Exceeding Thresholds in reverse

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#193487 - 10/15/10 09:51 AM Re: Exceeding Thresholds in reverse [Re: Faldage]
TheFallibleFiend veteran Registered: 01/23/02 Posts: 1523 Loc: Virginia, USA	In this case, I used threshold and lower limit interchangeably - as there was only the one limit. The verb is still the (minor) problem. "Sub" is interesting. I wonder if there's a "sub" word that corresponds to "exceeded." Subduct seems like it should work, but geologists already use it. Also it kind makes it sound like the boundary moved instead of the measurement across the boundary. I could try and see if my editor or colleagues would easily infer the meaning. "The lower limit was subducted."
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#193490 - 10/15/10 11:04 AM Re: Exceeding Thresholds in reverse [Re: TheFallibleFiend]
tsuwm Carpal Tunnel Registered: 04/03/00 Posts: 10462 Loc: this too shall pass	I think you will be widely understood if you use "exceeded the lower limit" to mean going past - in fact, constructions of this sort seem to be used far more often than any other; e.g., surpassed. or you could just "go past" the lower limit. I think you don't usually need to be concerned with going in the opposite direction; if you are, then you need to be more circumspect in your discussion anyway!
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#193493 - 10/15/10 12:36 PM Re: Exceeding Thresholds in reverse [Re: TheFallibleFiend]
zmjezhd Carpal Tunnel Registered: 08/13/05 Posts: 3268 Loc: R'lyeh	How about transcend? Unlike exceed is only has the notion of crossing the limen, not surpassing it. Underpassing? _________________________ Ceci n'est pas un seing.
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#193497 - 10/15/10 05:13 PM Re: Exceeding Thresholds in reverse [Re: TheFallibleFiend]
TheFallibleFiend veteran Registered: 01/23/02 Posts: 1523 Loc: Virginia, USA	yea, I considered "transcend," but was worried it might be confusing. Underpass is one I had not considered. That might do. OTOH, maybe using a few extra words here and there is okay, too.
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#193498 - 10/15/10 06:36 PM Re: Exceeding Thresholds in reverse [Re: TheFallibleFiend]
twosleepy old hand Registered: 02/28/08 Posts: 876 Loc: western NY	I've been reading this, and trying to figure out exactly what you mean. I interpret you quest in 2 ways: A) how to say that something was within the threshold, but then dropped below it, and B) how to say that something never reached the lower limit of the threshold at all. The first has me more stumped. The second could simply be expressed "The threshold was unattained/unreached/uncrossed". I like "unattained". This does fit your original example, but I still can't tell if it's what you mean to say, or if you mean choice A...
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#193499 - 10/15/10 06:54 PM Re: Exceeding Thresholds in reverse [Re: twosleepy]
TheFallibleFiend veteran Registered: 01/23/02 Posts: 1523 Loc: Virginia, USA	Choice A.
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#193501 - 10/15/10 07:56 PM Re: Exceeding Thresholds in reverse [Re: TheFallibleFiend]
Candy Pooh-Bah Registered: 09/21/10 Posts: 1705 Loc: down under	Isn't interesting how many words 'say' the same thing but never quiet in the way we need then too. We are always looking for 'just the right one'.
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#193502 - 10/15/10 07:59 PM Re: Exceeding Thresholds in reverse [Re: TheFallibleFiend]
Faldage Carpal Tunnel Registered: 12/01/00 Posts: 13653	The way I've been looking at this is that FF has in mind: A) a situation where there is a limit that must be gotten above before whatever is accomplished. This is the normal "exceeding the threshold." 2) contrariwise, there is a situation where there is a limit that must be gotten below before whatever is accomplished. Given the root definition of threshold in English, I would say that that is not the word to use in this situation. All due respect to Nuncle, but I don't think that the Latin limen is a good translation for the English threshold. Þ) I would suggest dropping the threshold word entirely and starting over, just with the term lower limit.
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#193507 - 10/15/10 08:57 PM Re: Exceeding Thresholds in reverse [Re: Faldage]
tsuwm Carpal Tunnel Registered: 04/03/00 Posts: 10462 Loc: this too shall pass	and, not to be repetitive (well, okay, to be just that), you've gone past (passed) the lower limit.
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#193515 - 10/16/10 10:10 AM Re: Exceeding Thresholds in reverse [Re: Faldage]
zmjezhd Carpal Tunnel Registered: 08/13/05 Posts: 3268 Loc: R'lyeh	I don't think that the Latin limen is a good translation for the English threshold. It's the only word I know for threshold in Latin. What would you suggest take its place? Or did you mean that limen is not an English word? My discussion of limen was merely a digression, and I always found it interesting that Latin had one word that covered two English words, i.e., threshold and lintel. _________________________ Ceci n'est pas un seing.
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