Walk a length Vs a lap

Question

Hi:How to express the meaning of walking from one end to the other (not including the way back) or for swimming from one end to the other excluding the way back.Is "length" the correct word? Please give a sample sentence. I need a colloquial expressionThanksBest regards,Xin YanChina

Avangi · Accepted Answer

Thanks for joining us, Xin. Welcome to English Forums. [<:o)]

I should keep my mouth shut on this. I really hate swimming laps.

I see nothing wrong with "swimming a length," but very few tracks are not a circuit. Well, there's golf, downhill skiing, 100 yd. dash, drag racing.

The problem in finding a colloquialism is, how in the heck do you swim three lengths? (That is, a lap and a half?) Is that what you mean? You want to refer to four laps as eight lengths? It seems unnatural.
Or do you want to get out of the pool and walk back to the starting point?

Perhaps someone else has an expression.

Best wishes, - A.

Mr Wordy · Answer

"length" is a possibility. For example:

"I swam the length of the pool."

"I walked the length of the field/track/street/etc."

You could also say: "I swam/walked from one end of the <noun> to the other."

In swimming, "a length" is automatically assumed to be a length of a pool, so you may not need to explicitly say so. For example: "I swam twenty lengths". In walking, you'd usually have to explain what it is you walked the length of (because there is no single, obvious thing that it's very likely to be).

I have a feeling that it's easy to generate unnatural sentences with this meaning of "length". So, if you're not familiar with this usage, you might want to post your actual sentences here to get them checked.

Avangi · Answer

yanx
Walk a length Vs a lap
How to express the meaning of walking from one end to the other Are you still lookinig for a unit to be used analogous to "lap," - that is, "I swam seventeen lengths this afternoon"?

Yanx · Answer

Thanks very much!

Xin Yan

Yanx · Answer

I see your point Avangi, I would like to confirm if I can say "I usually walk three lengths of the street near the park", grammatically and colloquially right? Thanks!

Xin Yan

Avangi · Answer

yanxI see your point Avangi, I would like to confirm if I can say "I usually walk three lengths of the street near the park", grammatically and colloquially right? Thanks!

To be honest, I'm still struggling to meet your original request.
Your most recent sentence is grammatically correct, but I'm afraid it would make us scratch our heads. If, as I suspect, there's only one return trip, that leaves you at the far end, so you have to find another way home.

Even if we use MrWordy's solution, "I walk the length of the street three times," (which sounds perfectly natural) it leaves us unsure if these are "round trips." [:^)]

In my opinion, "three lengths of the street" is less ambiguous, but still not exactly common.

Even if we wanted to describe "laps" on the street, we'd probably say, "I walked the street up and back twice." (2 laps; 4 lengths)

Perhaps if we could know the exact purpose of your proposed sentence or sentences, we might stumble on something better.

Best regards, - A.

Walk a length Vs a lap

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Walk a length Vs a lap

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