This is a rather long period for the damage to manifest

[JACEK1]

Hello all users!

From the limited information I collected on board, it was disclosed to me that following the completion of the repairs at the Shipyards in Poland (15th June 2013) and the manifestation of the damage (24th July 2013), the Main Engine operated for 613 running hours. This is a rather long period for the damage to manifest, IF it is assumed that some debris was indeed entrapped during the repairs in June 2013.

Shouldn't "This is a rather long period for the damage to manifest" be written as "This is a long enough period for the damage to manifest" or "This is a sufficiently long period for the damage to manifest"?
By "This is a long enough period for the damage to manifest" or "This is a sufficiently long period for the damage to manifest" I mean "This period is long (sufficiently) enough to enable the damage to manifest". Is my reasoning right? By the way, my laptop computer is acting up again. Thank you.

 

[SoothingDave]

I think you mean that it was a long period of time before the damage manifested itself.

 

[JACEK1]

I think that "This period is long enough and within the period the damage can manifest itself". Past is not mentioned in the text.

 

[emsr2d2]

As far as I can tell, the original is suggesting that the damage is unlikely to have been caused by entrapment of some debris because, if that were the cause, the damage would have occurred long before the engine had been running for 613 hours.

"This is rather a long period for the damage to manifest [itself]" suggests the writer does not believe in the given cause and effect.
"This is a long enough period for the damage to manifest [itself]" suggests the writer does believe in the given cause and effect.
"This is a sufficiently long period for the damage to manifest [itself]" suggests the writer does believe in the given cause and effect.

It really depends on what you're actually trying to say.

 

[MikeNewYork]

Hello all users!

From the limited information I collected on board, it was disclosed to me that following the completion of the repairs at the Shipyards in Poland (15th June 2013) and the manifestation of the damage (24th July 2013), the Main Engine operated for 613 running hours. This is a rather long period for the damage to manifest, IF it is assumed that some debris was indeed entrapped during the repairs in June 2013.

Shouldn't "This is a rather long period for the damage to manifest" be written as "This is a long enough period for the damage to manifest" or "This is a sufficiently long period for the damage to manifest"?
By "This is a long enough period for the damage to manifest" or "This is a sufficiently long period for the damage to manifest" I mean "This period is long (sufficiently) enough to enable the damage to manifest". Is my reasoning right? By the way, my laptop computer is acting up again. Thank you.

The context appears to be that repairs were made on some equipment in June and the machine ran for 613 hours after that. Then the machine had problems in July. Someone had suggested that the damage was caused by something that was done wrong at the time of the original repair. The report raises doubts about the repairs being cause of the new damage. The sentence in question uses the words "rather long" because the writer doubts that it would have taken over 5 weeks and 613 running hours for the new damage to manifest itself.

 

[probus]

I think that "This period is long enough and within the period the damage can manifest itself". Past is not mentioned in the text.

You are saying that the interval is sufficient for the damage to appear. But the writer you quoted initially is arguing a different slant, that if the damage was due to debris ingested during the June repairs, it would have been apparent sooner.

Oops, did not notice that MikeNewYork had beaten me to it.

 

[JACEK1]

I am still in two minds about the sentence. What is the final meaning of it? In my opinion, having considered your comments, it might mean the following:
It is doubtful that the damage would manifest itself during the mentioned long persiod. Am I right? Please put me right on that in case I am wrong. "This is too long a period for the damage to manifest"?

 

[bhaisahab]

I am still in two minds about the sentence. What is the final meaning of it? In my opinion, having considered your comments, it might mean the following:
It is doubtful that the damage would manifest itself during the mentioned long persiod. Am I right? Please put me right on that in case I am wrong. "This is too long a period for the damage to manifest"?

It is saying that if the damage had been caused by debris left during the repairs, it (the damage) would have manifested itself sooner than 613 hours after said repairs.

 

[Raymott]

It is saying that if the damage had been caused by debris left during the repairs, it (the damage) would have manifested itself sooner than 613 hours after said repairs.

If I could just finish the implication of above:
"... and therefore, since the damage only manifested 613 hours after the repairs (a long time), it is highly unlikely that the repairs were the cause of the damage."

 

[emsr2d2]

All of which I thought three of us said pretty clearly in posts 4, 5 and 6.

 

[Raymott]

All of which I thought three of us said pretty clearly in posts 4, 5 and 6.

That's quite possible, but the OP in #7 says "I am still in two minds about the sentence. What is the final meaning of it?" - which, to me, is sufficient justification for explaining it in a different way. No implication is intended that it hasn't already been answered competently.