Low end

Posted by R. Berg on March 19, 2004

In Reply to: Thanks a lot posted by Miri Barak on March 18, 2004

: : : : : : : : : *On the low end*, a three-pack of agile, pint-sized, carnivores.

: : : : : : : : : Again I'm in need of your indispensable help:

: : : : : : : : : is it simply the end of somewhere, which is lower, that is a location?

: : : : : : : : : because later they say:
: : : : : : : : : "Towering above them..."

: : : : : : : : : Thanks a lot
: : : : : : : : Almost certainly a reference to their small size. An interesting choice of words, though. "On the low end" is often used to describe those items that are cheapest on a price list or menu. The metaphor works if my guess is right.

: : : : : : : "But no one's *wired to stay afraid* for too long, including Pod"

: : : : : : : somehow I don't understand this sentence. I know that wired is excited or nervous but what does he want to say exactly?
: : : : : : : Thanks a lot

: : : : : : Wired = hardwired? Pod can choose whether to continue to be afraid.

: : : : For "low end," more context is needed. Are you still translating something about a veterinary hospital? "On the low end" might mean the three carnivores have lower priority; their case isn't an emergency, and the doctor doesn't have to see them before other patients. It might mean instead that the doctor doesn't much want to treat them.

: : : : "Wired" doesn't mean "nervous" here. It means "biologically programmed." Pod's brain won't sustain prolonged fear.

: : :
: : : Thank you Berg for your help.
: : : This time it's not the veterinary hospital, but a discovery film on dinosaurs.
: : : different kind of dinosaurs are described and among them - "at the low end" are three small ones (they are raptors):

: : : "On the low end, a three-pack of agile, pint-sized, carnivores

: : : Towering above them, a skyline of titanosaurs, Europe's foremost vegetarians".

: : : The two are contrasted in their height. perhaps it is just a reference to their height?

: : : I accepted the explanation about the programme thank you.

: : : Thanks, miri

: : In that context, "on the low end" probably does refer to their height. Use of the phrase this way seems intended to be amusing.

: Thank you very much (in Hebrew I cann't play with the double meaning of low end (the cheapest), well you cann't winn them all. can you?

"Low end" also implies lesser worth or poorer quality or less importance-the bottom end of the range in any measure of value. A recent term with the same connotation is "downscale." Maybe there's something there that you can use.

• Thanks Berg Miri Barak 20/March/04