"Pry"


The Context:

from: http://www.imperialclub.com/repair/interior/panel.htm

"Making sure you have unbolted, unscrewed, and unattached everything, begin to pry the door panel from the door using a wide, thin screwdriver."

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Experiment:

what is the meaning of the word unkbubber in this sentence?

"Making sure you have unbolted, unscrewed, and unattached everything, begin to unkbubber the door panel from the door using a wide, thin screwdriver."

Responses:

  • to remove in a wiggling/prying mannor
  • pry
  • remove
  • to pry
  • disjoin
  • disengage
  • detach

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So the context works.

Since people were able to come up with the exact word in some cases, all of the necessary components of its meaning must be there.

And so, CASSIE should be able to do it to.

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What the algorithm should find:

The primary components of "pry"...

  • opening, or removal of something attached physically to something else
  • with effort
  • using some sort of lever

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...which should be found in the context:

"Making sure you have unbolted, unscrewed, and unattached everything, begin to pry the door panel from the door using a wide, thin screwdriver."


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1. "Making sure you have unbolted, unscrewed, and unattached everything..."

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If everything is unbolted, unscrewed, and unattached,
then the process of prying is possible.

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2. "...begin to pry the door panel from the door..."

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key words:
  • "begin" -emphasizes that the action will have some duration. (and time is a component of effort)
  • "from" -indicates an object's relationship to a source, having been removed from it.

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3. "...using a wide, thin screwdriver."

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Important things:
  • using: the verb requires some instrument.
  • screwdriver: isa- tool, (and therefore possibly an acceptable substitute for the "lever" component.

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So...
the very least that CASSIE should be able to figure out about "pry" from this sentence is that it involves removal, through a process that takes time, by using a screw driver. Close enough?











Additional issues:

  • What determines how close CASSIE can guess the meaning of "pry"?
    • How much background knowledge to put in?
    • Should only information relating to the word "pry" be given?      e.g, screwdrivers can be used as levers, but they can also be used in other ways, like screwing, poking, prodding, stabbing, etc. But if all of these are represented in the KB, the system would need a way to decide which of those properties were relevant.