How long do you weigh?

[jutfrank]

I agree that weigh in I weigh 90 kg is a stative verb.

I was thinking about the idea of weightlessness, as in zero gravity conditions. States such as this can be located in time, having duration. I imagine a galactic explorer talking to an interviewer about what it's like to travel between various planetary systems :

Explorer: Most of the time I'm travelling between star systems so I don't weigh, but when I enter the gravitational pull of a planet, I do weigh—anything from a few milligrams up to several hundred megagrams, depending on the planet.
Interviewer: How long do you weigh?
Explorer: Usually a few hours on each planet.

(No? Okay. Maybe on second thoughts, you're right—it doesn't work!)

 

[5jj]

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.

I agree, but that does not make How long do you weigh? a natural question.

 

[GoesStation]

I agree, but that does not make How long do you weigh? a natural question.

Right. It's possible to come up with a bizarre context in which, if you stretch the language to (or, in my opinion, beyond) the breaking point, it might barely make sense. This is not at all helpful to English learners.

I'm closing this thread. If anyone wants to continue the discussion, they're welcome to open a new one in the General Language Discussions forum.