How 'bout a linguistic conundrum? All anons are welcome, but USA and UK-based ones (that is - native speakers are especially welcome)!
Here's the sentence I was tasked to interpret into my 3rd world country language:
"Rubust design and the smallest footprint in the BRANDNAME monochrome printer lineup"
The question is - how would you interpret this?
See, "Robust design" is actually a thing, is a concept from the teachings of Dr. Genichi Taguchi, a Japanese quality guru. It is defined as reducing variation in a product without eliminating the causes of the variation. In other words, making the product or process insensitive to variation.
At the same time I can see RD as... well ROBUST design - fitting all interiors and time-agnostic, like a quality product with a "timeless" design, like a good watch.
Then we have the "smallest footprint". If we go the way of Dr. Genichi Taguchi it probably means “the smallest ENVIRONMENT footprint”.
BUT if we keep to the “timeless design” concept, it simply means that the damn thing is super compact.
So here we are. How do you think this sentence should be interpreted? Is it about design/production philosophy/environment or is it strictly about design and compact product body?
Robust design = Powerful looking (basically fluff) Smallest footprint = Physically compact (in this context)
Basically "Printer is strong yet small"
Lincoln Cook
Actually a better word for robust in this context would be sturdy, durable.
Easton Robinson
Who the artist mein neggeir?
Matthew Gutierrez
Off topic, but in your pic the girl is wearing a string around her neck. is there something it symbolizes or is it simply a fashion piece? Lukako has one too so I was wondering what it meant.
I asked about it because I didn't know much about it. why do you choose to not tell me why if you know? I have no name to lookup so google wouldn't tell me
those r chokers and they r drawn like this cuz the characters neck is fucking tiny. They r made of velvet
Wyatt Evans
that's what user said I assumed you were referring to another item than just a choker.
Alexander Morgan
Why would you want footprints in your eyes in the first place?
Christian Morris
Ok first off, it is not a sentence because there is no verb phrase. It could be an answer to a question, but standing alone it doesn't actually mean anything.
Landon Ward
If you interpret it as "XXX printer has (insert the rest)" then it means it's physically robust, as in doesn't wear down quickly, and it takes up very little space.
Evan Smith
THX, dude
Ryder Russell
I don't know where these others live or what "context" they're referring to in that small description, but no where in the US have I heard "footprint" used to describe dimensions of products. The word currently has specific environmental connotation in production/sales.
Tyler Long
Have you never worked in any kind of industrial setting? If a factory installed new equipment it might be described as having a larger or smaller footprint than the old equipment which would have ramifications for the remaining available area ex: these new transformers have a way smaller footprint than the old ones, so we have more room for X. Obviously footprint is used with a modifier to denote non-square footage like "carbon footprint" but that's just an appropriation of a term that describes area typically
Connor Barnes
Well, are other printers in the line robustly designed in the Taguchi sense?
Gavin Ramirez
That is unknown, I'm afraid
Julian Anderson
Does this really sound like an industrial pitch to you? "Carbon footprint" is not at all an "appropriation," either, that's just idiotic. Instead of a roundabout way to refer to square footage, a "carbon footprint" uses the actual observable and impactful quality of a footprint to describe an observable impact on the environment at various stages of both the manufacturing and use of the product.
