Native speakers opinions needed! Can anyone help me please?

[lselin]

Hi everyone! I need opinions from native speakers of English. Please don't look up on the internet or in a dictionary, just tell me what comes into your mind! Thank you!

'A crushed thin sheet is essentially a mass of conical points connected by curved energy-storing ridges.'

What does 'thin sheet' mean here?

 

[Barb_D]

I have no idea what any of that means at all.

 

[bhaisahab]

I have no idea what any of that means at all.

Nor me.

 

[5jj]

That makes three of us - unless it's just meant to be the sheet you put on a bed.

 

[SoothingDave]

I think they have energy-storing ridges on the rippled chips I like so much. ;-)

 

[lselin]

Thanks for your unanimous opinion))! And if I ask this way: What material could this thin sheet be made of?

 

[SoothingDave]

It could be made of steel or aluminum or glass or cotton or any number of things.

 

[nyota]

Why is it so important that we don't know the context? Which I've already checked anyway. I'm awful.

 

[lselin]

Why is it so important that we don't know the context? Which I've already checked anyway. I'm awful.

you're not awfull. I would have done the same).
By the way, I actually already got all the information I needed.

When I first read the text, I was sure a piece of paper was ment. But then I checked online and it seemed to be a common collocation for a thin piece of metal. However, I wasn't sure, every native speaker of English would automatically think of metal. But it seems to me, I was wrong.

Thank you all for your answers! :up:

 

[nyota]

When I first read the text, I was sure a piece of paper was ment. But then I checked online and it seemed to be a common collocation for a thin piece of metal. However, I wasn't sure, every native speaker of English would automatically think of metal. But it seems to me, I was wrong.

What one thinks depends on the context, so I'll just paste the link to the source now, if you don't mind.

Scientific American - A New Report Explains the Physics of Crumpled Paper. Aluminised Mylar :-? Brr

 

[5jj]

lselin, no native speaker will think of metal if the words 'sheet of paper' are written!

 

[Barb_D]

I too looked it up after I answered. The context makes it immediately clear what the thin sheet is, but I still don't know what the conical points are. (I thought points have no dimension, so how they can be conical remains a mystery.)

I don't have any "immediate connotation" for "sheet." I think coating of something, like ice, a bed sheet, a sheet of paper. Metal is one of the last things I'd think of.

 

[lselin]

What one thinks depends on the context, so I'll just paste the link to the source now, if you don't mind.

Aluminised Mylar Brr

nyota, first, my question was specificly addressed to native speakers of English. My intention wasn't to make fool of them, but to analyze the matter I described above. If I'd needed them to read the text or to have context, I would have placed this link here from the very beginning. Many of native speakers I asked named aluminium or metal first. That seems exciting to me, as I would never think of aluminium, probably paper at the most. And what you or I think is irrelevant here, as we are not native speakers.

 

[lselin]

Thanks for your answers! But it doesn't make sence to discuss it now that you have a spesific image in your head. I can only say what I have: most of native speakers I asked said they had no clue and afterwards named metal or aluminium. It's a fact)). Thanks still! Your answers helped me a lot!

 

[5jj]

nyota,.... And what you or I think is irrelevant here, as we are not native speakers.

Whether or not nyota is a native speaker is relevant when she says, "What one thinks depends on the context".

I don't know how many native speakers you asked, or what their background was, but I have to say that I am surprised that they named aluminium or metal first.

 

[birdeen's call]

I too looked it up after I answered. The context makes it immediately clear what the thin sheet is, but I still don't know what the conical points are. (I thought points have no dimension, so how they can be conical remains a mystery.)

In this picture, you will see the Earth, the Sun and five points: L1, L2, L3, L4 and L5. They are the points where a small object will be stationary relative to the Sun and the Earth as they revolve. L1 is sometimes called the conical point according to McGraw-Hill.

 

[lselin]

Whether or not nyota is a native speaker is relevant when she says, "What one thinks depends on the context".

I don't know how many native speakers you asked, or what their background was, but I have to say that I am surprised that they named aluminium or metal first.

I didn't say, that she wasn't right. And it wasn't against her as non-native speaker, as I am that too. I understand that context is always key to understanding something. However, it wasn't the goal here, which I specificly made clear.

As for metal, even those who named it, were surprised about the fact that they named it. But they named it. I am surprised too. But these details are what makes a foreign language interesting to me.

 

[nyota]

nyota, first, my question was specificly addressed to native speakers of English. Which is why I didn't give my interpretation.

My intention wasn't to make fool of them, but to analyze the matter I described above. I believe I didn't refer to your intentions in any of my posts.

If I'd needed them to read the text or to have context, I would have placed this link here from the very beginning. You're right, I should've left it to you. Useless now but my apologies.

Many of native speakers I asked named aluminium or metal first. That seems exciting to me, as I would never think of aluminium, probably paper at the most. And what you or I think is irrelevant here, as we are not native speakers. Again, I didn't say what I thought on the specific matter.

nyota

 

[lselin]

nyota

nyota, you don't have to apologize. The conversation was then over. Normally, this is the time, when one-two people place their extended comments. You couldn't have known this. Yes, I was a bit angry about the link)), but again, you couldn't have known what my intention was. It's all right, really. Therewith, youre intentions were good)).