ratio of word probabilities predicted from brain for desk and table

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desk

table

top 10 words in brain distribution (in article):
build wood store design wall structure type home size provide
top 10 words in brain distribution (in article):
material wood design size type paint wall surface shape metal
top 10 words in brain distribution (not in article):
city material house street town floor state paint Unite construction
top 10 words in brain distribution (not in article):
light form drink build structure lamp water produce glass wine
times more probable under desk 30 20 10 6 4 2.5 1.25 1 1.25 2.5 4 6 10 20 30 times more probable under table
(words not in the model)
A desk'" is a furniture form and a class of table often used in a work or office setting for reading or writing on or using a computer. Desks often have one or more drawers to store office supplies and papers. Unlike a regular table, usually only one side of a desk is suitable to sit on (though there are some unusual exceptions, such as a partners desk). Not all desks have the form of a table. For instance, an Armoire desk is a desk built within a large wardrobe-like cabinet, and a portable desk is light enough to be placed on a person's lap. Early desks. Desk-style furniture appears not to have been used in classical antiquity or in other ancient centers of civilization in the Middle East or Far East, but there is no specific proof. Medieval illustrations show the first pieces of furniture which seem to have been designed and constructed for reading and writing. Before the invention of the movable type printing press in the 15th century, any reader was potentially a writer or publisher or both, since any book or other document had to be copied by hand. The desks were designed with slots and hooks for bookmarks and for writing implements. Since manuscript volumes were sometimes large, and heavy, desks of the period usually had massive structures. Desks of the Renaissance and later eras had relatively slimmer structures, and more and more drawers as woodworking became more precise and cabinet-making became a distinct trade. It is often possible to find out if a table or other piece of furniture of those times was designed to be used as a desk by looking for a drawer with three small separations (one each for the ink pot, the blotter and the powder tray) and room for the pens. The desk forms we are familiar with in this beginning of the millennium were born mostly in the 17th and 18th centuries. The ergonomic desk of the last decades is the newest addition to a long list of desk forms, but in a way it is only a refinement of the mechanically complex drawing table or drafting table of the end of the 18th century. Industrial era. Refinements to those first desk forms were considerable through the 19th century, as steam-driven machinery made cheap wood-based paper possible in the last periods of the first phase of the industrial revolution. This produced a boom in the number of, or some might say the birth of, the white-collar worker. As these office workers grew in number, desks were mass-produced for them in large quantities, using newer, steam-driven woodworking machinery. This was the first sharp division in desk manufacturing. From then on, limited quantities of finely crafted desks have been constructed by master cabinetmakers for the homes and offices of the rich while the vast majority of desks were assembled rapidly by unskilled labor, from components turned out in batches by machine tools. Thus, age alone does not guarantee that an antique desk is a masterpiece, since this shift took place more than a hundred years ago. More paper and more correspondence drove the need for more complex desks and more specialized desks, such as the rolltop desk which was a mass produced, slatted variant of the classical cylinder desk. It provided a relatively fast and cheap way to lock up the ever increasing flow of paper without having to file everything by the end of the day. Paper documents started leaving the desk as a "home," with the general introduction of filing cabinets. Correspondence and other documents were now too numerous to get enough attention to be rolled up or folded again, then summarized and tagged before being pigeonholed in a small compartment over or under the work surface of the desk. The famous Wooton desk and others were the last manifestations of the "pigeonhole" style. The newer desks could be transformed into many different shapes and angles and were ideal for artists. Steel desks. A smaller boom in office work and desk production occurred at the end of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th with the A table'" is a item of furniture comprising a surface supported by a base or legs. It may be used to hold articles such as food at a convenient or comfortable height when sitting, and is therefore often used in conjunction with chairs. Unlike many earlier table designs, most modern tables do not have drawers, although they are not uncommon. A table specifically intended for writing and office work is a desk, which may incorporate one or more drawers in the base. Some tables have removable sections or "leaves" used to extend the surface, or utilise hinged extensions of the table top known as "drop leaves". Etymology. The term "table" is derived from a merger of French "table" and Old English "tabele", ultimately from the Latin word "tabula", "a board, plank, flat top piece". In Late Latin, "tabula" took over the meaning previously reserved to "mensa" (preserved in Spanish "mesa" "table"). In Old English, the word replaced "bord" for this meaning. Shape, height, and function. Tables come in a wide variety of shapes, height, and materials, depending on their origin, style, and intended use. All tables are composed of a flat surface and a base with one or more supports, or legs. A table with a single, central foot is a pedestal table. Tables can be freestanding or designed for placement against a wall (a console table). Table tops can be in virtually any shape, although rectangular, square, round (e.g., the round table), and oval tops are the most frequent. Long tables often have extra legs for support. Others have higher surfaces for personal use while either standing or sitting on a tall stool. Many tables have tops that can be adjusted to change their position or size, either with foldable extensions or sliding parts that can alter the shape of the top. Some tables are entirely foldable for easy transport, e.g., camping. Small tables in trains and aircraft may be fixed or foldable, although many are simply convenient shelves rather than tables. Types of table. Tables of various shapes and sizes are designed for specific uses: Historically, various types of tables have been popular for other uses: History. Some very early tables were made and used by the Egyptians, and were little more than metal or stone platforms used to keep objects off the floor. They were not used for seating people. Food was put on large plates deposed on a pedestal for eating. The Egyptians made use of various small tables and elevated playing boards. The Chinese also created very early tables in order to pursue the arts of writing and painting. The Greeks and Romans made more frequent use of tables, notably for eating, although Greek tables were pushed under a bed after use. The Greeks invented a piece of furniture very similar to the guéridon. Tables were made of marble or wood and metal (typically bronze or silver alloys). Later, the larger rectangular tables were made of separate platforms and pillars. The Romans also introduced a large, semicircular table to Italy, the "mensa lunata". Furniture during the Middle Ages is not as well-known as that of earlier or later periods, and most sources show the types used by the nobility. In the Eastern Roman Empire, tables were made of metal or wood, usually with four feet and frequently linked by x-shaped stretchers. Tables for eating were large and often round or semicircular. A combination of a small round table and a lectern seemed very popular as a writing table. In western Europe, the invasions and internecine wars caused most of the knowledge inherited from the classical era to be lost. As a result of the necessary movability, most tables were simple trestle tables, although small round tables made from joinery reappeared during the 15th century and onward. In the Gothic era, the chest (furniture) became widespread and was often used as a table. Refectory tables first appeared at least as early as the 16th century, as an evolution of the trestle table; these tables were typically quite long and capable of supporting a sizeable banquet in the great hall or other reception room of a castle.