The roof is the upper sector of a construction, which allows it to be covered and closed.
Ceiling is a term whose etymology refers to tectum , a word from the Latin language. The concept refers to the element or sector that is located in the upper area of a construction or a vehicle to close and cover it.
For example: "The tornado destroyed the roof of the house" , "This year I will have to paint the ceiling again to remove the mold stains" , "My daughter asked me to paint the ceiling of her room green" .
Roof function
In a broad and simplistic sense, it can be said that a house has four walls and a roof: the walls are the side walls, while the roof is the structure that is placed above, horizontally. Thus, those who are inside the house are protected from the sun and rain .
The design of the roof can be very varied, as can its materials . The most precarious houses have thatched, metal or cardboard roofs, something that makes them unstable since the roof can be easily damaged.
The idea of a roof can be used as a synonym for housing or home.
Synonym of home
It is common for roof to be used as a synonym for domicile or home , making use of a rhetorical figure known as synecdoche (which allows us to take a part of something to name the whole): "There are many homeless people in this city," "The month "The rental contract ends soon: we are going to have to look for a new roof."
For middle-class people in developed countries, the idea of not having a roof over their heads or lacking services considered basic (drinking water, electricity, etc.) is practically impossible to process. It is very difficult for us to see ourselves in a picture in which there is no food on our plates, or a shower to refresh ourselves; However, there are millions of people whose lives are much worse than a documentary or newspaper article can portray.
The ceiling as a limit
The idea of ceiling, finally, refers to the upper limit that something or someone can reach. Generally, it is used to talk about a talent , or the maximum complexity that a person can achieve in a given discipline, because their skills do not allow them to cross that line. Let's look at some example sentences: "I think this footballer has already reached the ceiling of his performance: it is difficult for him to maintain or improve this level," "This work is without a doubt his ceiling, and that is noticeable in the tension with the who sings certain passages .
In this sense, there are different points of view regarding talent itself and the limits of each person. On the one hand there are those who assure that we can all learn what we want, and that our only limit is our will; Although many do not share this position, they point out that if we begin to dedicate ourselves at the appropriate age and with the appropriate frequency, we can all become great skaters, pianists, mathematicians, writers, or whatever we want.
Needless to say, this vision of life does not take into account the existence of a ceiling, understood as a limit to our capabilities , and there is not enough evidence to disqualify it, since that would make it necessary to take an adult individual and take him back to childhood. steer him in a different direction than the one he has taken and see if he can become someone else.
On the other hand, those who do recognize the presence of one or more specific talents in each being, also tend to accept the concept of ceiling as a level that each one can access, although it is not a well-defined point but rather a " zone” from which it is not possible to continue advancing . It is important to note that this is not necessarily negative; On the contrary, knowing what our limits are can help us make better use of our abilities and cultivate more than one, instead of remaining frustrated at a dead end.