Is reinforce used properly here? reinforce high stakes?

Forums: Grammar, English As A Second Language, Learning English, Efl
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The definition of reinforce is:
v.
1. make stronger
he reinforced the concrete
2. strengthen and support with rewards
Let's reinforce good behavior
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People come together trying to lower the risks, not to make them stronger or strengthen and support with rewards. So "reinforce high stakes" sounds odd. Except "ight stakes" doesn't mean "high risks."

Context:
China and Japan remain miles apart on uninhabited isles
At MIT event, diplomats and scholars reinforce high stakes, lack of progress on Asian territorial dispute.

More:
http://web.mit.edu/newsoffice/2013/china-japan-conflict-0417.html

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Type: Question • Score: 3 • Views: 708 • Replies: 7

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View best answer, chosen by oristarA

@oristarA,

Yes. As for the rest of the sentence, it's more or less acceptable because it's a headline.

1 Reply

@roger,

roger wrote:

Yes. As for the rest of the sentence, it's more or less acceptable because it's a headline.

Ah, Roger, I failed to understand your yes because I am not sure whether you give yes to the author or give me.
To make things straight, what does "reinforce hight stakes" mean?

0 Replies

@oristarA,

Yes, reinforce is used properly in the context of the headline.

What happened at the meeting reinforced the knowledge that there are high stakes in the Asian territorial dispute and that there has been little progress in resolving the dispute/s.

1 Reply

@ehBeth,

Well, "reinforce high stakes" means "reinforce the views about high stakes."
Does high stake mean high risk here?

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@oristarA,

No. High stakes means there is a lot to gain or lose. High risk indicates something about a higher likelyhood of losing. If there is high risk, you should expect to gain much more than you risk. An even money bet would be expected to have potential gain about equal to potential loss.

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@oristarA,

In this example, high stakes does mean high risk.

Both parties are betting a lot on being successful. There is a risk that the result could be bad for both China and Japan. That's why the article says that they hope the U.S. will help resolve the matter - neither side will lose face then.

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@ehBeth,

Thanks.
Do you read MIT as /mit/ or M,I,T?

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Is reinforce used properly here? reinforce high stakes?

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