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Glossary entry

English term or phrase:

clocks

English answer:

clocks

Added to glossary by B D Finch
Mar 16, 2018 14:51
6 yrs ago
English term

clocks

English Tech/Engineering Physics biography
Hi,
I have a doubt about how to interpret “clocks” in the following passage, for which I already asked your help some time ago for a different, but in a sense, connected problem (abandoned machines and motors…)
Do you think it would be too "daring” to interpret “clocks” as “odometers" given the context?
The passage refers to the early twenties in America.
Thank you very much for your help!
******

From age four, Feynman’s parents essentially locked him out of the house, behind which was a junkyard. The young Feynman would tinker with abandoned machines and motors, and eventually began to fix *** clocks ***.
Responses
5 +5 clocks
Change log

Mar 20, 2018 19:54: B D Finch Created KOG entry

Discussion

haribert (asker) Mar 20, 2018:
Tony, and all other contributors, thank you so much for your help.
I also think it's safer and probably more reasonable to understand it as "clocks".
However, I've found many links relating "odometers and clocks" to Feynman's name: unfortunately I don't have the time, but above all the expertise, to read them... Maybe a little, tiny doubt remains, but considering the limited context I have, I'll go for "clocks".
thank
Tony M Mar 16, 2018:
@ Asker Despite modern use of the word 'clock' in relation to cars, like "what's she got on the clock?" etc., I remain to be convinced that this usage would have been common at the period this is talking about.
Nor have I ever heard the physical device referred to in itself as 'a clock'.
Furthermore, I don't think a kid would even think to attempt to repair an odometer — since such an instrument on all non-moving vehicles is going to be reading 'zero' anyway (unless it's really broken!), how would a kid even know if it needed fixing or not? Beside, after having tried the first one, he'd have realized it is not the kind of device that you can really fix yourself... unlike a (time) clock, which has lots of fascinating cogs and things that you can (sort of!) see how it works.
Daryo Mar 16, 2018:
well, in the trade jargon in UK rolling back the millage is called "clocking" a car so ... it might well be about that kind of "clock" [="odometer"]
haribert (asker) Mar 16, 2018:
Sheri P., Thank you: this seems a very plausible explanation.
philgoddard Mar 16, 2018:
Sheri P Exactly.
Sheri P Mar 16, 2018:
@haribert Regarding the link between the two clauses: I think the writer is implying something about the progression of complexity in Feynman’s skills. He started merely “tinkering” with (implied) simple machines and motors and evolved to “fixing” (implied) more complicated clocks.
haribert (asker) Mar 16, 2018:
Yvonne, that's an interesting interpretation! Who knows, maybe the junkyard's owner made him "fix clocks" so as he could resell the cars at a higher price!
haribert (asker) Mar 16, 2018:
Phil, probably you're right, but what made me think of "odometers" or "car clocks" is the presence of "and eventually he began to fix clocks"... : I thought there may be a link between the previous sentence and the next one...

It seems, however, that "clock as odometer" is not so common in the USa and,as far as I know, Feynman is American.
it may be, though, that the use of clock as odometer was common in the past
philgoddard Mar 16, 2018:
Haribert I don't think he's fixing clocks in scrapped cars. These are clocks that people have on their walls and mantelpieces.
Yvonne Gallagher Mar 16, 2018:
I would have to think twice about this. Here in Ireland "fixing a clock" in this context could be interpreted as (fraudulently) "fixing" or rolling back an odometer. And yes, the term "clocking a car" is used and would be understood by most native speakers. And lots of auto mechanics would refer to the odometer as a "clock". I think that given the context it could be interpreted like that.
haribert (asker) Mar 16, 2018:
Taña thank you for the link! it's really amusing!
Actually, in my text, the information about Feynman is from an "oral" source and maybe is not so accurate...
Taña Dalglish Mar 16, 2018:
@ Haribert All that I have Googled and read about Feynman in his youth spoke of his liking of fixing radios, not clocks. Here is such a link which is amusing: http://www.govorator.com/surely-feynman-fixed-radios-by-thin...

Feynman biography
www-history.mcs.st-and.ac.uk/Biographies/Feynman.html
Biography of Richard Feynman (1918-1988) ... After their marriage Lucille and Melville Feynman moved into a Manhattan apartment and, in the following year, their first child Richard was born. ... In particular he wired circuits with light bulbs, he invented a burglar alarm, and he took radios apart to repair damaged circuits.
Sheri P Mar 16, 2018:
From Wikipedia “Odometer fraud, also referred to as "busting miles" (United States) or "clocking" (UK and Ireland), is the illegal practice of rolling back odometers to make it appear that vehicles have lower mileage than they actually do.”

To be honest, I’ve never heard of “busting miles,” either. I think the only phrase for odometer fraud I’ve heard in the US is the clunky “roll back the odometer.”
haribert (asker) Mar 16, 2018:
Phil, so you use "clock" in the sense of "odometer"?
actually, some dictionaries say that it's an informal use, but they don't say it's specifically British...

by the way, thanks for sharing your experience: I'm also discovering so many nuances!!
haribert (asker) Mar 16, 2018:
Sheri P, your hypothesis about a "specialist" use is interesting... unfortunately, there is no other hint in the book, which is actually a book on parenting!! The only hint is the junkyard, where there were machines and probably cars, as well...
But it was useful to ask this question, because I haven't thought that cars have clocks, too! My problem was that in Italian "orologi" may lead the reader to think of "watches"... But probably the presence of "motors and machines" just before, may help to understand it as "clocks"...
Thanks for your contribution!
philgoddard Mar 16, 2018:
I've learned something here I've been Googling, and it does appear to be UK rather than US usage.
I'm a Brit living in the States, so when I tell people my car has nearly 200,000 miles on the clock, it must take them a moment to work out what I'm talking about.
Also, in the UK to clock a car means to fraudulently turn back the odometer. What do you call that in American English?
I've been living here for eleven years, and I'm still learning about the differences between US and UK English. There are thousands.
Sheri P Mar 16, 2018:
That M-W definition is quite interesting. Perhaps there are some groups (auto mechanics?) who would refer to an odometer as a clock, or perhaps such usage was common at the time your piece is set (early 20's). I don't think it's common usage these days among ordinary people, though. Is there anything else in your text that would lead you to believe the passage is referring to odometers specifically? If not, I personally think it's safer to interpret "clocks" as devices for measuring the passage of time.
haribert (asker) Mar 16, 2018:
Hi, I thought it would be possible, because I've found this in Merriam Websters
a registering device usually with a dial; specifically : odometer
https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/clock

But maybe it's not a common usage...
Sheri P Mar 16, 2018:
Yes I think it would be too daring to interpret "clocks" to mean "odometers," at least in the limited context you've given. I personally have never heard of an odometer being referred to as a clock in the US.

Responses

+5
8 mins
Selected

clocks

You wouldn't be "daring" to interpret this as meaning "odometers", just wrong! Cars do have clocks. See the American video below about how to repair classic car clocks.

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Note added at 4 hrs (2018-03-16 19:21:31 GMT)
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From the text posted, it isn't even clear whether the clocks are from cars and though the "motors" in "abandoned machines and motors" are probably cars, they might be motors from other machinery. Tinkering with "abandoned machines and motors" in the junkyard might simply have led on to an interest in fixing clocks that had nothing directly to do with the junkyard.

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 4 hrs (2018-03-16 19:35:06 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

The Asker's text is about the physicist, Richard Feynman.

"https://phys.org › Physics › Quantum Physics
Oct 18, 2013 - (Phys.org) —Amongst the late Richard Feynman's many prolific and profound contributions to quantum mechanics, the eponymous Feynman clock is perhaps one of the more innovative. Conceived as a solution to the problem of ..."

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 4 hrs (2018-03-16 19:40:34 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

http://physicsdatabase.com/2014/07/20/10-fun-facts-you-proba...
"When the young Richard Feynman got bored in the remote New Mexico desert, where he was working on the Manhattan project, he found another hobby — cracking safes. Eventually he became so good, he could open nearly every cabinet containing secret documents."

So, even if Daryo can't fix a clock, Feynman probably could.
Reference:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VyHFaNxmn3g

Note from asker:
Hi, but maybe I'm not the only one to be wrong.... I've found this in Merriam Websters https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/clock (but, of course, dictionaries can be wrong, as well"
clock: 2 : a registering device usually with a dial; specifically : odometer
Peer comment(s):
agree philgoddard
3 mins
Thanks Phil
agree Jack Doughty
49 mins
Thanks Jack
agree jccantrell : As there would not be much of a market for repaired odometers in the USA, I vote with all here, sometimes a clock is just a clock.
2 hrs
Thanks. See the note I've just added.
neutral Daryo : clocks are not easy to dismantle, even more difficult to fix (been there, haven't got the T-shirt) // could be, but CL5 sounds too optimistic // I can still fix computers and networks ...more useful.
3 hrs
See the note I've just added above. I rarely use CL5, but in this case I think it would be dangerous to interpret this as anything other than clocks. Also, see my added note above.
agree Tony M : I agree; especially back then, clocks were just the sort of thing a kid might take apart, hoping to fix; I've done it myself, with greater or lesser success, from age about 6; I think your C/L of 5 is entirely justified.
6 hrs
Thanks Tony. There used to be an old man down our road who sat in his shop window fixing clocks. As Feynman was a Nobel prize-winning physicist, fixing timepieces seems more likely than clocking worthless, junkyard motor vehicles.
agree Tina Vonhof (X) : You can take a leap from understanding how a clock works to understanding a whole lot of other things...
1 day 46 mins
Thanks Tina. Exactly.
Something went wrong...
4 KudoZ points awarded for this answer. Comment: "Thank you so much, Ms Finch, for your help and your links! I've learned a lot with this question: I didn't know there were so many differences between British and American English... maybe a little, tiny doubt still remains, because "odometers" are sometimes associated with Feynamn's name - https://www.google.it/search?q=feynman+%2B+odometers&ei=6VqxWrakLcL_UOLLtZgC&start=10&sa=N&biw=875&bih=408 - but, considering my limited context, I agree with you that it's safer to interpret it as "clocks"."
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