Time-lag and delay

Question

Should I say that "There may have a time-lag on the fund transfer" or "There may be a delay on the fund transfer"? Is there any difference between "time-lag" and "delay"?
Please give me some hints.
Thanks
Note: Please correct me if you find any mistakes in my sentences.

Usenet · Accepted Answer

[nq:1]Should I say that "There may have a time-lag on the fund transfer" or "There may be a delay on the fund transfer"? Is there any difference between "time-lag" and "delay"?[/nq]
Do you mean "There may *be* a time-lag on the fund transfer" (which is roughly the sense of the second sentence?
Or "There may have been a time-lag on the fund transfer" (which is different)?
The sentence as it stands is ungrammatical.
I would say a time-lag and a delay are similar. 'time-lag' carries only the sense of a gap in elapsed time between two events whereas 'delay' has connotations of something intervening to cause the time-lag. When I press 'send' on this message, there will be a (tiny) time lag before it reaches my server at the other end of the phone line. But there may well be a delay before it reaches your server.

John Dean
Oxford
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Usenet · Answer

[nq:1]Should I say that "There may have a time-lag on the fund transfer" or "There may be a delay on the fund transfer"? Is there any difference between "time-lag" and "delay"?[/nq]
To me, "delay" sounds like an unplanned or unexpected occurrence, whereas "time lag" sounds like something that is more or less normal. But the first sentence should read "There may *be* a time-lag *in* the fund transfer." "Have" is definitely wrong here, and "on" sounds odd to my ear.

Ray Heindl
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Usenet · Answer

[nq:1]Should I say that "There may have a time-lag on the fund transfer" or "There may be a delay on the fund transfer"? Is there any difference between "time-lag" and "delay"?[/nq]
Neither phrasing is precise. You could mean:
1.) There always is a defined time-lag between the moment the fundsdisappear here and the moment they reappear there. You could say: If we transfer the funds by noon Monday, they should become available to you after 3pm.
2.) Because of , we will not be able to transfer thefunds until Tuesday morning.
-skipka

Usenet · Answer

[nq:1]To me, "delay" sounds like an unplanned or unexpected occurrence, whereas "time lag" sounds like something that is more or less normal.[/nq]
I had the same thought, but on further consideration decided that it wasn't really true. I don't think there really is a difference at all, or at least not much of one. Consider:
* "The eastbound green phase of the traffic light is delayed 10 seconds to allow for the heavy traffic turning left westbound-to-northbound."

* "After you turn the TV on, there's a 5-second delay while the picture tube warms up."
* "After I turn on the TV, there's a time lag of about 5 seconds before I can see the picture. Is that normal?"

Mark Brader > "The race is not always to the swift, Toronto > nor the battle to the strong (Email Removed) > but that is the way to bet it." Damon Runyon

My text in this article is in the public domain.

Usenet · Answer

[nq:1]"The eastbound green phase of the traffic light is delayed 10 seconds to allow for the heavy traffic turning left westbound-to-northbound."[/nq]
(Thread merge)
I guess that would be my* left, not the *traffic's left. :-)
Mark Brader, Toronto "... people are always doing stuff ... (Email Removed) that I wish were typos" Marcy Thompson

Usenet · Answer

[nq:2]"The eastbound green phase of the traffic light is delayed 10 seconds to allow for the heavy traffic turning left westbound-to-northbound."[/nq]
[nq:1](Thread merge) I guess that would be my* left, not the *traffic's left. :-)[/nq]
Maybe the westbound traffic is planning on going north the long way. Or they're turning 270 degrees left.

Ray Heindl
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Time-lag and delay

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