Does fill mean full?

This is what the OED saith:


 I. To make full.

 1. To supply with as much as can be held or contained; to put or pour something into (a receptacle) till no more can be received.


Driver: fill 'er up mate!

Pump attendant gets in as much petrol as possible.


Drinker: barman, could you put a whisky in that?

Barman: yes I should think so.

Drinker: well fill it up then please - I've paid for a pint.


However, this becomes slightly difficult if it is an over-sized glass with a pint mark. In essence it has been filled when the mark has been reached.


Similarly, the astute amongst us will know that a 5 l petrol container does not start to overflow the moment that 5 l have been dispensed.


If your dentist drilled out your tooth and put a filling in, you wouldn't be happy if the cavity had any space left in it. And if a customer paid you to dig a trench, put a cable in, and fill it afterwards, he wouldn't be happy if you left a dip in the ground. (See, I've got the thread back to wiring! ? )


So strictly, fill makes full, but context matters.

How long can we keep this going for before Ebee has had his fill of it?


Andy B

OK the scenario was an instruction manual for one of those air cooker thingys.

Stated "do not fill with sunflower oil" then unhelpfuly stated that you can add a teaspoon of it.

The person reading the instructions concluded they could add add sunflower oil but not "fill" to the top.

Now I`ll be the first to admit that my initial thought of the phrase "do not fill with xxx" would mean you could put as much in as you like as long as you don`t fill it to the top (or near - If you fill a kettle it`s not meant to be above the "MAX" mark etc etc).

Then I considered do not fill with xxx to mean do not put any xxx in just as the case with petrol in the lamp.

So I concluded they probably meant do not put any in but beggared that up by saying well ok then but nore more than a spoonfull.

Fill being the act of transfering something (usually fluid) from one thing to another and full meaning up to the normal maximum amount.

So you could fill without filling full.

What was the instruction meant to convey?



reminds me of when I was a teenager and walking to a pedestrian gate railway track crossing. No guards, lights etc just a sign advising not to cross if a train was insight or some such. A bloke informed us that in Bolton the signs had been changed from "wait while the trains come" or something like that because it was possible to be mistaken to mean wait until the trains get to the crossing then walk accross and get run over by the train.


In real life we all use common language that is not always strictly correct.

Words or phrases have common meanings, not always the actual tecnichal means and not always the same technical meaning applying for all disciplines (Legal/medical/engineering etc etc) we usually know what we mean in the context it was said but sometimes not.


"Give that me" meaning give that (to) me, often the meaning is clear because the true meaning would be nonsense but sometimes either/or applies so the meaning is misunderstood.

"True twins" is a loose medical term to denote one type of the many set types of twins that occour but that does not mean that other types of twins are not truly twins even by legal or medical definition.

"King Charles walked and talked half an hour after his head was cut off!" makes no sense if written or spoken without appropiate pauses or commas then makes complete sense.


(Hmm some people say I should get out more so I`ll not cite more examples for now) ?

in Bolton the signs had been changed from "wait while the trains come" or something like

Certainly in Yorkshire (so quite possibly o't'other side o'pennines too) "while" means the same as "until" - logically the exact opposite of how most of the English speaking world use it. That difference certainly caused some pain when trying to explain pascal while and repeat-until loops.

 

In the same manner, "Warning - delays until January 2021" does not mean that there will be the same cars queuing at the roadworks for the next year, but it is badly drafted because it could do so.

There are a few like that - my favourite is "use both lanes" - I'm sure they meant user either lane....


   - Andy.

The perils of translations, voice recognition, and auto spellcheckers reminds me of a major power failure in New York. According to a newspaper, business leaders had "Appealed to Pakistan for help" An official from Pakistan stated that no such request had been received, but that they would offer assistance if requested.


For a bonus point what was the intended wording.

ebee‍ 


With 'air fryers' you only put a small teaspoon or so of cooking oil in it if you need to. I think the instructions are trying to say that you don't 'fill' it with cooking oil as you would do with a standard deep fat fryer?


Lisa

Yes. In my case there were no red lights etc it was a simple pedestrian only gate that you could use at all times, the type that has two walls set at an angle and the gate moves inboard one to tother so only one person at a time then a dirtpath then cross the line