Please see FAQ731-376: Eng-Tips.com Forum Policies for tips on how to make the best use of Eng-Tips.

RE: Ambiguities

ksy2k,

If, perish the thought, things did go wrong for your boss then he could kiss his ARSE goodbye (Boom, boom)

Kevin

“Insanity in individuals is something rare, but in groups, parties, nations and epochs it is the rule” Nietzsche

RE: Ambiguities

PS For all you non-UK based people (I hear there are quite a few) the Boom, boom reference is probably lost. It was/is the catchphrase for a puppet fox called Basil Brush

Cheers

Kevin

“Insanity in individuals is something rare, but in groups, parties, nations and epochs it is the rule” Nietzsche

RE: Ambiguities

sign in a machine shop:

"Eye protection must be worn at all times"

Damn, my glasses are too new.

RE: Ambiguities

The War Against Terror
became
The War On Terror
after about a week.

RE: Ambiguities

Neither The War Against Terror or The War On Terror are friendly acronyms in the UK.

Ah Basil, fond childhood memories.

RE: Ambiguities

"The War Against Terror
became
The War On Terror
after about a week"

but at what point did it become "The War OF Terror"??

And would it have gone more smoothly if Brush (Basil) were in charge instead of Bush (George)

RE: Ambiguities

personally i always smile at the sign on a door ....
"fire exit, must remain closed at all times"

RE: Ambiguities

I saw a sign at my local hospital last night. I forget the exact wording but it was something like "For the good of your health, please do not smoke in the hospital or its grounds" - like your health won't be affected if you smoke outside the hospital grounds!

RE: Ambiguities

It depends, if there are oxygen tanks around the danger may be more immediate in the hospital.

Or maybe they're refering to the action the security guards might take if they catch yousmile.

KENAT, probably the least qualified checker you'll ever meet...

RE: Ambiguities

Just wanted to say "Love the posting on the ambiguities"

RE: Ambiguities

One that I remember from the food section:

"Kids make great snacks"

RE: Ambiguities

My brother worked for a company named National Medical Enterprises which went by their initials NME.  He and his coworkers had great fun referring to 'working for the enemy.'

Then there is an engineering company in the Dallas area named Haff Associates.  What were they thinking when they named the firm?  I don't work there, but I could surely see myself refrerring to my employer as a half a$$ outfit from time to time if I were to.

rmw

RE: Ambiguities

What should remain out of engineering reports...

The widgets tested well.

The results were good.



This is one thing I am always trying to explain to people who use these words in engineering reports, or emails even. I was taught as an engineer that you never, ever use subjective words in engineering when describing results especially. Be objective and tell the numbers.

RE: Ambiguities

I saw this on the IEEE web site in an abstract for a paper, and immediately thought of this topic:

"In this paper a fully integrated implementation of the classical Howland current source is presented as a compact solution for exciting resistive and piezoresistive sensors."

Those resistive and piezoresistive sensors are pretty exciting, aren't they?

RE: Ambiguities

Sign on the laser printer at work:

"Never use ink-ket paper to prevent failure."

RE: Ambiguities

A personal favourite from the world of advertising:

"Nothing works faster than Anadin"

Well take nothing then!

RE: Ambiguities

Take a look at the warning at the top of this page......

Is it really that dangerous to use a different web browser....

Kevin

“It is a mathematical fact that fifty percent of all doctors graduate in the bottom half of their class." ~Author Unknown

"If two wrongs don't make a right, try three." ~Author Unknown

RE: Ambiguities

On the radio this morning there was mention of a play that happened in the seventy second minute of a soccer game.

Is that some new form of overtime?  I thought they were all sixty seconds long.

RE: Ambiguities

"On the radio this morning there was mention of a play that happened in the seventy second minute of a soccer game.

Is that some new form of overtime?  I thought they were all sixty seconds long."

That took me a couple of seconds to understand.

RE: Ambiguities

This question was found in this forum, copied and posted here again.  

"Why we need plate washers for slotted holes as per code. When we can use ordinary washers on slotted holes?"

This is where the language problem and Ambiguities comes in.  I think I know what he wants to know, but I'm not really sure.  I would have to check it out by rephrasing the question.  Then...would he understand it properly rephrased?  ???

Mike McCann
McCann Engineering

RE: Ambiguities

My official job title.

Computer Aided Design Engineer.

So, am I an Engineer that uses Computer Aided Design or...

Am I some kind of Cyborg Design Engineer enhanced with a computer/electronic components like the million dollar man?

KENAT, probably the least qualified checker you'll ever meet...

RE: Ambiguities

KENAT,

The latter sounds like it would be more fun.

Until the Robot Rebellion starts.

RE: Ambiguities

Yeah, which side to pick, half human half machine, hmm.

KENAT, probably the least qualified checker you'll ever meet...

RE: Ambiguities

Ken,

Think terminator, a thin skin of humanity is enough to scare the holy living s$*t outta most. Could have some serious benifits when it comes to dealing with people who disagree with your checking methods...LOL

Kevin

“It is a mathematical fact that fifty percent of all doctors graduate in the bottom half of their class." ~Author Unknown

"If two wrongs don't make a right, try three." ~Author Unknown

RE: Ambiguities

"100% of the tars trapped in Tareyton's special charcoal filter do not reach your throat."

Dave Wichern
http://www.dedalusenviro.com
Science is a business of empiricism.

RE: Ambiguities

My oficial job title is:

CAE engineer
or
Computer Aided Engineering Engineer

Which perhaps suggests that I may qualify for Kenat's cyborg army, but what would an engineering engineer be?
Apart from a tautology.
Are there any non-engineering engineers?

RE: Ambiguities

[Rant On]

There are loads of non-engineering engineers in the world nowadays. We now have 'engineers' who instal cable TV, 'engineers' who work in sewers etc etc etc Aaaaarrrrggggghhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!

[Rant Off]

Kevin

“It is a mathematical fact that fifty percent of all doctors graduate in the bottom half of their class." ~Author Unknown

"If two wrongs don't make a right, try three." ~Author Unknown

RE: Ambiguities

Prohammy, did you have to.  Now people are going to chip in saying only people with degrees and CEng/PE are real engineers and I'll have to get all stroppy againsmile  

I had my fight for the month over in thread731-194524: Do You Use What You Learned in School for Your Job?.  I don't want to get into another one, or no one will answer my questions!smile

KENAT, probably the least qualified checker you'll ever meet...

RE: Ambiguities

I see what's going to happen...... now I'm going to get accused of being arrogant (see other threads if that is the case)

It's just one of those silly little things that racks me off, and I know  should be able to get over it ('You are a grown-up, aren't you?', to quote my wife) but sometimes you need to just shout and stomp your feet.....

I'm done now and those pills are just wonderful love

Kevin

“It is a mathematical fact that fifty percent of all doctors graduate in the bottom half of their class." ~Author Unknown

"If two wrongs don't make a right, try three." ~Author Unknown

RE: Ambiguities

I'm pretty sure I posted this a while ago but:

"Sexual Harassment training"

Do they teach you to sexually harass better?

I was reminded of this because for the first time ever I saw it referred to in a more logical way by, HR

“Training - Preventing Harassment in the Work Place”

KENAT, probably the least qualified checker you'll ever meet...

RE: Ambiguities

"sexual Harassment Training"

I saw that and asked if that meant that I was doing such a poor job that they thought I needed a refresher.

I was told that my asking such a question was indicative of my need for sensitivity training.

old field guy

RE: Ambiguities

Then they shoulda called it sensitivity training, and not sexual harassment training.  Not thinking something through on their part doesn't make them immune to the reality of their word choice.

Matt
CAD Engineer/ECN Analyst
Silicon Valley, CA
sw.fcsuper.com
Co-moderator of Solidworks Yahoo! Group

RE: Ambiguities

I had an email from one of the prototype suppliers we use, stating that the local charity that they were going to support for the following year was going to be "online bullying".
Apparently it is a charity set up to prevent bullying over the internet, and NOT a facility for tormenting local kids at the click of a button when they annoy you.
They realy should have been more clear with the name.

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