In my line of "work" I deal with alot of precise definition. Loe and behold when all of a sudden one day me and my team of skilled academics were stunned by the following problem.

What is the definable difference between a box, a packet, a can, a tin and a jar.

We belive that it has to do with size and material. But were do you draw the line?
Also, can a tin be made out of brass?

There are plenty more of theese quandries once you get to think about them. What is a sip really? How do you tell it from a chug?

Arrrrragh Manne you broke my poor brain with that!

i cant help you with the container issue but the difference between a sip and a chug is to do with quantity and pace of consumption. if i were to use a swimming pool as a comparitor then a sip is a person dipping in a toe to check for temperature and a chug is some one taking a header off the 3 metre board. if someone were to quaff then this would be doing a belly flop of the ten metre board. in other words stupid and messy.

I hope this clears things up some

OK, here we go...

A box is container made of any material but is a cube or any rectangular shape. Picture the thing that Kool-Aid comes in... the paper thingy, that is a packet. A can is any sealed cylindrical shape made of metal, usually used for non-perishable food items. A tin is just a small can, tuna and salmon comes in tins. Yes a tin can be made out of brass, but rare. A jar is glass or plastic, but transparent with a screw off lid.

A sip is opening your lips no more than a quarter of an inch and not tilting your glass more than 180 degrees, any more than that and it becomes a drink. A chug is swallowing while still allowing your beverage to enter your mouth, usually but not limited to two or three swallows. I hope that clears things up.

Here are a few, what is the difference between a book and a novel? What about pants and slacks? How about a handbag and a purse?

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Rex77 @ Apr 14 2006, 06:36 AM) [snapback]60950[/snapback]</div>That's a very good definition. Allthough my nerd sence is tingeling and that means that something is not as it should be.

Tilting your glas 180 degress would render an upside down glass. Would you care to do some empiric studies of the exact angle were siping turns into drinking. Might I suggest that you describe the angle as a function of the amount of liquid in the glas and define the glas as a cylidrical container of a defined height and diameter. We could standardize the liquid as tap water with the temperature of 21 degrees Celsius.
Also, using a straw, which will not requrie the container to be tilted, can you both sip and drink? Can you chug with a straw?


<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Majik @ Apr 14 2006, 12:19 AM)</div>
This is also interseting, but highly unspecified.
At what frequency will you be swallowing when you no longer are sipping.
What quantities are we talking about here?
Sip=teaspoon, drink=tablespoon, chug=mouthfull, quaff=continuous flow with some on the side?



To rex pant question:
As far as I understand it Pants originally refered to underwear and trousers to,er, overwear.
So maybe you could build on that. Are pants more casual than trousers maybe?