Depress vs. Press, what's up with that ?

[63t-cab]

A recent Thread brought " Depress ' to My attention, and I realize what the Dictionary says - I just aint agonna budge on My OPINION . when I'm Driving down the Road and I want to stop "what do I do You ask", well I PRESS the Brake Pedal - if I were to DEPRESS the Brake Pedal,some how I feel I just did the opposite of the first action. if I were to install an Alarm System in My Home, I would ACTIVATE It when I'm not Home. this way Un - Wanted's would be deterred from entering . then when I am at Home, I would DE - ACTIVATE It so My Family can enter in a Peaceable Fashion . I am fully willing to be on My Own with this , really I'm just curious what Others would say of such Life changing Matters



PS, should I create a Suggestion Box for Serious Input

[Andy R.]

Funny observation.

Press the Brake pedal - applying some pressure for part of the pedal travel?
Depress the Clutch pedal - pressing the pedal fully, as far as it will go, maybe?

I've given this too much thought. Now I'M the one that's depressed.

[BobWaitz]

Don't even get me started on Damper vs Dampener...

[studegary]

To me -
Depress implies motion - - You depress a clutch pedal.
Press implies a force - - You press the icons on your cell telephone.

I think that you are trying to make unpress out of depress <G>.

[karterfred88]

All this does is impress upon me, that it all leads to depression, that I can no longer press things as hard as I used to ( or is that depress things).

[Commander Eddie]

Welcome to the English language.

[wittsend]

This way Un - Wanted's would be deterred from entering.

Yes, the last thing you want is someone to be "terred" to enter your home.

Below is the meaning of the prefix "de." So, it seems at least possible that the second or third meaning of "de" (reversal) (departure) could be applicable to say..., DEPRESS, a button or switch. Thus you can both reverse the position (raised, now lowered) the button/switch, and in doing so you depart it from its former state.

de-
prefix

1. removal of or from something specified: deforest, dethrone

2. reversal of something: decode, decompose, desegregate

3. departure from: decamp

[kurtruk]

What do you do when you denude a forest?

[wittsend]

What do you do when you denude a forest?

Depends.

Regarding post #4, yes, it would seem fitting that if one had "clutched" (the action of having pressed the clutch) then depressing the clutch (reversal action) would be applicable.

By the way this whole thread has been Delightful. Well, I guess it is time to Depart.

[rockne10]

Mandarin makes more sense than English. And that's a fact!

[dean pearson]

De-pressed, was me when I got a quote on fender headers for my 52.

But,,... I'll press on and get them soon. (Dangit)

Dean.