[Vocabulary] light wooden staircase

[englishhobby]

Does the expression (by the way, is it an expression, a phrase, a collocation, or a word combination? I can't come up with the right word to call it) light wooden staircase sound ambiguous in meaning? If you hear it, will your first thought be about the light colour of the staircase (the opposite is dark) or about its weight and volume (the opposite is heavy or massive)?

The foyer with its light wooden staircase will be the start of a fascinating tour of the mansion.

What does light mean in this context? (I made this sentence for my students for an assignment in which they had to mark the statements as true or false. Some of the students thought I meant the colour shades while others thought it was the opposite of massive (which I meant)).

 

[emsr2d2]

I would take it to mean that it's made of a light-coloured wood. Staircases have to be sturdy so they need to be made of fairly heavy-duty wood.

 

[tedmc]

I think "light" is to do with appearance, which could mean the colour of the material, as emsr2d2 mentioned, which varies from pinewood (light) to mahogany (heavy).

It could also refer to the proportions of the staircase i.e. the the sizes of wooden members. They could be just adequate for functional purposes or they could be made oversized to give a solid and robust look.

 

[Charlie Bernstein]

I don't think light wooden staircase is at all natural. It makes me picture a portable staircase. I can imagine a portable aluminum staircase, but not wood.

 

[GoesStation]

Looking back at the quote, I see it as describing a staircase that doesn't look massive. We'd say light wood, not light wooden to describe light-colored wood.

 

[Amigos4]

The foyer with its light wooden staircase will be the start of a fascinating tour of the mansion.

To avoid ambiguity on future true or false tests you might consider the following:
* The foyer with its light-colored wood staircase will be the start of a fascinating tour of the mansion.
* The foyer with its unimposing wood staircase will be the start of a fascinating tour of the mansion.

 

[englishhobby]

So is it possible at all to find the opposite of "a massive staircase"? Is "an unimposing staircase" the only possible option?

 

[jutfrank]

It seems I'm alone in not really knowing what you mean by a 'massive' staircase. By 'light', do you mean there are no risers (the vertical bits between each step)?

In any case, I think a light wooden staircase is not good, whatever you mean.

 

[Amigos4]

So is it possible at all to find the opposite of "a massive staircase"? Is "an unimposing staircase" the only possible option?

Did you search for antonyms of “massive”? ;-)

 

[probus]

Let me preface this by saying that of all the countries in the world Canada has the most wood, with the possible exception of Russia. In my youth, hardwood flooring was popular, being durable and quite affordable. We have now largely finished harvesting our hardwoods and hardwood floors and staircases are now considered a costly luxury at least in new construction.

 

[englishhobby]

It seems I'm alone in not really knowing what you mean by a 'massive' staircase. By 'light', do you mean there are no risers (the vertical bits between each step)?

In any case, I think a light wooden staircase is not good, whatever you mean.

Here's the original video: https://youtu.be/CcIXy97PNkI?t=28
I thought "massive" meant "large and heavy" as in this entry: https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/massive

 

[englishhobby]

Did you search for antonyms of “massive”? ;-)

Yes, I googled for antonyms of massive and I got little and tiny (the rest were irrelevant words). I just wanted something a little bit bigger than tiny or little. Does little staircase sound natural?

 

[Charlie Bernstein]

The video says "massive white oak staircase."

White oak is a variety of wood. Is that the phrase you're wondering about?

When you post videos, include the place on the video where the words appear: 0:27.

 

[englishhobby]

The video says "massive white oak staircase."

White oak is a variety of wood. Is that the phrase you're wondering about?

Yes. I want to change this sentence to the opposite, to make a false statement, if that's possible (for a True or False exercise).

 

[jutfrank]

Here's the original video: https://youtu.be/CcIXy97PNkI?t=28
I thought "massive" meant "large and heavy" as in this entry: https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/massive

I think the narrator of the video means 'massive' in the sense of 'very big' and grand'. She's talking about the size more than design, which I understand you're talking about.

In fact, it's still not clear what you mean by 'light'. Could you explain? If you just mean 'small', then say 'small'.


Edit: Okay, I've just realised what you're trying to do. You're making a comprehension exercise for your students. In that case, you can use small as an antonym for 'massive'.

 

[englishhobby]

Let me preface this by saying that of all the countries in the world Canada has the most wood, with the possible exception of Russia. In my youth, hardwood flooring was popular, being durable and quite affordable. We have now largely finished harvesting our hardwoods and hardwood floors and staircases are now considered a costly luxury at least in new construction.

Yes, it is expensive. Here's the video (0:27): https://youtu.be/CcIXy97PNkI?t=33

 

[Amigos4]

“Diminutive” is an antonym of “massive”. It would fit nicely in your original sentence. ;-)

 

[englishhobby]

I think the narrator of the video means 'massive' in the sense of 'very big' and grand'. She's talking about the size more than design, which I understand you're talking about.

In fact, it's still not clear what you mean by 'light'. Could you explain? If you just mean 'small', then say 'small'.

By 'light' I mean 'not large and heavy'. Am I wrong? Sometimes, even if you can't weigh an object, you can know it is very heavy (usually because it is large).

 

[englishhobby]

Here is a 'light' staircase as I imagine it (it doesn't look 'heavy' or 'massive'):

 

[englishhobby]

“Diminutive” is an antonym of “massive”. It would fit nicely in your original sentence. ;-)

What is smaller - a tiny staircase or a diminutive one? Thanks for the word, but my 'light' staircase does not have to be tiny. It can be quite large in size, but 'not looking heavy', kind of 'half-transparent'. ;-)
Like this one (it could be larger and still it wouldn't look massive and 'heavy'):