al hildenbrand said:
By twisting the definition example to "The press "furnished" a method for making more copies," you are not addressing "distribution."
I am not doing any twisting. The machine, the press, did not distribute newspapers. Paperboys did that.
The definition's example, ". . . by the great distribution afforded by the printing press," is saying that a great distribution of (presumably) newspapers was made possible by the invention of the press. There is no way you can twist that statement to make the word "afford" apply to the relationship of railings to wall space.
al hildenbrand said:
Charlie, you are still not expanding your focus on the definition.
Consider ALL of 2 b :: That is to furnish or offer typically or as an essential concomitant.
You quoted only the adjective version of the definition of "concomitant." That word is used as a noun, in the definition of "afford." The noun version of concomitant is defined as "a concomitant quality, circumstance, or thing." Which of these three properly describes "space"? Perhaps we can use "thing" for our purposes, but "quality" and "circumstance" won't do.
But first let us recall that the NEC speaks of space as being "afforded by" the railing. That is passive voice. The active voice version would be that the railing affords the space.
For this part of the definition of "afford" to apply to railings and wall space, it would have to be saying that the railing furnishes (or offers) space as a thing that is essential to (though in a lesser important way), and occurs at the same time as, the railing.
That doesn't work for me. But it does seem to be a step in the right direction. So I'll agree to rescind my statement that the phrase "afforded by" is meaningless. In its place, I'll say that the phrase "afforded by" needs to be replaced by something more clear and more appropriate to the intended meaning. I already have this on my list of items to submit for the 2011 NEC. I think I'll keep it on the list.