erinja:...'wardrobe' works for everyone as far as the thing that holds your clothing.

Yes, I think we can all agree on that.

erinja:The problem is only to describe something with the form factor of a wardrobe that is not in fact a wardrobe

I don't understand the problem here. If it has the form factor of a wardrobe, why not call it a wardrobe? Why should a wardrobe suddenly be called a cabinet, locker or closet just because on the inside it acts as a time machine? It's utterly irrelevant whether there are clothes inside it or not.

It is, in fact, a ŝranko even if it is also a time machine. It isn't a wardrobe if it is a time machine, it is simply a box that has the form factor of a wardrobe.

So in other words, you could say without a problem that a ŝranko appears in a room because this is what the time machine actually is, but you couldn't say that a wardrobe appears in a room, because it isn't a wardrobe, it only has the vague shape of one.

I am not sure what is so complicated about the table thing but it isn't a serving hatch. You can imagine something like this table, simply a table with a cabinet in its base. The story does not clarify how the food gets into the cabinet part but the people eating at the table open the cabinet and pull out the food.

"box" may be the best translation but I hate to go so general.

erinja:The story uses the word "ŝranko" to describe a wardrobe that holds clothing (this will likely be edited to "vesto-ŝranko" to make this clearer), and also to describe a cavity with a door that acts as a food dispenser, and also to describe a box with the rough dimensions of a wardrobe that functions as a time machine.

I'm completely okay with ŝranko (although I prefer vesto-ŝranko) for a wardrobe/closet.

Perhaps it's contamination from German, but I would have a hard time calling a cavity in a door a "ŝranko". To me a "ŝranko" is something that could (perhaps with difficulty or after dismounting it) be moved from place to place, not a cavity inside another object. I also feel that "ŝranko" implies something with a door/cover -- not sure if that applies here. Maybe "apertaĵo"?

Although I'm also okay with ŝranko for the time machine, it seems to me that a ŝranko is not something designed to hold humans (again, this might be contamination from German). Maybe "budo" (similar to telefonbudo or provbudo - i.e. a room/stall at a clothing store for trying on clothes)?

Amike,
Paul

"form factor" sounds like a cosmetic, though I wouldn't know

If a time machine appeared in my room my first reaction would probably be, "did a fucking time machine just appear in my room?" before wondering if it looked more like a closet or a wardrobe.

This thread is pretty interesting though! I'll contribute what sounds the most natural/least awkward to me.

If I were writing a story though, I would imagine having something like: "...A wardrobe then appeared in the middle of Tommy's room. This was no ordinary wardrobe though, it was a time machine!"

That doesn't make for an elegant explination of what a ŝranko really is though.

The problem with "booth" to me, is that unless "telephone" is with it I think of a booth like you'd find at a fair or a flea market. You could just say a telephone booth appeared and then explain it's actually a time machine, but then you get a similar problem with explaining what a ŝranko really is.

I think the most accurate thing without going as generic as a "box" is just calling it a wardrobe or a telephone booth, then explaining somewhere that a ŝranko is anything with the form of a wardrobe/telephone booth.

I would call the cabinet in that table a drawer.

"The drawer under the table had all their meals ready to serve in it."

erinja:I am not sure what is so complicated about the table thing...

Calling it a cavity doesn't help. This really threw me. That's why I thought you meant something built into a wall! Turns out you're talking about some kind of TV stand, or perhaps a bulky coffee table or bench. Why food is being kept in it, I have no idea.

According to ReVo, a ŝranko is "Meblo en formo de alta kesto". The thing you're describing is not very high. However, Vortaro.net doesn't mention anything about the height.

I would also call the whole of that table a "coffee table" or a "TV stand", depending on it's dimensions and use.

A bit of a tangent, but with the rise of flatscreen TVs I just realized I haven't seen a TV stand in a long time!

erinja:It is, in fact, a ŝranko even if it is also a time machine. It isn't a wardrobe if it is a time machine, it is simply a box that has the form factor of a wardrobe.

So in other words, you could say without a problem that a ŝranko appears in a room because this is what the time machine actually is, but you couldn't say that a wardrobe appears in a room, because it isn't a wardrobe, it only has the vague shape of one.

If it bothers you that it is not really a wardrobe, then call it a time-machine. Or say 'a time-machine that looks like a wardrobe'. Or maybe just call it a cavity and be done with it.

We aren't talking about the entire table, we are talking only about the part at the base of the table, that you can open up (it isn't a drawer, it's a door you open) and pull food out of.

Why? Because we are 200 years in the future and this is how they are getting their food, I have no clue how it got there. So we aren't going to refer to the food-containing portion of the table as a drawer (it isn't) or a coffee table (we are referring only to the part holding the food, not to the entire table) or a TV stand.

We're talking only about the part with a door that holds food; it doesn't make sense to say that someone sits down to eat, and then opens the door of the TV stand to pull out their food, because this makes sense to no one.

The Esperanto says, open the door of a ŝranko in the table to pull out food, and the Esperanto also says that someone puts clothes into a ŝranko or vesto-ŝranko, and the Esperanto also says that a ŝranko appears in someone's room, and it's a time machine.

This terminology is all clear and accurate in Esperanto (and there are also illustrations, so the student can see that all of these things are referred to as some kind of ŝranko). The question is, if you were to say that a phone booth appears in someone's room - it isn't a phone booth. The word ŝranko is used to describe the time machine appearing in the room, before the reader or the inhabitant of the room knows it's a time machine (and yes, he does freak out, he doesn't simply say, "Oh look, a phone booth, or possibly a wardrobe, or possibly a TV stand or a coffee table, has just appeared in my room. How marvellous!"

We just have a large coffee table (box, wardrobe, booth, TV stand, cabinet) show up in the room, and before we know what it is, we are calling it a ...[box, wardrobe, booth, cabinet, TV stand, coffee table]. And then later in the story we have an eating table that also has a ŝranko built into the base of it (a ŝranko not so different from what you might see here or here or here. And this ŝranko, too, needs a name, preferably the same name used for the ŝranko that appears in a room earlier, because it makes it confusing for a learner if they learn that ŝranko = phone booth, then later they learn that ŝranko = tv stand. This doesn't work well, as you might imagine, since they are both a ŝranko (and also, I happen to think that 'TV stand' is a poor translation for ŝranko).

Hope that clears everything up.

Erinja, it seems you're never going to get a translation that fits all forms of English. As you're American and Americans are apparently the biggest group of English-speaking users of this site, then maybe you should just stick with what makes sense to you as an American. I'm sure everyone else will work it out perfectly well in context. We might even enjoy the comedy value.

When talking about this little table, then I would say that it has a storage compartment or perhaps a little cupboard. Seems that in American English, you'd prefer to call that part of the table a cabinet. Very well, I'm sure we can all cope with that, especially if you say '..a cabinet in the table' and there will be a picture to make things perfectly clear.