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To Climb into a Postbox

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Dec 25th 2011 12:46 verb-phrase-selection
I found this phrase in a book.
Here I quote a passage around it.

"One afternoon my neighbor's two children were playing hide-and-seek in the street just outside the post office. Janet shut her eyes and counted from one to ten. Her younger brother Tom, who was five years old, was looking for the best place to hide. Just then a postman opened the door of the postbox in front of the post office, but he did not shut the door. Tom climbed into the postbox, and pulled the door so hard that it locked with a big noise..."

I'd like to know whether the motion "to climb into the postbox" indicates is different from that of "to climb into a car".
I'd appreciate if you'd let me know your opinions!
hiralingual
Dec 25th 2011 18:12
I got the feeling that the motions denoted by the verb phrases are very similar to each other in that there is a suggestion of physical effort on the part of the mover (using his or her feet and hands), as I think you know is often pointed out in the semantic research of "climb." It's interesting if there's any difference. ^^ I hope a lot of native speakers will let us know what they think.
Dec 25th 2011 19:12 tony
I think the meaning of climb is fairly literal in both cases, that of going from a lower elevation to a higher elevation. In both cases, the feet end up at a level higher than the ground. I think I would be unlikely to use the verb "climb" if this were not true at some point during the physical motion being described, and I am more likely to use it for a vehicle such as a van in which the end elevation is greater than that of a normal passenger car. I agree that the suggestion of physical effort is also part of the meaning.
Dec 25th 2011 19:14 tony
By the way, the "door" of the postbox is most likely a panel on the lower part of the front through which mail is removed, not the part of the postbox into which mail is inserted.
Dec 25th 2011 22:21 hiralingual
Ah, so you would say that in order to violate the default assumption (that the motion described is going from a lower elevation to a higher elevation) some supplementary element is needed as in "climb DOWN the wall," wouldn't you?
Dec 26th 2011 01:21 tony
I think so. Maybe if the context of the action were sufficiently established, it might be possible to use "climb" for downwards motion without specifying this in the sentence.
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I found this phrase in a book. Here I quote a passage around it. "One afternoon my neighbor's two children were playing hide-and-seek in the street just outside the post office. Janet shut her eyes and counted from one to ten. Her younger brother Tom, who was five years old, was looking for the b


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