When does a line become a stripe? What is the difference?

The dictionary definitions do not satisfy my question.. A stripe is
defined as contrasting with its surface.. so why is a line on a
chalkboard not a stripe?

Why are double yellow LINES on the road not stripes.. especially as
they are pararlell?

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Clarification of Question by frazerb-ga on 09 Jul 2006 07:29 PDT

*paralell

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Clarification of Question by frazerb-ga on 09 Jul 2006 07:32 PDT

*parallel damn it!

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Request for Question Clarification by pafalafa-ga on 09 Jul 2006 16:58 PDT

Historically, the word stripe was chiefly used to refer to design
elements in textiles, and then took on a use more broadly to refer to
stripe-like patterns in animal fur, flowers, and so on...wherever the
stripe is distinctive as a design element (even when the design is as
mundane as a prison uniform).

A fat line on a blackboard doesn't really rise to the level of a
design element, hence it is better termed a line.

However, if the whole blackboard was carefully patterned with a lot of
chalk lines, it would be reasonable to talk of the board as being
"striped with chalk".

Does that help?


pafalafa-ga

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Clarification of Question by frazerb-ga on 10 Jul 2006 04:13 PDT

Yes that answers my question, I reject the answer regarding infinite
or fintite lengths.. as this suggests that a line becomes a stripe
when it ends!

But the concept of a sripe being a design element seems to be the answer, Thankyou

frazerb-ga,

Thanks for getting back to me on this, and I'm glad my explanation was
satisfactory.

This excerpt from an entry in the Oxford English Dictionary may add a
bit, as it makes mention of the decorative aspect of the term (though
with less emphasis than my explanation, above):


stripe (n)...In textile fabrics, hence gen. (e.g. in the coat of an
animal, a flower, a decorative pattern), a portion of the surface long
in proportion to its breadth, or uniform width, and differing in
colour or texture from the adjacent parts.



Cheers,

pafalafa-ga


search strategy -- personal knowledge, along with a search of the OED for [ stripe ]

Thanks for clearing that up for me, its been driving me mad for weeks!

Tigers have stripes but the Line is the King of the Jungle.

From my trusty old "The Concise Oxford Dictionary Of Current English"
fourth edition 1951. Reprinted 1956.

stripe, n. 1. Long narrow band usu. of uniform breadth on a surface
from which it differs in colour or texture.

line, n. 2. Long narrow mark traced on surface; use of these in draughtsmanship.

These are not the complete meanings as this dictionary goes on a bit.

Cheers.

"""From my trusty old "The Concise Oxford Dictionary Of Current English"
fourth edition 1951. Reprinted 1956.

stripe, n. 1. Long narrow band usu. of uniform breadth on a surface
from which it differs in colour or texture."""

Thats great but a white line on a chalk board fills that criteria..
making it a stripe?? I dont think so!

A stripe is decoration, its width being significant, whereas the width
of a line is insignificant, indeed, in geometry it has no width, also
not in related practical use: surveyors' maps or architectural
drawings.
In these cases, of course, a line actually has a slight width  -
otherwise one couldn't see it, but that is a practical convenience,
just as with the lines on roads.  Their width is greater so that they
can be easily seen, but they are not decoration.
The same is true of the lines on a tennis/badminton/basketball court. 
The lines have an easily visible width, but the rulebook's definition
is a geometrical one; only the outer edge of the visible line is the
actual "line".

Does that help?

Unless I am mistaken I have always assumed that a LINE can be
infinite, but a STRIPE is always finite. In other words a LINE can
theoretically stretch from here to infinity (or from infinity to
infinity in all directions) whereas a STRIPE is a defined line that is
limited to what it appears on and nothing more. Furthermore, a LINE
does not have to be tangible. For example, one might have a particular
LINE OF SIGHT - a distance of straight, unobstructed vision from Point
A to Point B. A stripe, on the other hand, is not theoretical and it
either exists or it does not.

Please let me know if this answers your question.

tutuzdad-ga

Scientifically speaking, a line becomes a stripe when it goes from
one-dimensional to two-dimensional.  A "line" has no width and cannot
be directly seen.  A line is also perfectly straight, goes on forever
in both directions, and is purely one-dimensional.

To "see" the general location of a line, you would have to draw what I
guess you could call a stripe.  You could also make the colors on
either side of a line contrast and see it indirectly.

However, in common language, the word "line" is often used to describe
a thin stripe.  It doesn't necessarily have to be straight either, nor
does it have to go on forever.  Not every word in a language has to be
defined strictly.  Because the common use of "line" to describe a thin
stripe is technically always incorrect, it's a matter of opinion as to
when it's OK to use one over the other.

I think "line" is OK to use any time the marking in question is used
to mark an otherwise invisible boundary and the exact thickness is
beside the point.  A pencil outline of an object is done for the
purpose of marking the approximate boundary of where the object ceases
to be (hopefully somewhere within the lead-covered area) and could
therefore be called a line even if you use a 3" thick pencil.  But a
stripe on a prison uniform is a stripe because the purpose of that
stripe is to actually BE a stripe of a thickness covering an area so
you have black areas and white areas on the uniform.  They aren't
there to mark the location of an invisible line.