111-frog weld car??

[matilda]

Dear friends

Hello all

What is a (frog weld car) in the following sentence?
…, nor can frog weld car bodies as well as robots.

Tanks in advance

Matilda

[Tdol]

Frogs are not as good at welding (joining metal by use of heat) car bodies as robots. Without a wider context, it's hard to say what the writer intends.

[Mister Micawber]

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A 'frog weld' is evidently some kind of welding technique, but the limited number of Google hits have not revealed an fuller explanation. Could you give us more of the text, Matilda?
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[Tomasz Klimkiewicz]

Perhaps this link to a frog welding course details would help a bit:

http://www.jccc.net/home/course_outl...g-2006/RRIT145

[Mister Micawber]

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Interesting, Tomasz, thank you. It seems that 'frogs' are a part of a railway track (Austenitic Manganese steel frogs), so that 'frog welding' = 'the welding of frogs' (Upon successful completion of this course, the student should be able to repair by welding a manganese frog casting according to Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway standards). How that applies to automobiles remains to be seen.
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[matilda]

sorry to say that. but i didn't get the meaning.
i founf the meaning of frog and weld separately. but didn't get both together

[queenbu]

I'm more inclined to think it means as tdol said but you should give us more of the context.

[matilda]

here's the text

it is already clear that machines have superior mental abilities to many life forms.No fern or oak tree can play chess as well as even the simplesr digital computer; nor can (frog weld car bodies) as well as robots. The tree-fingered mechanical manipulator is cleverer in some ways than the three-toed slot....


is it clear now? i'm really confused. i have an exam on wednesday of this chapter, and i don't know what i should do.



Matilda

[Mister Micawber]

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Yes, indeed-- and tdol was right.

Machines are smarter than plants and animals. A tree cannot play chess as well as a computer; a frog cannot weld (join metals with heat or electricity) as well as a robot; a mechanical manipulator is more dextrous than a sloth.

Of course, these seem to be tongue-in-cheek comparisons.
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[Tomasz Klimkiewicz]

...hehe...my first impression was that the 'frog' was a term borrowed from an engineering jargon...in a sense it is...

An industry glossary often abounds in funny comparisons. For example, a tool used for running an in-line inspection of a pipeline (to detect defects, deformations, etc.) is commonly referred to as an 'intelligent pig' and the process itself is called 'pipeline pigging'...