[Ads-l] Manually--now also by foot?

Fri Jul 24 14:45:00 UTC 2015

Just adding an observation by a colleague who's a native speaker of Italian, who points out that even there, where "manualmente" is much more transparently related to hands than it is in English, the meaning tends to be 'non-automatically' rather than 'involving the use of hands', and applies to cases where no hand action is involved (like Garson's starting motor below).

LH

> On Jul 22, 2015, at 9:07 PM, Laurence Horn <laurence.horn at yale.edu> wrote:
> 
> 
>> On Jul 22, 2015, at 4:10 PM, ADSGarson O'Toole <adsgarsonotoole at GMAIL.COM> wrote:
>> 
>> Here is a fun instance circa 1942 in which the "automatic" operation
>> requires use of a hand, and the "manual" operation requires use of a
>> foot.
>> 
>> Year: 1942 (according to GB)
>> Journal: Diesel Power
>> Volume 20
>> Quote Page 188 (according to GB)
>> Database: Google Books snippet; text not visible in snippet; data may
>> be incorrect and should be verified on paper
>> 
>> [Begin excerpt]
>> Auto-Lite Two-Step Diesel Starting Motors are available in both manual
>> (foot-pedal operated) and automatic (push button operated) types.
>> [End excerpt]
>> 
>> Garson
> 
> Neat-o!  So manual pedals go back farther than I do.  Who knew?
> 
> LH
>> 
>> On Wed, Jul 22, 2015 at 11:57 AM, Laurence Horn <laurence.horn at yale.edu> wrote:
>>> ---------------------- Information from the mail header -----------------------
>>> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
>>> Poster:       Laurence Horn <laurence.horn at YALE.EDU>
>>> Subject:      Re: Manually--now also by foot?
>>> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>>> 
>>>> On Jul 22, 2015, at 11:32 AM, Dan Goncharoff <thegonch at gmail.com> =
>>> wrote:
>>>> =20
>>>> How, in 1991, could he "do the computation on his laptop manually" =
>>> without
>>>> typing with his fingers on the keyboard and hitting the Enter key to
>>>> execute each step? (Today you could use voice commands.)
>>> 
>>> That's why I said the OED cite "involve[s] a contrast between electronic =
>>> and human energy, rather than between using a less automatized rather =
>>> than a more automatized method" and suggested it needs to be updated, =
>>> and why I used the Stephen Hawking example to make the point that hands =
>>> need not be involved.
>>> 
>>>> =20
>>>> I don't see an issue with "manually" referring to a process requiring =
>>> a
>>>> finger on the keyboard to make each step happen.
>>> 
>>> Or a non-finger, in the case of voice commands or the Hawking-style =
>>> communication. =20
>>> 
>>>> =20
>>>> I do agree with the original point, thanks to Latin. I wonder if the =
>>> author
>>>> doesn't realize that "manually" means "by hand", and not "by a =
>>> person".
>>> 
>>> Cf. our earlier thread noting the reanalysis of "mano a mano", as =
>>> demonstrated by those (presumably unfamiliar with Spanish or other =
>>> Romance languages) who refer to "womano a womano" confrontations.  But =
>>> I'd put my money on the general shift of "manual" to mean =
>>> 'non-automatic'.
>>> 
>>> LH
>>> 
>>>> Does the word "pedally" exist? ]8}
>>>> =20
>>>> DanG
>>>> =20
>>>> On Wed, Jul 22, 2015 at 11:13 AM, Laurence Horn =
>>> <laurence.horn at yale.edu>
>>>> wrote:
>>>> =20
>>>>> ---------------------- Information from the mail header
>>>>> -----------------------
>>>>> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
>>>>> Poster:       Laurence Horn <laurence.horn at YALE.EDU>
>>>>> Subject:      Re: Manually--now also by foot?
>>>>> =20
>>>>> =
>>> --------------------------------------------------------------------------=
>>> -----
>>>>> =20
>>>>>> On Jul 22, 2015, at 4:30 AM, Margaret Lee =3D
>>>>> <0000006730deb3bf-dmarc-request at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU> wrote:
>>>>>> =3D20
>>>>>> Subaru  has released a notice to owners of their Outback, Crosstrek, =
>>> =3D
>>>>> and Legacy models that the vehicles' Eyesight Driver Assist System is =
>>> =3D
>>>>> now a safety hazard due to a "brake lamp switch failure."  Eyesight =
>>> is a =3D
>>>>> safety device that is supposed to warn the driver of an imminent =
>>> frontal =3D
>>>>> collision and automatically stop the vehicle. In light of this safety =
>>> =3D
>>>>> defect, the driver will now have to "manually apply the brake pedal," =
>>> =3D
>>>>> according to the notice.  Does _manually_  now also mean performed by =
>>> =3D
>>>>> the foot?
>>>>> =20
>>>>> If not, it sounds *extremely* inconvenient for the driver.  (But at =3D=
>>> 
>>>>> least for me, "manually" has already generalized to =
>>> "non-automatically" =3D
>>>>> or "in a one-by-one-manner" in electronic contexts, e.g. having to =3D
>>>>> change the footnote numbers in a document "manually" as opposed to =
>>> using =3D
>>>>> a global command. (You're still using the computer  The OED sort of =3D=
>>> 
>>>>> alludes to this extended use, but not as explicitly as they might, in =
>>> =3D
>>>>> the "later use" half of the basic definition:
>>>>> =20
>>>>> manually, adv.
>>>>> 1a. With or using the hand or hands; by manual operation or =3D
>>>>> intervention. In later use: by human effort rather than by automatic, =
>>> =3D
>>>>> electronic, etc., means.
>>>>> =20
>>>>> And the one cite still does involve a contrast between electronic and =
>>> =3D
>>>>> human energy, rather than between using a less automatized rather =
>>> than a =3D
>>>>> more automatized method:
>>>>> =20
>>>>> 1991   What Personal Computer Dec. 105/3   This meant the =3D
>>>>> computer-generated statement of accounts couldn't be used, and had to =
>>> be =3D
>>>>> recalculated manually.
>>>>> =20
>>>>> Is there another dictionary that contains the relevant meaning? (AHD =
>>> =3D
>>>>> doesn't.)  Notice that the use of "manually" I have in mind doesn't =
>>> even =3D
>>>>> need to involve the use of fingers or hands on a keyboard:
>>>>> =20
>>>>> "Hawking couldn't get the program to work, so he had to do the =3D
>>>>> computation on his laptop manually", where neither method involves =
>>> using =3D
>>>>> his fingers but the two differ in degree of automaticity. =3D20
>>>>> =20
>>>>> LH
>>>>> =20
>>>>> ------------------------------------------------------------
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>>>>> =20
>>>> =20
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>> 
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