What word is meant here and what does it mean.

[Pure]

from a paper submitted, at *

He comments on the nature of research itself, and how great a quantity of knowledge one has to “weigh….*wail through” in order to find the key ideas, the gems of knowledge, buried.

 

[tanyachrs]

wade?

 

[CharleyH]

from a paper submitted, at *

He comments on the nature of research itself, and how great a quantity of knowledge one has to “weigh….*wail through” in order to find the key ideas, the gems of knowledge, buried.

Weigh or wail through? Which word? I prefer weigh through in this case. Wail gives me a different view. It depends? Wail through, like Lauren Hynde's once quote? A whirlwind on cocaine? Weigh in this case I think, Pure.

 

[Stella_Omega]

I agree with Tanyachrs- one has to wade through the (information, not knowledge) to find the gems.
I imagine stubbing one's toes, hopping up and down, and sayng "Ouch, that smarts!"

I like another simile better; "Digging through". The hands are more controlled by the brain...

Is this student work?

 

[TriggerHippie]

from a paper submitted, at *

He comments on the nature of research itself, and how great a quantity of knowledge one has to “weigh….*wail through” in order to find the key ideas, the gems of knowledge, buried.

Wail works for me. In fact it makes perfect sense. But I also am guilty of using words a bit oddly at times. "Wail through" just indicates to me that you have go through so much crap research that you want to pull your hair out by the roots and wail at the agony of being force to read erroneous, or inaccurately, presented "research" for the billionth time. A bit poet for an academic presentation, but certainly descriptive.

But that's just me. Peace!

 

[Weird Harold]

from a paper submitted, at *

He comments on the nature of research itself, and how great a quantity of knowledge one has to “weigh….*wail through” in order to find the key ideas, the gems of knowledge, buried.

I think the author meant "Whale through" as in "thrash or beat" through, not as "crash though like a large sea mammal."

 

[CharleyH]

I agree with Tanyachrs- one has to wade through the (information, not knowledge) to find the gems.
I imagine stubbing one's toes, hopping up and down, and sayng "Ouch, that smarts!"

I like another simile better; "Digging through". The hands are more controlled by the brain...

Is this student work?

If a person is intelligent - they weigh the info. Wade through gives an impression of confusion, no?

 

[Stella_Omega]

If a person is intelligent - they weigh the info. Wade through gives an impression of confusion, no?

And one hopes this person is not confused!

but they did not say "Weigh the knowledge"
they said weigh through the knowledge, and wade seemed like a possible match to me.It might be a case of mis-hearing, or mis-remembering a usage

I do like Harold's idea that they might have meant "Whale through"
What a vision that brings to mind!

 

[NoJo]

Well, I just wailed through this thread.

 

[Weird Harold]

I do like Harold's idea that they might have meant "Whale through"
What a vision that brings to mind!

"Whale" as a verb meaning to beat, thrash, or flail, is pretty much an archaic usage, but a homonym spelling problem seems the most likely answer -- although the word in either spelling is misused.

It is, I think, a manifestation of the "Big Word vs Little Word" problem -- a writer using a "more literate" word instead of the simpler and plebian "Dig" or "Wade" that would make the meaning clear.

 

[CharleyH]

And one hopes this person is not confused!

but they did not say "Weigh the knowledge"
they said weigh through the knowledge, and wade seemed like a possible match to me.It might be a case of mis-hearing, or mis-remembering a usage

I do like Harold's idea that they might have meant "Whale through"
What a vision that brings to mind!

No you are more correct - one weighs knowlwdge or wades through it. NO ONE WHALES THROUGH OR IN OR ANYTHING LOL -A good take though.. WTF is whale through? New - cool. lol. Define it.

 

[Matadore]

Hummmm

I'll weigh in on this topic. Wail (as one of us mentioned) conjures up making desperate sounds of distress. Wale...doesn't that have something to do with flagellation?

Most knowledgeable scholars are aware that whales come from Wales, but what does that have to do with anything? Perhaps the author made a typo when the word of choice was wheel or wheedle or weal or even weasel, referring to being able to ferret out the meaning?

The weight of this heavy topic has over whelmed me, being way out of my league here!

 

[CharleyH]

I'll weigh in on this topic. Wail (as one of us mentioned) conjures up making desperate sounds of distress. Wale...doesn't that have something to do with flagellation?

Most knowledgeable scholars are aware that whales come from Wales, but what does that have to do with anything? Perhaps the author made a typo when the word of choice was wheel or wheedle or weal or even weasel, referring to being able to ferret out the meaning?

The weight of this heavy topic has over whelmed me, being way out of my league here!

lol - love your post.

 

[glynndah]

Wale through? Were they wearing corduroy?

 

[Pure]

i tended to think along the lines of Weird Harold, sort of an extention of 'thrashing'.

the idea of a mistyping for 'wade' also is intriguing.

it is a med student's paper.

 

[Weird Harold]

WTF is whale through? New - cool. lol. Define it.

Wale...doesn't that have something to do with flagellation?

It's spelled WHALE, not 'Wale' and as I said earlier, it's a somewhat archaic usage:

From: http://www.yourdictionary.com/ahd/w/w0107200.html
whale(2)
v. whaled, whal·ing, whales

v. tr.
To strike or hit repeatedly and forcefully; thrash.

v. intr.
To attack vehemently: The poet whaled away at the critics.

'Wale' is what you raise when you Whale on someone with a whip:

wale

n.
A mark raised on the skin, as by a whip; a weal or welt.

a. One of the parallel ribs or ridges in the surface of a fabric such as corduroy. b. The texture or weave of such a fabric: a wide wale.

Nautical a. A gunwale. b. One of the heavy planks or strakes extending along the sides of a wooden ship.
tr.v. waled, wal·ing, wales

To raise marks on (the skin), as by whipping.

 

[cantdog]

It's spelled WHALE, not 'Wale' and as I said earlier, it's a somewhat archaic usage:



'Wale' is what you raise when you Whale on someone with a whip:

We used whale in that sense all the time in the fire department, but it must have been wade, in the paper, in my view. We whaled on things, and even into them, sometimes, but I don't remember whaling through anything. Whaling on the wall until you break through was more the usual locution.

 

[Weird Harold]

We used whale in that sense all the time in the fire department, but it must have been wade, in the paper, in my view. We whaled on things, and even into them, sometimes, but I don't remember whaling through anything. Whaling on the wall until you break through was more the usual locution.

You're assuming that the author of that paper actually knew the common connotations of Whaling ON things.

Wade would have been a better word for the context but I think Whale was intended for its onomatopeaic pairing with "Weigh..." and found with the thesaurus function of Word as a synonym for "Beat" or "flail."

To me it seems a clear case of "Poetic Thesaurus-itis."

 

[Stella_Omega]

"Whale" as a verb meaning to beat, thrash, or flail, is pretty much an archaic usage, but a homonym spelling problem seems the most likely answer -- although the word in either spelling is misused.

It is, I think, a manifestation of the "Big Word vs Little Word" problem -- a writer using a "more literate" word instead of the simpler and plebian "Dig" or "Wade" that would make the meaning clear.

I will always remember a frustrated young woman storming out of some buerocratic ofice; "You're just FLOUNTING your authority!"

 

[Pure]

We whaled on things, and even into them, sometimes, but I don't remember whaling through anything.

i generally agree, but i remember that in much common talk, this word 'whale' is pronounced 'wale' by many people. "It sounds like 'i'm gonna wale on you' more than 'i'm gonna WHale on you.'

 

[cantdog]

We whaled on things, and even into them, sometimes, but I don't remember whaling through anything.

i generally agree, but i remember that in much common talk, this word 'whale' is pronounced 'wale' by many people. "It sounds like 'i'm gonna wale on you' more than 'i'm gonna WHale on you.'

True, but those are regional, those distinctions. Some of the speakers of English use Wy and some Why, too.