Pacing a distance

[Shefa123]

I came across this sentence in an online dictionary:
‘The elephant confined by a ten foot piece of chain can pace only a distance of ten feet, even after the chain has been removed.'

In this sentence dies pacing mean moving back and forth or does it simply mean moving in one direction?
Thank you.

 

[PaulQ]

Pace means, approximately, walk; walk means, approximately, move. The direction is irrelevant.

 

[sound shift]

I really don't know, because the premise of the sentence seems wrong to me: the chained elephant could walk round in a circle. On just one circuit it would cover more than ten feet.

 

[lingobingo]

That’s not specified. You have to read it as you see fit. I’m not even convinced that it makes much sense, since even with a 10-foot chain attached, an animal might be able to walk much further than that, in a circle for example.

 

[Shefa123]

Pace means, approximately, walk; walk means, approximately, move. The direction is irrelevant.

I see. But I guess it's often used to indicate that someone is moving back and forth, at least that's how I've been interpreting it. For example, in the sentence "He paced along the street", I would think that he is going up and down the street.

 

[lingobingo]

To pace implies walking with regular/measured steps. It is usually used in the sense of pacing “up and down”, but it doesn’t intrinsically mean that.

 

[Shefa123]

To pace implies walking with regular/measured steps. It is usually used in the sense of pacing “up and down”, but it doesn’t intrinsically mean that.

Ah, I see now. Thank you!

 

[PaulQ]

To pace, generally, means to walk with regular steps. It is associated with such phrases as "up and down the room"; "to and fro", or "to pace out a distance". Of itself, it does not mean repetitive movement.

(crossposted)

 

[Shefa123]

To pace, generally, means to walk with regular steps. It is associated with such phrases as "up and down the room"; "to and fro", or "to pace out a distance". Of itself, it does not mean repetitive movement.

(crossposted)

Please bear with me. Just one more question. I think pacing across the room would imply moving back and forth across the room, right?

 

[lingobingo]

Not necessarily. It depends on the context. Across implies in one direction. Up and down implies in both.

 

[PaulQ]

I think pacing across the room would imply moving back and forth across the room, right?

No. It will depend on the context: "He paced across the room and opened a window."

 

[Shefa123]

So, if I say "he began pacing across the room", then it would imply he was moving back and forth?

 

[PaulQ]

Shefia,

Please abandon the idea that "pace" includes the meaning of "back and forth": it does not. It is something that is implied by certain contexts.

 

[lingobingo]

So, if I say "he began pacing across the room", then it would imply he was moving back and forth?

Yes, this would imply that you began repeatedly pacing across the room, so by definition you’d be going back and forth. But, as Paul points out, even then it’s not the word pace itself that implies going in one direction and then the other; it’s just a matter of logic.