ETA, why?

[MixiMan]

Hello,

I just wanted to share my very weird conclusion i got to today:

ETA: "estimated time of arrival"

Why would people use this phrase if asked when the action/happening takes place they are interested in???

If i would ask someone if he/she had a cigarette for me and he would answer:"I estimate that i have one", i wouldn't be very satisfied with that answer.
And yet people say it all the time when waiting for the launch of a space shuttle, asking when the manager will be back, and so on. It is presented as a fact, but it is only an estimation:ponder:

That concludes my rambling about a very insignificant detail of language.

Thanks for reading:thumbsup:

[Tanitha]

Unforeseen circumstances?

[Kodonn]

As opposed to a "best guess", ETA is a guess that's good enough to put down on paper. :wink:

Here's one for you. I work with a guy here at the lab who likes to not give definite answers. (I know I butchered that sentence on purpose. It's not that he doesn't want to give a definite answer. he just delights in tormenting people. :grin:) Instead he will reply with something like..."I believe that is a correct statement."

[Kalos]

Time isn't a singular item, like the cigarette is. You either have one or you do not. Time however, is an indefinant article to which events taking place within it cannot be always said with certainty, thus estimation (abbriviated to ETA) is the more correct terminology. It would make even less sense to say, for example, that arrival at a destination "Definantly arriving in five minutes" on a train journey, and five minutes later you aren't there due to some circumstance; it would have meant it wouldn't have been definantly arriving at that point, this is logically disagreeable and incorrect. It was not certain, it was likely. A common activity based upon likelihoods is known as estimation, hence it's appropriateness.

Therefore it is indeed correct to express your predictions of the future as an estimation rather than a certainty in the majority of contexts, because the vast majority of situations are not certainties, and expressing certainty in answers which are based on uncertain factors is a pure logical contridiction.

[MixiMan]

I agree to some extent with you Kalos that time is not an absolute (that i think is what you meant). I was actually talking about the fact that people use the phrase "estimated" when there clearly is a "desired".

People ask the question ( which in most cases is rhetorical ) to get certainty about the time of something happening/arriving etc. So it is useless in my opinion to explicitly say that it is estimated when everybody involved already knows it is estimated.

person a:"when will it happen?"
person b: "eta 5 mins"
(in my book) person a:"i didn't ask what is estimated, i asked a normal question, if you don't know the answer, please do not respond. Unless of course you can explain what your estimation is based on, and we may discuss if you are making a logical statement. But since i was asking when the space shuttle launches, and i am still standing under the boosters, i don't think we have time for estimations. we would be better off if you just..." *sound of rocket boosters going off*

My point is that it is clear that nobody can say exactly when something will happen, but using ETA to make it sound more important and more accurate just so people will be satisfied...is just a bit lame.

Sorry for the long post, just got this brainwave while watching a movie and ETA annoyed me a bit:embarassed:

[Kalos]

I don't see how saying ETA automatically makes it appear more accurate. That's just perception, by it's own definition it is simply a guess. As opposed to a guess what certainty could not be achieved, and an ETA was disagreeable with your preferences, you'd get no answer at all. Even less helpful than what has been announced and signified as an Estimate by the Acronoym.

The problem with not stating it to be an estimate in some occasions is, in ordinary language, "covering one's butt". If it was expressed blankly as "Five minutes" any whatever action that was suppose to happen at that point but simply did not, people may take offense at what they interpreted as a certainty in the answer. The phrase ETA is quantifier, a discription upon the subject matter. It is not necessary, but to some people and in some situations, the destinction can be quite desirable.

If you really want to delve into it's past, it came into common use shortly after the First World War in many military units across the developed world. Being able to seperate coordinated and unmissable deadlines from the guesswork and hopeful timings being ordered and issued was a very important destinction to which life and death depended on. You want to make dead certain weither backup was suppose to be maybe if all goes well arriving at point A, or if it is certain and beyond reasonable doubt that the time shall be achieved. The need to seperate the uncertain from the certain in some situations is very important. Not so in others. So ultimately yes, it is unnecessary for the majority of the time. But the language evolved for a reason, to suit a purpose and cause, and it hasn't been phased out of the public hemisphere due to irrelivance just yet. At some point, there was a need for a significant destinction.

[MixiMan]

Hmm,

i didn't expect an elaborate post like that, but i see where you are coming from. I think i even agree with you on the usefulness of an ETA. Just not when people are talking about their girlfriend coming home:grin:

[Chunderpants]

An ETA isnt presented as a fact or a confirmed time. It is the recipient of the ETA that takes it as a hard and fast time.

In other words:

Caller: When is your boss due back?
Me: His ETA is 10.30.

Later on the caller calls back and complains to your boss saying he was told he would be back at 10.30.

The caller is incorrect because his perception was it was an accurate time, but it wasnt.

Ok I cant describe it correctly. And guess what? Im an Estimator for a living lmao.

[Dark Matter]

I never use eta in normal conversation.

I use due.

He's due back at 2.30.

[rottentomato]

in my line of work we have to have an ETA for almost everything...


do you have a ETA for that crash? the trooper advises his ETA is 25 minutes. that is an estimated time he will arrive on scene. if he said he will be there in 25 minutes and then ends up having to do a traffic stop on someone that cuts him off and it takes him now 32 minutes to get there...he is not being accurate or professional. so to avoid another agency from getting upset you CYA by using ETA. savvy?

[Stigg]

Did you know that "shall" is the only event binding verb (at least in the US)?

For example, if I were to say to my fiance:

Without a doubt in my mind, I will, under all circumstances, no matter what, bring you flowers tonight.

It would not be a requirement for me to bring her flowers?

If I were to say, "I shall bring you flowers tonight" I had damn well better.

Of course, either way, if I didn't bring flowers that nite, I would be sleeping on the couch, but you get the point.

The words I find annoying are ambiguous words, like "shortly" "in awhile" etc. "shortly" for me means within 10 minutes. Apparently, for some people "shortly" means "within the week".