[General] Please help me understand the meaning of this

Status
Not open for further replies.

Olympian

Senior Member
Joined
Aug 14, 2008
Member Type
Interested in Language
Native Language
Hindi
Home Country
India
Current Location
India
Hello,

I was reading an article about '10 hotel secrets from behind the front desk'. I am not able to understand secret number 9.

----
9. FRONT DESK AGENTS CAN ALSO BE AGENTS OF KARMA.
Any arriving guest should receive what are referred to as initial keys, which are programmed to reset the door lock when they are first inserted, deactivating all previous keys. Not until the keys expire or a new initial key enters the lock will the keys fail to work. With a “key bomb,” I cut one single initial key and then start over and cut a second initial key. Either one of them will work when you get to the room, and as long as you keep using the very first key you slipped in, all will be well.
But chances are you’ll pop in the second key at some point, and then the first key you used will be considered invalid. Trace that back to me? Not a chance. Trace that back to the fact that you told your 9-year-old daughter to shut her mouth while harshly ripping off her tiny backpack at check-in? Never.

----

What is the meaning of "key bomb"? Is it a reference to some key-duplicating machine? I found a reference to "bomb key" here, but that does not explain this.

I am assuming that the "I" in "I cut on single initial key and then start over and cut a second initial key" refers to the author who used to work behind a front desk. But I did not understand why he would do this. Does he mean he would do this to cause trouble for any guests who don't treat him properly? I am confused.

Thank you.
 

MikeNewYork

VIP Member
Joined
Nov 13, 2002
Member Type
Academic
Native Language
American English
Home Country
United States
Current Location
United States
Hello,

I was reading an article about '10 hotel secrets from behind the front desk'. I am not able to understand secret number 9.

----
9. FRONT DESK AGENTS CAN ALSO BE AGENTS OF KARMA.
Any arriving guest should receive what are referred to as initial keys, which are programmed to reset the door lock when they are first inserted, deactivating all previous keys. Not until the keys expire or a new initial key enters the lock will the keys fail to work. With a “key bomb,” I cut one single initial key and then start over and cut a second initial key. Either one of them will work when you get to the room, and as long as you keep using the very first key you slipped in, all will be well.
But chances are you’ll pop in the second key at some point, and then the first key you used will be considered invalid. Trace that back to me? Not a chance. Trace that back to the fact that you told your 9-year-old daughter to shut her mouth while harshly ripping off her tiny backpack at check-in? Never.

----

What is the meaning of "key bomb"? Is it a reference to some key-duplicating machine? I found a reference to "bomb key" here, but that does not explain this.

I am assuming that the "I" in "I cut on single initial key and then start over and cut a second initial key" refers to the author who used to work behind a front desk. But I did not understand why he would do this. Does he mean he would do this to cause trouble for any guests who don't treat him properly? I am confused.

Thank you.

They idea of a "bomb' here is something that will do harm at a later date when it is activated. In this case, the hotel clerk gave a customer two keys. If he only ever used one of them, things would have been OK, but if he ever used the second, it would have locked out the first. He refers to this as "Karma" because he is punishing the man for allegedly mistreating his daughter.
 

Rover_KE

Moderator
Staff member
Joined
Jun 20, 2010
Member Type
Retired English Teacher
Native Language
British English
Home Country
England
Current Location
England
Olympian, a better title would have been 'key bomb'.

Extract from the Posting Guidelines:

'Thread titles should include all or part of the word/phrase being discussed.'

Rover

 

Olympian

Senior Member
Joined
Aug 14, 2008
Member Type
Interested in Language
Native Language
Hindi
Home Country
India
Current Location
India
They idea of a "bomb' here is something that will do harm at a later date when it is activated. In this case, the hotel clerk gave a customer two keys. If he only ever used one of them, things would have been OK, but if he ever used the second, it would have locked out the first. He refers to this as "Karma" because he is punishing the man for allegedly mistreating his daughter.

@MikeNewYork, I see. Thank you. :-D He is punishing for allegedly mistreating his daughter, so he is the 'agent'. I see.
 

Olympian

Senior Member
Joined
Aug 14, 2008
Member Type
Interested in Language
Native Language
Hindi
Home Country
India
Current Location
India
Olympian, a better title would have been 'key bomb'.

Extract from the Posting Guidelines:

'Thread titles should include all or part of the word/phrase being discussed.'

Rover


@Rover_KE, I apologize. I should have included the phrase. I will remember it for my future posts. I tried to edit it for this one, but I found that I can't change the title now. Thank you.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Top