How long do you weigh?

[tufguy]

How long do you weigh?

I saw this on the internet. What does mean?

 

[GoesStation]

Nothing. It's meaningless.

 

[probus]

You must have misread or misheard, tufguy.

 

[Phaedrus]

How long do you weigh?

I saw this on the internet. What does mean?

It could mean "How long do you weigh things (for)?," "How long do you perform the act of weighing?"

 

[Rover_KE]

I saw this on the internet.

You've been told more than once that when you see something 'on the internet' that you intend to ask us about, you must provide a link to it so we can read it for ourselves in context.

 

[teechar]

Indeed. Please provide the link, tufguy. And don't say "I can't remember where I saw it". That won't do!

 

[Tarheel]

How long do you weigh?

I saw this on the internet. What does it mean?

The expression is: "How much do you weigh?"

 

[Phaedrus]

Again, it is possible for "How long do you weigh?" to mean "How much TIME do you spend WEIGHING?"

Perhaps the change in wording of my paraphrase will help my fellow natives to see this possible interpretation, which is clear as day.

 

[Rover_KE]

If tufguy had given us an actual source we wouldn't have to speculate.

 

[5jj]

Again, it is possible for "How long do you weigh?" to mean "How much TIME do you spend WEIGHING?"

I find it highly unlikely.

Perhaps the change in wording of my paraphrase will help my fellow natives to see this possible interpretation, which is clear as day.

I'd use mud rather than day.

 

[Phaedrus]

I find it highly unlikely.

I'd use mud rather than day.

But it is obviously possible, even if no one "likes" it. GoesStation was wrong when he said Tufguy's sentence was meaningless. So was everybody who "liked" it, including you.

(I've corrected my silly typo, by the way. You can remove your correction from your post.)

 

[jutfrank]

There's an important difference between what a sentence could mean and what it does mean.

These two very different kinds of meaning (speaker meaning and sentence meaning) are often desperately confused on this forum. Two of the commonest kinds of post that we get here on the forum go like this:

Type 1) The poster gives us something that they have heard/seen and we try to interpret what the speaker/writer was trying to say.
Type 2) The poster tries to explain a thought that they have in mind, and we try to offer a sentence that best expresses what they mean.

Both of these concern speaker meaning. It seems clear to me that tufguy is asking a Type 1 question. In order to answer it properly, we need to see context. Without that, it seems very reasonable to me to say that there's an error somewhere, whether that be on tufguy's or the writer's side. I imagine that's what GoesStation was really trying to say.

 

[Phaedrus]

What drew me to this thread was how absurd the example seemed. Then it occurred to me that it can work rather like "How long do you sleep?"

The point is that "How long" need not be interpreted as asking for a measurement of physical/spatial length. "How long?" can mean "How much time?" (temporal length).

Further, not only can you weigh a certain number of pounds, but you can also weigh for a certain amount of time. These are different senses of weigh.

 

[tufguy]

You've been told more than once that when you see something 'on the internet' that you intend to ask us about, you must provide a link to it so we can read it for ourselves in context.

It was a video. I couldn't copy or share the link.

 

[tzfujimino]

What was it about, tufguy?

 

[teechar]

I couldn't copy or share the link.

Why not? How did you find that video? Your answer seems VERY suspicious.

 

[probus]

It was a video. I couldn't copy or share the link.

Tufguy, you have been banned for one week. If you choose to return after your ban, do NOT post questions if you cannot provide the source. And read or listen CAREFULLY before you post questions.

 

[Phaedrus]

There's an important difference between what a sentence could mean and what it does mean.

These two very different kinds of meaning (speaker meaning and sentence meaning) are often desperately confused on this forum. Two of the commonest kinds of post that we get here on the forum go like this:

Type 1) The poster gives us something that they have heard/seen and we try to interpret what the speaker/writer was trying to say.
Type 2) The poster tries to explain a thought that they have in mind, and we try to offer a sentence that best expresses what they mean.

Both of these concern speaker meaning. It seems clear to me that tufguy is asking a Type 1 question. In order to answer it properly, we need to see context. Without that, it seems very reasonable to me to say that there's an error somewhere, whether that be on tufguy's or the writer's side. I imagine that's what GoesStation was really trying to say.

These are very good points, Jutfrank. Still, I think that, if a learner wants to know what a sentence means, the learner has a right to know.

In this case, the sentence can't mean what you speculate the speaker does mean. The sentence doesn't mean what you speculate the speaker meant it to mean.

In this type of situation, yes, we can say what we think the speaker was trying to say and suggest revisions.

However, we can also say what the sentence itself means, or can mean if it is ambiguous, i.e., if it has more than one possible meaning.

In this case, the sentence itself has only one possible meaning. And if it has a meaning, then it is not meaningless, contrary to popular opinion in this thread.

Sentence meaning matters.

 

[jutfrank]

I think that, if a learner wants to know what a sentence means, the learner has a right to know.

Sure.

In this case, the sentence can't mean what you speculate the speaker does mean. The sentence doesn't mean what you speculate the speaker meant it to mean.

I didn't speculate on what the speaker means, did I? I wouldn't even like to guess. However, I would bank on the fact that the speaker doesn't mean to say 'For how much time do you weigh?', which is what the sentence could mean (sentence meaning). My point is that that is so absurd that I think we can conclude that that's not what the sentence does mean (speaker meaning). :-D

However, we can also say what the sentence itself means, or can mean if it is ambiguous, i.e., if it has more than one possible meaning.

Yes, sure. I completely agree with you that we don't have to limit ourselves to authentic examples of real use. Semanticists, like grammarians, use highly artificial sentences all the time. It's a good way of testing our ideas.

In this case, the sentence itself has only one possible meaning. And if it has a meaning, then it is not meaningless, contrary to popular opinion in this thread.

Yes, I understand your point entirely and I agree. It occurs to me though that since weigh can have two very different senses (I weigh 90 kg versus I weigh the vegetables), there are in fact two things that the sentence does mean (sentence meaning). Interpreting weigh as a two-place predicate (i.e. as in the latter of the two senses I've mentioned) is slightly less absurd, I think.

Sentence meaning matters.

I'm not going to argue against that for one second, of course. My point was only to say that in my opinion the best approach to many of the questions we get here on the forum is to concentrate on speaker meaning.

 

[Phaedrus]

Yes, I understand your point entirely and I agree. It occurs to me though that since weigh can have two very different senses (I weigh 90 kg versus I weigh the vegetables), there are in fact two things that the sentence does mean (sentence meaning). Interpreting weigh as a two-place predicate (i.e. as in the latter of the two senses I've mentioned) is slightly less absurd, I think.

To me, it does not work to interpret weigh in How long do you weigh? as the weigh in I weigh 90 kg, and I believe the reason is that weigh is a stative verb in sentences like I weigh 90 kg. For consider that (i) the simple present does not naturally receive an ongoing-present-habit reading in I weigh 90 kg, (ii) it does not work in the progressive (*[strike]I am weighing 90 kg[/strike]), (iii) it does not work in the imperative (*[strike]Weigh 90 kg[/strike]), and (iv) it doesn't work in the force construction (*He forced me to weigh 90 kg).

It makes sense, therefore, that weigh does not refer to an activity in I weigh 90 kg. It cannot, therefore, refer to an activity that takes place for a certain amount of time, an activity about which one could ask How long do you do that (for)? But the situation is markedly different with the type of weigh in I weigh the vegetables. There we do have an activity that takes place in a certain amount of time, an activity about which the question How long do you do that (for)? can legitimately be asked.