On Tuesday 27 March 2007 9:53 pm, Robin Netherton wrote: [snip] > The author is listing characteristics of fabric, including its appearance, > handle, and properties. Obviously "handle" is the word that doesn't ring > true here. My co-editor pencilled in "feel." The fabric-user in me thinks > "hand", but perhaps that is not so well-understood a term. > > If you read either of these phrases in an article, would it pull you up > short, or would it make sense to you? > > "...the properties, hand, and appearance of a finished fabric." > > "...the properties, feel, and appearance of a finished fabric." > > Other suggestions welcome. I don't think "texture" will work in context, > because that turns out to be one of many factors in the "handle."
Here's another comment from another American. I think of "hand" as a combination of texture and thickness. It can give you information about how the fabric is likely to drape, but does not include information about "drape" per se. I've never heard the term "feel" used in this context before, but in the context you suggest above I would understand it as being synonymous with what I think of as "hand." I would not use the word "handle" here. To me, "handle" is a protuberance used to grasp an object, and has nothing to do with fabric and its properties. It may well be used to describe fabric somewhere, but I doubt that such a usage has majority status among English speakers, and believe that many English-speaking readers would find it confusing and distracting. My suggestions would be either to rewrite the sentence entirely or to use the word "feel" as your colleague suggested. Either would be acceptable though the latter arguably is closer to what the author actually wrote. -- Cathy Raymond <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> "If only God would give me some clear sign! Like making a large deposit in my name at a Swiss Bank." -- Woody Allen _______________________________________________ h-costume mailing list [email protected] http://mail.indra.com/mailman/listinfo/h-costume
