Discussion thread for the "Polls only" thread (Part 3)

To cool a room, the only answer is turn down the AC.

Clearly, the AC is currently powered on; otherwise, turning it up or down would make no difference.

Turning down or turning up can only refer to the temperature setting desired in the room.

Turning the AC up or down does not affect the temperature of the air coming out of the vents. It only determines when the AC will turn on or off.

If the AC is running, turning the temperature setting down will not cool the room faster; it will just stay on longer, until the desired temperature is reached.

If the AC is not running, it means the current desired temperature is set at or above the current room temperature. Turning the AC down will cause it to come on when it is set lower that the current room temperature. Turning it up will cause the room to stay the same, or get warmer, because the AC will stay off until the room temperature rises above the current setting.

You wrote this as is idiomatic language followed rules of logic. Have you ever noticed that we ride a bicycle and drive a car?

I don’t see anything illogical about those examples. A bicycle is ridden because you are on top of it, like a horse. A car is driven because you are inside it, like a train or boat.

What does “drive” mean? To push, to force. What does “ride” mean? To sit restful in or on.

Cart horses were driven. That’s why you drive a cart. (Or a car) The passengers in the cart ride, only the guy with the whip drives.

You drive a bicycle. Providing force. You ride in a car, even if you are the one steering it.

“Drive” comes from driving cattle; controlling their direction and speed. Much like driving a car.

I’m not sure I’ve ever heard someone refer to driving a boat.

Likewise, the pilot of an airplane is not driving it, nor riding it. Same for spaceships. Each vehicle has an idiomatic word for what is done by the person controlling it, which is not determined by logic.

Naw:

intransitive verb

  1. To push, propel, or press onward forcibly; urge forward.

“drove the horses into the corral.”

  1. To repulse or put to flight by force or influence.

“drove the attackers away; drove out any thought of failure.”

  1. To guide, control, or direct (a vehicle).

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition • More at Wordnik

The third meaning is the newest, and it’s because people talked about driving cars because, as you say, a car felt more like a horse cart than like other forms of transportation. But it wasn’t a logical usage on any sense, it’s just an idiom that caught on.

I crank up the AC. Not because I’m literally turning it higher, but because i crank up the heat in the winter. And in both cases, what I’m actually doing is telling the system to leave them on longer, as they cycle on and off.

But it is an interesting case where the idiom isn’t completely settled.

So your argument rests on the word origins of “ride” and “drive”, but the precise meaning of “up” appears nebulous, and much less important to you.

No, my argument is that idioms are not logical, and there’s some randomness in how people come to use them. We drive a car because it kinda sorta feels like driving an ox cart. And i turn up the AC because it kinda sorta feels like turning up the heat. But either of them could have gone in other directions. Because idioms are a little random.

I haven’t tried melatonin “for better sleep”, but i use it when i travel to adjust my circadian clock. It works really well for that. It doesn’t really help me get to sleep at bedtime, but when i get up in the morning, it feels like morning, it doesn’t feel like I’m trying to wake up in the middle of the night.

Melatonin doesnt make me drowsy, nor should it for most people. But it helps give more restful and solid sleep.

I am not a Real Doctor- but I play one in D&D!

When I worked midnights I used melatonin. I can’t tell you if it really worked.

No way I’m buying a 20 year old car. Even a nice one.

I think animal hair in the bed is disgusting. We never let the animals in the bedroom until recently. Our very old lady dog recently started to follow us into the bedroom to sleep on the floor next to us. We let her.

Most university libraries do this, but some still use Dewey. The Pratt Institute, for one. My former workplace had a mixed collection - items purchased after a point in time were LC, those before were Dewey. There was a plan to shift the Dewey to LC, but I don’t know if/when it got done.

Current workplace is LC.

If it’s too hot in the house, but it’s cooler outside, I’m going to open the windows.

If it’s too hot in the house and hotter outside, but it’s about to be cooler outside at night, I may wait and just open the windows.

If it’s too hot inside and out and staying that way, I’ll turn on the air conditioner. Which is one window air conditioner in a two story house. It’ll do its best, but it’ll be running continuously, so adjusting the temperature to cooler won’t make the house any cooler.

I had to pick “Other BS excuse for rejecting your pets desire to smother you in your sleep”, because none of the other reasons listed is accurate. I just don’t want the dog in my bed, and neither does my SO, hygienic or not. But she is allowed in the bedroom, and has her own doggie bed in a corner. If she wasn’t allowed in the room at all how would she let us know on those very rare occasions when she HAS to be let out in the middle of the night?

IME a dog who’s downstairs can easily make enough noise to be heard, and to wake me up, while I’m upstairs in my bedroom.

ETA: however if yours is used to sleeping in a dog bed in your room I certainly wouldn’t throw her out on those grounds!

Regarding cars: New cars tend to have a lot of annoying and/or unsafe anti-features, such as touch-screen controls for things you frequently adjust while driving and therefore shouldn’t be taking your eyes off the road for. For this reason alone I’d rather get a car from 20 years ago, back when sensible UI design was still a thing.

I do miss dials and buttons.

I had to give up “my side of the bed” when Mrs. Thumper moved in. Now I sleep on the side that’s hot hers. Or the couch.

I picked “trash can”, “garbage can”, and “garbage bin” in the poll, but to me those terms means slightly different things:

  • Trash can = A receptacle like you’d have in your kitchen, often lined with a plastic bag.
  • Garbage can = A larger round garbage receptacle typically found outdoors. They were once commonly made of metal, now many are made of plastic. Oscar the Grouch lives in one of these.
  • Garbage bin = A large bin with wheels in which you place your bagged garbage and wheel out to the curb on collection day.