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February 17

place name and family name

It may or may not be true, but it is a reasonable guess, that Marvin Minsky is descended from someone who once lived in the city of Minsk.

There does not seem to be a city called Chomsk. Any idea where Noam Chomsky's forebears might have hailed from, going just by his name? (Looking up his actual biography doesn't count; I'm wondering more where these names get their origins).

Thanks. 66.127.55.192 (talk) 06:13, 17 February 2010 (UTC)

www.traveljournals.net/explore/belarus/map/m2709382/chomsk.html - Chomsk is in Belarus. (That site is blacklisted). Woogee (talk) 08:01, 17 February 2010 (UTC)

Ah, thanks. Since it wasn't in wikipedia, I figured it didn't exist. 66.127.55.192 (talk) 08:03, 17 February 2010 (UTC)

The sinister obverse of "Wikipedia ergo sum". Clarityfiend (talk) 09:00, 17 February 2010 (UTC)

If Wikipedia did have an article on it, it would be at Khomsk; the Russian spelling of the last name Chomsky is Хомский, although Noam Chomsky himself is sometimes called Ноэм Чомски in Russian. (I once heard that there are Russians who have heard of both the outspoken American political dissident Ноам Хомский and the American linguist Ноэм Чомски but don't realize that the two are the same person; I can't verify that that's true though.) +Angr 10:23, 17 February 2010 (UTC)

We do have pl:Chomsk and be:Вёска Хомск though. According to my (bad) understanding of Polish, it had 1700 residents in 1921, and was seat of a gmina, but since most were Jews, it was practically wiped out during the Holocaust. While it is certainly not a proof, it may well be prof Chomsky's...what's the correct XXXnym here? Eponym? No such user (talk) 13:15, 17 February 2010 (UTC)

See List of places named after people. -- Wavelength (talk) 15:44, 17 February 2010 (UTC)

But that's not what he means. The idea is that the Chomsky family is named after Khomsk, not that Khomsk is named after Chomsky. +Angr 15:59, 17 February 2010 (UTC)

See also http://www.pbase.com/chiz/ww2chomsk. No such user (talk) 13:19, 17 February 2010 (UTC)

I see there is also a city called Kholmsk, in a part of Russia quite distant from Belarus. Also, WP search for "Khomsk" finds the biography of David B. Steinman, which indicates that Khomsk is/was part of Brest, Belarus, which is a bit more of a population center and therefore likely to have produced more emigrants than a town of 1700 people could. 66.127.55.192 (talk) 02:32, 18 February 2010 (UTC)

I think there's a mix-up there: there's only one Khomsk/pl:Chomsk in Belarus (I saw census data in the meanwhile), which is in the area of Brest, Belarus indeed (pl:Obwód brzeski). Noam Chomsky's father has origins from present-day Ukraine, which is near enough.
The fact that the village of Chomsk had only 2,000 people doesn't mean that it was the source of numerous immigrants: all it takes that one man back in time gets named "Chomsky" (after the village or something else), and that he has a sufficient number of male descents so that the surname does not get extinct. Likelihood of pl:Chomsk being the origin of Noam's surname is increased because it had a numerous Jewish population, so it matches his origins. No such user (talk) 07:50, 18 February 2010 (UTC)

Interestingly, it looks like there is a city formerly named Trotsk. I knew that Leon Trotsky was a self-selected nom-de-guerre, so I wondered if it was inspired by the name of the city. But it looks like the city was (temporarily) named after Trotsky instead. Which makes me ask, ok, how did Lev Bronstein pick the name "Trotsky"? 66.127.55.192 (talk) 05:46, 18 February 2010 (UTC)

Or was it Leiba Bronstein who chose the name Lev Trotsky? -- Jack of Oz ... speak! ... 07:23, 18 February 2010 (UTC)

I guess it was a real surname he had encountered, because other people have it (see Trotski (disambiguation)). Could be a distorted (contracted) form of Troitsky, a surname and adjective corresponding to to the locality name Troitsk, both ultimately derived from troitsa, "(Holy) Trinity". Another theory is that it comes from Troki (an old name of Trakai, Lithuania).[1] As for why he chose it, I don't know anything and it may be that he never gave any explanation, but I suspect it was just for the resonant sound of it; it sounds kinda militant and rrrrevolutionary, with a Russian rolled R. --91.148.159.4 (talk) 17:46, 18 February 2010 (UTC)

It should be pointed out that many, but not all surnames in -sky correspond to localities in -sk. -sky is a suffix meaning -ian or -ish that can be added to any word. For example, Nevsky as in Alexander Nevsky and Nikolai Aleksandrovich Nevsky comes from the river Neva.--91.148.159.4 (talk) 17:46, 18 February 2010 (UTC)

translation

Dear sir/madam

I need translation from English to Nepali or Nepali to English.

what can I do for it? —Preceding unsigned comment added by Marker100 (talk • contribs) 10:15, 17 February 2010 (UTC)

Try http://nepalitranslation.co.uk/ --Sir or Madam (talk) 12:21, 17 February 2010 (UTC)

You might try Category:Wikipedians in Nepal and ask one of the Wikipedians listed there. Woogee (talk) 19:51, 17 February 2010 (UTC)

what is the official term for

the aspies ability to shut out the world and concentrate on something? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 218.186.8.228 (talk) 17:07, 17 February 2010 (UTC)

It could be a variety of Flow--91.6.27.234 (talk) 17:44, 17 February 2010 (UTC)

Aspies is redirected to Asperger syndrome. I am mentioning this to clarify the context for readers of this discussion.

-- Wavelength (talk) 18:46, 17 February 2010 (UTC)

You've got the perfect user name in relation to what I call it: "Tuning it out." ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 07:09, 18 February 2010 (UTC)

Can't 'normal' people do this when doing something that enthals them? --Polysylabic Pseudonym (talk) 07:02, 18 February 2010 (UTC)

Hear I Only Have Eyes for You by The Flamingos on YouTube (3:37). -- Wavelength (talk) 02:07, 19 February 2010 (UTC)

People on the autism spectrum and neurotypical people can miss important details. -- Wavelength (talk) 17:58, 19 February 2010 (UTC)

Hyperfocus? 66.127.55.192 (talk) 08:29, 18 February 2010 (UTC)

i do not find these words in my dictionnary, gulp > help

i just watched again One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest and was wondering about the meaning of the title : answer : Title interpretation : ok ok ok but (my mother tongue is french) i do not understand some words of the rhyme (probably kiddy pronunciation?!) and its whole meaning anyway, sigh---
Vintery, mintery, cutery, corn = ??? -- thanks in advance for any help -- kernitou talk 17:18, 17 February 2010 (UTC)

I think they are oldish words for various common farm-related things: 'vintery' is likely related to grapes of wine processing (like the word 'vintner'), 'cutery' is a place or a thing involved with cutting (possibly another name for a mill), 'corn' (obviously) is grain. 'mintery' - at a complete guess - is someplace where farm tools are fabricated. The sense of the rhyme, though, has to do with the cuckoo, which is a metaphor for an unsavory transformation (cuckoos lay there eggs in other bird's nests, so from the perspective of other birds, their offspring turn into monstrosities) - basically it implies that just by randomly flying around the countryside one can find oneself 'changed'. --Ludwigs2 18:04, 17 February 2010 (UTC)

Just nonsense rhyming slang - unless Lugwigs2 can find a source for his guess. Rmhermen (talk) 18:23, 17 February 2010 (UTC)

not nonsense - more like 'hey nonny nonny'-sense --Ludwigs2 19:23, 17 February 2010 (UTC)

thanksy thanksy - kernitou talk 20:21, 17 February 2010 (UTC)

Sounds more like a Yan Tan Tethera to me. --jpgordon^{::==( o )} 06:30, 18 February 2010 (UTC)

If you google those 4 words together you find all kinds of references, some to just the poem and/or the film, others to past questions on other sites about what the first line actually means, and no one seems to know except that it seems to be simply a nonsense rhyme. Maybe a bit like "hickory, dickory, dock; the mouse ran up the clock". That word "dickory" seems to be made up. I also saw versions that start with "Intery" instead of "Vintery". ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 06:49, 18 February 2010 (UTC)

If I saw the word cutery (without context), I would assume that it was cutlery misspelled. Googlemeister (talk) 19:20, 19 February 2010 (UTC)

Chinese translation...

What does this mean? (Google's translation was gibberish) --Belchman (talk) 18:51, 17 February 2010 (UTC)

你有冇仆街d呀 比隻生既雀仔條蛇食!!!

I can't help with the translation, but I can tell you why Google's translation was gibberish - the Chinese you have written here is Cantonese, and Google only does the standard language of China. --KageTora - (影虎) (A word...?) 21:25, 17 February 2010 (UTC)

Agreed. The sentence uses non-standard characters / idiomatic character usage to reflect Cantonese pronunciation / usage rather than standard mandarin.

My stab at a translation "Are you an idiot? Feeding a live bird to a snake!!!" But I'm not a native speaker of Cantonese. --PalaceGuard008 (Talk) 23:29, 17 February 2010 (UTC)

What is the Latin letter "d" doing there? +Angr 23:30, 17 February 2010 (UTC)

Those sometimes show up in informal Chinese and slang, sometimes as borrowed abbreviations (such as "ML" from 'make love'--even though no one in English says "ML", I've heard it in Chinese) and sometimes because the letter sounds like a Chinese word (such as "B" for 屄, which is pronounced bi in Pinyin and means something quite bad). rʨanaɢ ^talk/_contribs 23:38, 17 February 2010 (UTC)

I second PalaceGuard008's translation as a native Cantonese speaker, although the original tone is more vulgar (but not quite full on insulting) than what his translation may appear. --antilived^{T | C | G} 00:15, 18 February 2010 (UTC)

PalaceGuard008 got it right. THANK YOU! --Belchman (talk) 13:49, 18 February 2010 (UTC)

I would dearly love to know the context of this! --jpgordon^{::==( o )} 06:02, 18 February 2010 (UTC)

First thing I thought of was a reference to ADVENT--one of the puzzles requires you to get past a giant snake, and the way you solve it is by releasing a small bird into the same room. The bird then attacks and drives off the snake. *shrug* Anyway, it's what came to mind. Not sure why it would be referenced in Chinese (well, Cantonese) or why it would be insulting, so I'm probably wrong. 24.247.163.175 (talk) 00:20, 19 February 2010 (UTC)

仆街 is a vulgar slang. In this context, "dumb-ass" would be a closer translation. 仆街 is used in a variety of vulgar ways other than just "idiot". In here actually, 仆街 is used as an adjective, not a noun. --Kvasir (talk) 22:13, 22 February 2010 (UTC)

February 18

Sai Ong lost a horse ... (done)

Based on the 2200 year old parable of The Daoist Farmer who lost his Horse (horse +one comes back, son rides horse, breaks leg, soldiers get drafted, son gets spared..), the Chinese are supposted to have a proverb saying "Sai Ong lost a horse..." meaning "Okay, bad luck right now, but who knows...?".

(a) Is that true?

(b) What is the correct Latin and Chinese Transcription of this proverb?

Sai Ong Si Ma ?

西翁姒马 ?

Thanks for input! 213.169.161.126 (talk) 09:37, 18 February 2010 (UTC)

After typing here the mandarin transliteration of the four characters you wrote above, it suddenly occurred to me that you were in fact asking what the proverb is in Chinese and whether your version is correct or not. If that is the case, unless no-one knows the specific answer (I don't, sorry), you may have to fall back on Google. I've just tried but for some reason a lot of the online dictionaries and proverb lists I usually use seem to be all simultaneously either down or having serious trouble fully loading. It may just be me and not the entire internets, so you could try. --KageTora - (影虎) (A word...?) 11:01, 18 February 2010 (UTC)

The characters above are already a condensate of what can be found on the web. However, I'd like to receive a feedback of a native speaker, whether (a) "the proverb thing" is right and (b) if yes, how it's exactly written. Background: I am writing a WP-article about the subject (still waiting for a book to arrive which contains the "official" translation of the parable [which you can find 100.000-fold on the web - but with all kinds of additions and twists]). 213.169.161.126 (talk) 11:07, 18 February 2010 (UTC)

I can't find it myself - I'm no native speaker, soy knowledge of Chinese sayings are small. If you can read the characters alright, this is a list of saying about horses: [2]. I hope there's something usable there. Steewi (talk) 05:50, 19 February 2010 (UTC)

Stop the press! I found it. It's 塞翁失马，焉知非福 Sai Weng shi ma, yan zhi fei fu. It's at wiktionary here: [3] Steewi (talk) 05:54, 19 February 2010 (UTC)

This is great! Thank you very much! I have been searching in an Engl.-Chin. dictionary but the Wiktionary is great! 213.169.161.126 (talk) 08:00, 19 February 2010 (UTC)

You're welcome. And I learned a new phrase as well. Steewi (talk) 03:23, 20 February 2010 (UTC)

Isn't this an oxymoron?

Hi

I was reading the article on Copy Protection and came across two words in the beginning of a short paragraph that reads:

"Companies that choose to publish works under copy protection do so because they believe that the added expense of implementing the copy protection will be offset by even greater increases in revenue by creating a greater scarcity of casually copied media."

Am I wrong? ...If not is it going to be fixed?

Thanks, NirocFX 41.193.16.234 (talk) 11:24, 18 February 2010 (UTC)

I see nothing wrong with that (things can be less scarce or more scarce), but by all means suggest an alternative wording.--Shantavira|^{feed me} 11:56, 18 February 2010 (UTC)

Virgin

Due to an edit to the Lexi Belle article, I have a question. Which is more grammatically correct?

1. Both virgins, they attempted to use Saran Wrap as a contraceptive since they did not have a condom.
2. Both virgin they attempted to use Saran Wrap as a contraceptive since they did not have a condom.

Thanks, Dismas|^(talk) 13:23, 18 February 2010 (UTC)

(1). (2) doesn't make any sense at all. +Angr 13:32, 18 February 2010 (UTC)

(1), but deleting the comma and the word "they" would make it even more grammatically correct. Kingsfold (talk) 14:22, 18 February 2010 (UTC)

No it wouldn't, it would merely change the meaning of the sentence. +Angr 14:37, 18 February 2010 (UTC)

I also prefer (1), but it's an interesting distinction. I don't think the second sentence is quite senseless, it's just that virgin is being used as group label, which is a little uncommon and clunky. Either that, or it's a mass noun :). Matt Deres (talk) 17:42, 18 February 2010 (UTC)

Yes, that is OK, but a comma after 'virgin' is mandatory. -- Jack of Oz ... speak! ... 20:49, 18 February 2010 (UTC)

Agreed. Matt Deres (talk) 22:54, 18 February 2010 (UTC)

I think the edit in question, which removed the "s," was just a test edit and not an attempt to improve the grammar at all. +Angr 22:59, 18 February 2010 (UTC)

Off-topic: this is an example of how all of these porn star articles are written in a very inappropriate way. They relate the starlets' self-promotional claims about their sexual history as God's truth. It's obvious that the actress and their manager are not "reliable sources" about this and nothing they say on the subject can be taken at face value, because it's all part of the product and its advertisement that is intended to titillate and excite the audience, just like their orgasms on camera are "unverifiable". What texts like this should say is "she says she had never done sexual act X before the flick", "she says her first time involved her paedophilic uncle and a vacuum-cleaner and her second time was with 20 Yakuza men who gang-raped her" (this is actually a real example, although I don't remember the name of the actress). But all of this stuff is presented uncritically as fact - apparently because that's what fans and their penes want to believe, and such articles are inevitably written by enthusiastic porn fans. --91.148.159.4 (talk) 18:19, 18 February 2010 (UTC)

I've heard that the Saran Wrap method is discussed in Heloise's Helpful Hints. In any case, that sentence could be worded better. For one, it could begin, "In her bio, she states that because they were both inexperienced..." ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 14:22, 19 February 2010 (UTC)

The colour bronze - translation to Latin

I've fretted over this issue for quite a while now, what is the name of the colour bronze in Latin? I know bronze is aes but I want to avoid confusion with coins. Therefore, I'm here with this query. 130.238.56.209 (talk) 13:23, 18 February 2010 (UTC)

An adjective meaning "bronze-colo(u)red" was aeneus or aheneus, which is found, among other places, in the name Ahenobarbus. Deor (talk) 13:40, 18 February 2010 (UTC)

Thanks alot for the explanation.  Done 130.238.56.209 (talk) 13:43, 18 February 2010 (UTC)

Spelling of a word the news media people use about terrorists returning to fight.

We hear often on the news on TV the expression " There is a very high "RESCVITATION Rate" of the prisoners freed from the prison on Cuba.

We cannot find the correct spelling nor the defination of the word in capitals above. We think the word sounds like RESEVETATION.

Can you help with this word spelling and defination. Thank you Patti Amherst NH.

wikt:recidivism. -- Coneslayer (talk) 13:40, 18 February 2010 (UTC)

So would they really say "recidivation" (or even "recidivication") in the US? In the UK, our criminals "reoffend" I believe[4][5]. Alansplodge (talk) 17:20, 18 February 2010 (UTC)

Not in my experience. "Recidivism" would be used in the contexts listed in the question. I think the "-tion" suffix in the question is just due to Ms. Amherst not being familiar with the word. -- Coneslayer (talk) 17:51, 18 February 2010 (UTC)

watch someone give or giving

Which one is the correct way? Watch someone give birth or watch someone giving birth? --Belchman (talk) 14:09, 18 February 2010 (UTC)

Give. +Angr 14:38, 18 February 2010 (UTC)

That's what I've always said, but according to Google's suggestions "giving" is quite popular too... --Belchman (talk) 15:41, 18 February 2010 (UTC)

A subtle distinction, I think, between the two: are you primarily watching the person, or the act? "Giving" for the first, "give" for the second. Bazza (talk) 16:46, 18 February 2010 (UTC)

They are both correct, I think, just different tenses: present vs. present continuous. --Ludwigs2 16:52, 18 February 2010 (UTC)

For what it's worth, in response to Bazza (though please bear in mind that I´m no native speaker), I was tought that the (bare) infinitive form marks that the act (of giving birth) is observed almost completely, while the -ing form refers to a partial observation. Pallida  Mors 17:29, 18 February 2010 (UTC)

That is, indeed, the case in isolation; but the original question was about "someone give/giving birth" and it was to this more complex consideration that I directed my response. Bazza (talk) 15:20, 19 February 2010 (UTC)

Now I see your point. Pallida  Mors 17:42, 19 February 2010 (UTC)

Is "Alight here" plain English?

I was on the London Underground yesterday and was struck that the automated announcements use the word "alight" (as in "Alight here for the British Museum"). I can never remember anyone using the word "alight" in conversation and I suspect would be unknown to anyone who has English as a second language. Is there a better word they could use? "Get off" seems a bit blunt. Alansplodge (talk) 17:31, 18 February 2010 (UTC)

I think trams in the USA would simply say, "[such-and-such] Museum" just as the train is stopping. "Get off" is redundant. Obviously you have to get off the train if you're going to see the Museum. "Alight here" is funny usage, but you never know about them Brits. It gives me a mental picture of the passengers sprouting wings and gently landing on the platform like a pigeon or something. ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 17:39, 18 February 2010 (UTC)

It gives me a mental picture of the passengers on fire. +Angr 17:42, 18 February 2010 (UTC)

There's probably been a movie about that kind of situation. ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 17:49, 18 February 2010 (UTC)

The stop isn't actually at the museum, it's just the nearest stop to the museum. The automated announcements often list the tourist attractions that are best reached from the next stop. --Tango (talk) 17:53, 18 February 2010 (UTC)

That makes a difference. Even in that context, I could imagine the "L" announcer saying, "Pleaz eggsit heah faw da Tribune Towuh, da Wrigley Buildin', and Billy Goat's Tavuhn." ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 18:02, 18 February 2010 (UTC)

(ec x 2)I was considering this last year while on the Underground. It seems that the only context in British English in which this word is used with this meaning is on the Tube! What about "depart" or "leave the train here for..."?--TammyMoet (talk) 17:43, 18 February 2010 (UTC)

How about "disembark" or just plain "exit"? The Hero of This Nation (talk) 17:43, 18 February 2010 (UTC)

"Exit" would be good. I still say it's redundant. However, someone new to the city or someone not speaking English natively might imagine that they are now physically in the museum, so telling them to exit the train is probably safer. Although I would word it as, "Please exit the train", just to be clearer. ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 17:49, 18 February 2010 (UTC)

Sorry Bugs, I should have made the question clearer. The whole announcement goes: "This is Russel Square - alight here for the British Museum". So you would need to replace "alight" with another verb. Alansplodge (talk) 18:14, 18 February 2010 (UTC)

"Please exit here for the British Museum, the Royal Pub, and many entertaining street performers." The front part of that would seem to be a better way to say it. I wonder if the folks who manage the Tube are reading this right now? If not, they are not likely to change it. :) ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 18:19, 18 February 2010 (UTC)

I was thinking of sending your opinions in an email to Boris[6]. You never know what might happen. Alansplodge (talk) 18:41, 18 February 2010 (UTC)

The word alight is found in at least 24 general dictionaries. -- Wavelength (talk) 18:22, 18 February 2010 (UTC)

Yes, "alight" is certainly the Standard English word for "get off/out of a vehicle", I don't think anyone is questioning that. The question is whether it is unnecessary to use the precise word when a more general, and better known, word would convey the same information. --Tango (talk) 18:30, 18 February 2010 (UTC)

No question it's a normal word. It just seems funny in this context, but maybe it's more commonly used in British English than American English. ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 18:40, 18 February 2010 (UTC)

"Alight" is just as commonly seen on Australian PT. That, or "disembark". But in plain speak, nobody ever uses those verbs. We get on or off. -- Jack of Oz ... speak! ... 20:23, 18 February 2010 (UTC)

Don't they also say "Mind the gap", which also seems likely to be confusing to nonnative speakers? ("Watch your step" would be the corresponding warning in AmE, I guess—just as confusing to anyone unfamiliar with the idiom.) The only thing I regularly mind is my manners. Deor (talk) 18:47, 18 February 2010 (UTC)

"Mind the gap" wouldn't be confusing to Norwegian speakers - the Oslo Metro have introduced the word "gæpp", which is how "gap" would be spelled in Norwegian, in a campaign, and in in written warnings next to the doors. [7] [8] Thankfully, they haven't started using it in spoken announcements, though. --NorwegianBlue ^talk 20:09, 19 February 2010 (UTC)

"Mind the gap" is much more precise than "watch your step" and, in this case, that precision is useful. "The gap" refers to the gap between the platform and the train, which can sometimes be quite large (especially at stations with curved platforms). They only give the warning at stations where there is a significant gap. I don't think "mind the gap" is really an idiom, it says precisely what it means. --Tango (talk) 18:52, 18 February 2010 (UTC)

"Mind the gap" sounds very British, and wouldn't be used in the USA, as it would probably evoke bewilderment. "Watch your step" is what they would likely say here. ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 18:57, 18 February 2010 (UTC)

Actually, the latest version goes: "Please mind the gap between the train and the platform" and as Tango says, is used where there is a curved platform and a big gap between the end doors of each car and terra firma. Alansplodge (talk) 19:02, 18 February 2010 (UTC)

That fuller explanation would make sense even to us Americans, although if the gap had been sufficiently wide to present a potential hazard, the gap would probably be filled in, to reduce the likelihood of lawsuits. ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 19:08, 18 February 2010 (UTC)

You need to imagine a curved, tubular tunnel with a platform on one side and the rails on the other. The train runs a few inches from the far wall[9][10]. There is no way of filling in the gap without re-boring the tunnel and straightening it. As trains don't do corners very well (especially in tunnels), it would mean changing the course of the tunnel for hundreds of metres. It would cost billions and mean years of travel disruption (up to 4 million passengers a day use the Tube[11]). Therefore, we have an announcement. Alansplodge (talk) 19:27, 18 February 2010 (UTC)

I live in Boston, one of the older cities in the United States, with curved tracks and inevitable gaps between the train and platform, just like London. I swear I heard the train conductor say the other day in his Boston accent, "Please mind the gap between the train and the platform". This is not a standard, recorded announcement, and it isn't made every time, but it is understandable enough for Americans. Marco polo (talk) 19:46, 18 February 2010 (UTC)

Yes, it may "sound funny" and there may be other phrases to use but we English all understand it and it works fine for us. As usual some people find things outside their experience "funny" but that qualifies the person more than the topic. 'Alight', 'Alight here', 'Do not alight when the vehicle is moving' and other variations have a long and well understood usage in the UK and refers to the leaving of transport vehicles. It is one of the innumerable differences in the English English and American English vocabularies. "Mind the gap" is a pretty outdated and little-used warning in my experience, I can't remember the last time I heard it on the London Underground. It might be needed in some older stations but a very few, and then only maybe. Caesar's Daddy (talk) 20:35, 18 February 2010 (UTC)

There's a recorded announcement at Bank Station on the Central Line, every time th doors open. Alansplodge (talk) 09:40, 19 February 2010 (UTC)

"Alight" is a very formal word, but I suspect it is used because there isn't an equivalent of middling formality. In normal speech, we would say 'get off' or 'get out', but those feel too colloquial for an announcement. (We don't "exit" a train in the UK).

And I saw "Mind the gap" painted on the platform last week (not a spoken announcement, I admit). It wasn't in London: I was going from Yorkshire to Edinburgh. It was probably at my local station. --ColinFine (talk) 21:31, 18 February 2010 (UTC)

It is a memorable enough phrase that you can buy a "Mind the gap" T-shirt. Astronaut (talk) 02:58, 19 February 2010 (UTC)

And other garments [12]:-) Alansplodge (talk) 11:10, 19 February 2010 (UTC)

And it's not just curved platforms. The suburban station I use has straight platforms but occasionally the bottom of the train's door is about 0.5 m higher then the platform. In those cases, we sometimes get a "mind the gap" announcement. Astronaut (talk) 03:03, 19 February 2010 (UTC)

Thanks one and all for your input; an email will be on its way to City Hall soon. Alansplodge (talk) 11:17, 19 February 2010 (UTC)

Jan Nowak-Jeziorański, a member of Polish Resistance who was shuttling between Warsaw and London during World War II, almost got killed when he was being smuggled inside a bomb bay of a British bomber and misunderstood a sign reading "Do not alight while the engine is running"; he thought it meant "do not smoke while the engine is running". — Kpalion^(talk) 13:26, 19 February 2010 (UTC)

Wow! We learn something new every day. What we see above is the world's very first "Polish joke". :b ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 14:16, 19 February 2010 (UTC)

Kage Tora asked me about details of this story on my talk page, but I thought others might benefit from the answer too, even if it's off-topic here. Nowak-Jeziorański was carrying intelligence information from German-occupied Poland to the Polish government-in-exile and the British government. As you can imagine, it was not an easy task. He left Poland concealed in the coal storage of a Swedish cargo ship going from Gdynia to Malmö. From Sweden, he needed to make his way to Britain. At that time, Stockholm was one of the main battlegrounds for intelligence agents of all belligerent countries in Europe. They had to hide their true identities not only from each other, but also from Swedish authorities. Their presence violated Swedish neutrality, so if caught, they could spend the rest of the war in a Swedish internment camp. Britain moved their spies in and out of Sweden by a Mosquito bomber whose bomb bay had been converted into a makeshift passenger cabin (hence the "do not alight" sign inside). It could carry only one passenger at a time, so Nowak had to wait several weeks for his turn until he was transported across German-occupied Norway to Scotland. I recommend reading the whole of his fascinating book: Nowak, Jan (1982). Courier from Warsaw. Wayne State University Press. ISBN 0814317251. — Kpalion^(talk) 15:36, 21 February 2010 (UTC)

Which is it?

President's Day or Presidents' Day? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 74.218.50.226 (talk) 20:19, 18 February 2010 (UTC)

Because the holiday is officially called "[George] Washington's Birthday" there is no official preference of one or the other. "Presidents Day" and "Presidents' Day" are more commonly used than "Washington's Birthday", and as a result both are considered to be correct by most dictionaries and style manuals. "President's Day" is not frowned upon but not endorsed either (and therefore is considered the "least correct"), as the apostrophe's placement refers to one person rather than a group of people. See Washington's Birthday for more information. Xenon54 / talk / 20:28, 18 February 2010 (UTC)

...or see the ultimate source, the relevant statute, 5 USC 6103—PaulTanenbaum (talk) 05:26, 23 February 2010 (UTC)

Portuguese vowel letters with tilde

Is the Portuguese letter “õ” always part of the ending “-ões”? --88.76.18.70 (talk) 20:45, 18 February 2010 (UTC)

I did a Google search for your question, and the second result was Columbus was 100% Portuguese-- based exclusively on original documents, which shows that letter in other positions, although in Portuguese which is centuries old. -- Wavelength (talk) 21:34, 18 February 2010 (UTC)

Are there any words in modern Portuguese, where the letter “õ” is not part of the ending “-ões”? --88.76.18.70 (talk) 21:42, 18 February 2010 (UTC)

I can't find a clear statement of the answer, in õ, pt:õ or Portuguese orthography. But the last of these, in section Nasal vowels and diphthongs seems to say that "õ" is used only in the digraph "õe". However, that digraph is not used solely in the ending "-ões": there is for example the word põe. --ColinFine (talk) 21:45, 18 February 2010 (UTC)

BTW, Wavelength's link is pure crackpottery and cannot be taken as reliable evidence about the use of ‹õ› in Portuguese of any age. +Angr 21:53, 18 February 2010 (UTC)

I forgot about pt:wikt:põe and its compunds pt:wikt:compõe, pt:wikt:depõe, pt:wikt:dispõe, pt:wikt:expõe, pt:wikt:impõe, pt:wikt:opõe, pt:wikt:propõe, pt:wikt:supõe, and pt:wikt:transpõe. [13] -- Wavelength (talk) 22:32, 18 February 2010 (UTC)

[None of the links from "compõe" to "transpõe" led to existent pages when I tried them. -- Wavelength (talk) 22:37, 18 February 2010 (UTC)]

Also, the third-person plural present indicative active ends in "õem". -- Wavelength (talk) 23:09, 18 February 2010 (UTC)

Using us vs. we

What do you think is more correct: "...that we Americans now..." or "...that us Americans now..."?
— V = IR (Talk • Contribs) 20:50, 18 February 2010 (UTC)

Probably "we", but it's hard to tell without a longer extract. Should "now" be "know"? If so it's almost certainly "we", as it's (part of) the subject of the verb). "Us" in this sort of context is fairly common in informal speech, though. AndrewWTaylor (talk) 21:02, 18 February 2010 (UTC)

Note that this isn't directly Wikipedia related (before someone jumps down my throat about not maintaining a global view *rolls eyes*): There is little doubt that we Americans now live in a luxurious environment, as compared to most of the rest of the world. I changed it from "us" to "we", and I think that I'm happy with that, but I wanted to see what others said about it.
— V = IR (Talk • Contribs) 21:25, 18 February 2010 (UTC)

Yes, "we" is undoubtedly the right word in that sentence, being part of the subject of "live". AndrewWTaylor (talk) 21:30, 18 February 2010 (UTC)

OK, thank you. I appreciate it.
— V = IR (Talk • Contribs) 21:33, 18 February 2010 (UTC)

The short answer is that you should use the same word that you would use if "Americans" was omitted. In this case that's "we". --Anonymous, 22:50 UTC, February 18, 2010.

On the other hand, the objective case is used in What do foreigners think of us? and therefore in What do foreigners think of us Americans?

(I definitely do not wish to promote national stereotyping.) -- Wavelength (talk) 00:46, 19 February 2010 (UTC)

February 19

"The statute of limitations has expired"

Why do people say "the statute of limitations has expired"? The statute itself certainly has not expired. Quite the opposite, what people really mean is that the statute has kicked in! --173.49.9.55 (talk) 02:04, 19 February 2010 (UTC)

Possibly for the same reason that we park on the driveway, and drive on the parkway. :) ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 02:18, 19 February 2010 (UTC)

And often there's no such thing as a "statute of limitations" applying to the particular offence in the particular jurisdiction. Just as there's no "law of averages" that can be adduced to explain every conceivable event in the history of the known universe. -- 202.142.129.66 (talk) 03:15, 19 February 2010 (UTC)

That detail was also mentioned in one of the ref desks a day or two ago where someone was asking about the statute of limitations in regard to Roman "Pulaski". Don't know if it was the same IP or not. It's kind of amusing to have two questions about such a specific thing in the same week. ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 03:47, 19 February 2010 (UTC)

well, the Pulaski thing was hursday - he's not likely to use an IP

the reason people say the statute of limitations has expired (or passed) is that it's a corruption of the longer phrase "The time in which the crime could be prosecuted under the statute of limitations has expired." It's basically the same effect as my own personal pet peeve "breaking the law", which is nonsensical shorthand for the older phrase "breaking the peace established by law". mostly I think that people have a hard time with legal concepts and tend to muck them up. --Ludwigs2 04:26, 19 February 2010 (UTC)

I would say "breaking the law" is equivalent to "breaking the rules", basically a colloquialism for "violating" the laws/rules. ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 05:32, 19 February 2010 (UTC)

Either way, it's just an odd and annoying turn of phrase. Wittgenstein would have had a field day with it. --Ludwigs2 05:46, 19 February 2010 (UTC)

It's a firmly established idiom, and no appeal to Wittgenstein will ever change this. You have one choice (= no choice): get over it. -- Jack of Oz ... speak! ... 07:05, 19 February 2010 (UTC)

"Have a field day" is an odd and annoying turn of phrase too. What does that even mean? Philosophers don't do field work! Adam Bishop (talk) 15:46, 19 February 2010 (UTC)

Field day (an article on everything, we have here) 75.41.110.200 (talk) 15:56, 19 February 2010 (UTC)

In fact, we do have an article on everything. so there. --Ludwigs2 17:14, 19 February 2010 (UTC)

It stuns me that anyone, but particularly regular contributors to the Language reference desk, is "annoyed" by extremely commonly used idiomatic expressions that don't happen to be literally true. How did you ever get through your lives up till this point without regularly contemplating suicide? Are you all in such a permanent state of psychological turmoil over the richness of our language that you would, if you had the power, outlaw any expression that a robot could not deal with? -- Jack of Oz ... speak! ... 18:45, 19 February 2010 (UTC)

1. what makes you think I have gotten through my life to this point without regularly contemplating suicide?
2. I don't mind idiom, but I do mind idiom that's wrong. 'breaking the peace established by law' suggests the necessity for enforcing neighborliness in a liberal democratic society; 'breaking the law' is an authoritative claim about the necessity of obedience to rules qua rules. --Ludwigs2 19:01, 19 February 2010 (UTC)

Surely you're joking, Ludwigs2. Please tell me you're joking. Do you seriously expect ordinary men and women to talk about "breaking the peace established by law"? Fat chance, my friend; not even trained lawyers talk in such terms. But more to the point, there's no such thing as an "idiom that's wrong". Idioms are what they are. Languages develop certain forms of idiomatic expression, and people know what others are talking about, even if a forensic examination of the individual words might lead one elsewhere. That would be as worthless and silly an exercise as subjecting the manuscript of War and Peace or Beethoven's 9th Symphony to scientific examination and concluding that they had no more value than the cost of the paper and ink. I know you know this, so your entreaties fall into the category of confected outrage. I have yet to divine what your real, underlying point is. -- Jack of Oz ... speak! ... 20:20, 19 February 2010 (UTC)

No, I expect people to say 'breaking the peace' or 'violating the law'. and where is this coming from, anyway? have you even read Wittgenstein? because, seriously, he'd have a field day discussing the odd language games you're playing now, too. if you're jonesing for a philosophical spitball fight, let's do it somewhere else. --Ludwigs2 21:11, 19 February 2010 (UTC)

Continued @ User_talk:Ludwigs2#Wittgenstein having a field day breaking the law and cows coming home from left field. -- Jack of Oz ... speak! ... 22:24, 19 February 2010 (UTC)

And yes, the Roman Polanski question was here,[14] posed by hursday early on Thursday. ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 05:41, 19 February 2010 (UTC)

It should be noted that this is a colloquialism. In a more formal context, a lawyer might say "the limitations period has expired," "the claim is barred by the statute of limitation," or "the action is time-barred." John M Baker (talk) 21:33, 19 February 2010 (UTC)

It certainly is a colloquialism. Statutes do not usually expire, at least not spontaneously. Psycholinguistically, it might be argued that there is a subtext "the limitation has been reached and the possibility of sanction has expired", and that both have become contaminated. Conversely, a statute of limitations might be viewed as a statute regulating how long (to what time limit) some misdemeanour might be prosecuted, and therefore the [extent of the] statute may expire. Bessel Dekker (talk) 20:08, 24 February 2010 (UTC)

My hovercraft is full of eels

How would you say "My hovercraft is full of eels" in Na'vi? 149.169.221.57 (talk) 19:48, 19 February 2010 (UTC)

I found Translations of My hovercraft is full of eels in many languages, but not in the specified language.

-- Wavelength (talk) 20:07, 19 February 2010 (UTC)

Navi was a made up language for a film, so the vocabulary is very, very limited. Besides, why would they have a word for a creature that does not live on their moon that they have never encountered? We do not have much of a chance of helping on this question. Googlemeister (talk) 21:02, 19 February 2010 (UTC)

plus, why would an (essentially) stone age tribe have a word for 'hovercraft'? --Ludwigs2 21:13, 19 February 2010 (UTC)

I read where someone developed words in Latin for things like airplanes, so it would probably be possible with "hovercraft" - it would just be a very long word, such as the combination of "boat," "sail," and "air." However, that is only possible becuase once they saw one, they would have a frame of reference. An eel, that would be a little more difficult, as without examining it they wouldn't really be able to tell how to distinguish it from any of the creatures on their moon.It would be doable, but not quite at first glance like a craft that was floating on air as a boat would on water.209.244.187.155 (talk) 21:54, 19 February 2010 (UTC)

It's actually pretty possible that they would borrow the word from English as a loanword, or from the first human language they hear in which these particular things are mentioned. --KageTora - (影虎) (A word...?) 01:46, 20 February 2010 (UTC)

So perhaps knowing how to say "my _ is full of __s" would be sufficient. — Ƶ§œš¹ _{[aɪm ˈfɹ̠ˤʷɛ̃ɾ̃ˡi]} 01:26, 21 February 2010 (UTC)

oeyä kunsìpur sawtute teya si (my gunship is full of humans) Willphase (talk) 04:32, 21 February 2010 (UTC)

Indeed, with 'kunsìp' being a loanword from English, 'gunship'. --KageTora - (影虎) (A word...?) 19:08, 21 February 2010 (UTC)

Which is the word for human? — Ƶ§œš¹ _{[aɪm ˈfɹ̠ˤʷɛ̃ɾ̃ˡi]} 21:02, 21 February 2010 (UTC)

Try our article, Na'vi language. ~AH1^(TCU) 18:51, 21 February 2010 (UTC)

February 20

What is this sound?

Is there a linguistic term for the sound articulated as follows?: You stick out your tongue slightly through pursed lips, then retract it rapidly, creating a little "thwok" sound. Does this sound exist in any known languages? 69.111.79.123 (talk) 05:27, 20 February 2010 (UTC)

I don't believe such a sound has been attested in any known language. Its manner of articulation is closest to that of a click, since the sound is generated by suction. rʨanaɢ ^talk/_contribs 05:35, 20 February 2010 (UTC)

69.111.79.123 -- I don't think that sound is very likely to be used as part of speech, since speech is uttered generally while you're breathing out (with relatively brief interruptions), and that sound doesn't seem to be very compatible with breathing out... AnonMoos (talk) 18:17, 20 February 2010 (UTC)

That's not necessarily a reason for such a sound to be unlikely. Plenty of languages have implosive consonants, and click consonants also don't necessarily have outward airflow either; those sounds are not "incompatible with breathing out". If there is any reason for a sound like this to be unlikely, it would be the difficulty of moving the articulators (tongue and lips) in such a weird way; but, then again, some languages have labiodental flaps that are just as articulatorily difficult. rʨanaɢ ^talk/_contribs 22:39, 20 February 2010 (UTC)

Those sounds involve a highly localized interruption or partial reversal of outward airflow, but "rapidly retracting the tongue back from between pursed lips" would seem to be more compatible with breathing in than breathing out. You're right that the sound is most comparable to clicks among speech sounds, though... AnonMoos (talk) 00:48, 21 February 2010 (UTC)

If you want to give it a name, a linguolabial click would be appropriate. I suspect it sounds something like a bilabial click or a dental click (i.e. the tsk-tsk sound). It isn't recorded in any known language, but that doesn't mean it wouldn't be possible. The human vocal tract can make many sounds that aren't used linguistically. Steewi (talk) 01:18, 21 February 2010 (UTC)

Why do you only suspect it sounds like these? Have you not tried it, or is it that you'd want to record and analyse the sound to be sure? To my ear, the sounds are somewhat similar, but clearly distinct (that is, it would be easy to make a distinction between them). In fact, if there were such a language, it could probably distinguish between a few variations on this (based on my extensive experimentation over the last 20 minutes). 86.146.195.12 (talk) 02:00, 21 February 2010 (UTC)

Picture

What is the donna?174.3.98.236 (talk) 10:49, 20 February 2010 (UTC)

Typo for doona. -- Jack of Oz ... speak! ... 10:52, 20 February 2010 (UTC)

onomatopoeia for fart

I need the spelling of the onomatopoeia for "fart". Thank you. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 82.43.89.27 (talk) 13:20, 20 February 2010 (UTC)

There have been many differently spelled words representing the sound of a fart, varying by culture and by the individual inventiveness of writers; no one is considered standard. If you require this for a piece of your own writing, you should by all means display your originality by coining your own. Note that the original PIE word from which the English one ultimately descends was itself an onomatopoeia. 87.81.230.195 (talk) 17:34, 20 February 2010 (UTC)

Thanks. It was actually for an image macro, but I just made up a spelling like you suggested. Thanks! —Preceding unsigned comment added by 82.43.89.27 (talk) 18:00, 20 February 2010 (UTC)

The German word Pfurz for fart seems an onomatopoeia. 195.35.160.133 (talk) 12:50, 24 February 2010 (UTC) Martin.

Meine Ehre heißt Treue

I've seen two German>English translations of the SS motto "Meine Ehre heißt Treue":

• "My honor is loyalty" (N.B. - "Honor" and "Loyalty" are upper case on the page)
• "My honor is called loyalty"

Which, or otherwise, is the better rendition? (for the caption of a museum exhibit displaying an artifact bearing this inscription) -- Deborahjay (talk) 17:59, 20 February 2010 (UTC)

The verb "heißen" is most commonly used to identify the name of someone or something ("Ich heiße Paul" = "My name is Paul"/"I am Paul"/"I am called Paul"). I believe the most common literal translation would be "is called", so "My honor is called loyalty" is probably the most accurate literal translation. But the sense of the phrase is more along the lines of "The name of my honor is Loyalty." One of the difficulties is that German capitalizes all nouns, proper and not, so it can be difficult to distinguish word-as-word from word-as-name. To me, "Meine Ehre heißt Treue" is a little more assertive than either "My honor is called loyalty" or "My honor is loyalty", though if I had to pick, I pick the latter (but I might capitalize Loyalty, though). -- 174.21.247.23 (talk) 19:00, 20 February 2010 (UTC)

Another way to translate heißen is "to mean". I think the best way to capture the sense of this motto is something like "For me, honor means loyalty". Marco polo (talk) 20:38, 20 February 2010 (UTC)

That doesn't work, since "mein" does not mean "for me", but "my". The IP editor above is correct; "My honor is called loyalty" and "My honor is loyalty" are both good translations. I also prefer the second choice, in analogy to the motto "Glauben heißt gehorchen" (to believe is to obey). (But I wouldn't capitalize "Loyalty"; it would never occurred to me to see the word as a name here.) The one thing that really baffles me is why there is the word "mein" to begin with. The Nazis aren't exactly knows for stressing individualism, and loyalty was something they demanded from everyone, not just from the SS, so why didn't they just simply say "Ehre heißt Treue"? And they loved 3-word mottos! Imagine if they had written "Meine Arbeit macht frei"! — Sebastian 20:14, 22 February 2010 (UTC)

IMO, the idea of "meine" is to stress that "Yes, there are some people in this world who define honour as something else than loyalty to Adolf Hitler. But not us!" Also, "meine" makes the statement more personal and individual, and you were supposed to love Hitler and Germany with all of your personal and individual soul. You can call this "individualism", but it's also a renunciation of individualism in the sense of thinking for yourself or having any values outside of your boss. --91.148.159.4 (talk) 00:11, 23 February 2010 (UTC)

Good points; I can agree with this interpretation. — Sebastian 03:21, 23 February 2010 (UTC)

Portuguese words

Are Abantesma, Abentesma, Avantasma, Aventesma real Portuguese word? Are they currently in use? What's their exact meaning? --151.51.29.238 (talk) 18:27, 20 February 2010 (UTC)

The first of these is in Portuguese Wiktionary, and is defined as "alma penada; fantasma". I take "alma" to mean soul and "fantasma" to mean "phantasm", i.e "spectre" (but I don't know what "penada" is - neither "penada" nor "penar" is in the Wiktionary). The other three are not in Wiktionary. --ColinFine (talk) 19:42, 20 February 2010 (UTC)

Penar means "to suffer, grieve". I don't speak Portuguese, but it sounds as though abantesma means "ghost". Marco polo (talk) 20:46, 20 February 2010 (UTC)

Probably means "suffering soul" or "punished soul"--Dpr (talk) 21:48, 20 February 2010 (UTC)

These links suggest the word also has a figurative use, as in someone exaggeratedly big or frightening, someone whose unexpected appearance causes discomfort. Apparently the word is a variant (-s?) of fantasma a phantom. -- the Great Gavini 22:10, 21 February 2010 (UTC)

February 21

Welsh

What is the Welsh for "Fuck off". Im not going to use it, I just want to know! —Preceding unsigned comment added by 79.76.132.10 (talk • contribs) 00:46, 21 February 2010

Cachau bant. Alos, in future, please sign your questions by adding four of these: ~ after it, because now it looks like I asked this question. --KageTora - (影虎) (A word...?) 15:25, 21 February 2010 (UTC)

If we're being persnickety about formatting, I'll note that if you had used proper indentation (see Wikipedia:Indentation) it would be clearer that you replied to an unsigned post. -- 174.21.254.47 (talk) 19:03, 21 February 2010 (UTC)

If you are replying to a post like this which hasn't been signed by either its author or SineBot, you can (and probably should) fix it yourself using the {{unsignedIP}} template.—Emil J. 14:33, 22 February 2010 (UTC)

Excellent, we learn something new everyday. --KageTora - (影虎) (A word...?) 04:03, 23 February 2010 (UTC)

Why is it "cachau bant" and not "cachu bant"? Marnanel (talk) 14:54, 22 February 2010 (UTC)

Have a look at this[15]. Alansplodge (talk) 16:13, 22 February 2010 (UTC)

I got a Symantec virus notification or something from clicking on that link, just so everyone knows. 74.105.132.151 (talk) 03:54, 24 February 2010 (UTC)

Buryat and Mongolian (Khalka)

How similar are Buryat language and Khalkha Mongolian (usu. just called "Mongolian")? About the same mutually intelligibility as Spanish and Portuguese (the classic example)--or something like the various dialects/topolects of Mandarin (e.g. Beijing vs. Sichuan vs. Anhui vs. Jilin, etc.)? Any input is appreciated. --Dpr (talk) 00:51, 21 February 2010 (UTC)

Why is mutually intelligibility between Spanish and Portuguese "the classic example", when it's rather notorious that Portuguese-speakers often find it easier to understand Spanish than Spanish-speakers do Portuguese? AnonMoos (talk) 00:54, 21 February 2010 (UTC)

And anyway, there is no real meaningful way to answer the question "How similar are languages X and Y?". There's no objective scale that can be used to measure language similarity; there's no spectrum running from "Bronx English and Brooklyn English" at one end to "Coast Tsimshian and American Sign Language" at the other, allowing someone to say something like "Buryat and Mongolian are more similar than Dutch and German but not as similar as Portuguese and Spanish" or the like. +Angr 16:21, 21 February 2010 (UTC)

To be fair to the OP, I don't think (s)he was expecting a mathematically precise answer, just a rough idea. Just because there's no numerical scale doesn't mean that an approximate answer is impossible. We all know that Dutch and German are "more similar" than Dutch and Russian. I'm guessing the OP wanted a coarse approximation based on the intuition of an expert on these languages, not a number. Lfh (talk) 18:19, 21 February 2010 (UTC)

But we don't know whether Dutch and German are more similar or less similar than Spanish and Portuguese, or Czech and Slovak, or Danish and Norwegian, or for that matter, Buryat and Mongolian. Still, Mongolian Buryat language suggests that that dialect has been more influenced by Khalkh than Russia Buryat and China Buryat have. +Angr 18:42, 21 February 2010 (UTC)

Here is my plan (1) for measuring the complexity of an individual language and (2) for comparing the similarity of two different languages.

First, we compose a profile for each language, as follows.

Language A:

__ alphabetical letters: _______________

__ phonemes: __________________

__ grammatical cases: ________________

__ verb tenses: ________________

and so forth

Language B:

__ alphabetical letters: _______________

__ phonemes: __________________

__ grammatical cases: ________________

__ verb tenses: ________________

and so forth

To answer the question of how complex a language is, we refer to the profile of that language and we report the numbers represented by the short blanks. To answer the question of how similar two different languages are (to each other), we refer to the profile of each language and we report the number of elements in the intersection set of the element sets represented by the long blanks for each aspect listed.

Also, we can report the estimated lemma vocabulary of each language and the estimated number of lemmas in each language which are cognate with the semantically equivalent lemmas in the other language, as an absolute figure and as a percentage.

Also, we can compare them in aspects such as Subject Verb Object.

I propose that Wikipedia have tables of such information for all languages possible, for convenient reference for answering such questions.

The tables can be arranged by alphabetical order of the English name of each language, and also by language families and subfamilies.

-- Wavelength (talk) 23:31, 21 February 2010 (UTC)

Probably far more practically useful and scientifically valid would be to conduct psycholinguistic listening experiments to empirically determine how much speakers of language X can understand of language Y in the real world. AnonMoos (talk) 00:14, 22 February 2010 (UTC)

Thanks for the background, everyone. In retrospect, probably the only way to answer this easily is to get input from a couple of people who speak either language and report whether or not it's feasible to understand the other's spoken and/or written language and if so, how difficult it is. It doesn't seem too unreasonable (taking another example) for someone to say, "As an Italian I can understand a substantial amount in simple texts in Spanish and can hold a roughly mutually intelligible conversation with a Spanish speaker usuing rudimentary sentence structure and vocabulary." Unfortunately not too many Mongolian or Buryat speakers are on this reference desk.--Dpr (talk) 00:37, 22 February 2010 (UTC)

You can refer to Category:User mn to find a Wikipedian who speaks Mongolian. -- Wavelength (talk) 00:53, 22 February 2010 (UTC)

However, the real meaning of such categories is "If you have questions to ask me, you can ask them in Mongolian"; it does not necessarily indicate any interest or willingness to answer questions about the Mongolian language (which is a quite separate matter). AnonMoos (talk) 01:23, 22 February 2010 (UTC)

Even if the original purpose of Babelboxes was to facilitate communication in various languages, there is nothing wrong with using them for communication about various languages, and interest and willingness to communicate in a language are as uncertain as interest and willingness to communicate about a language, as well as interest and willingness to communicate about any of the other things represented by userboxes. -- Wavelength (talk) 23:52, 23 February 2010 (UTC)

You're missing AnonMoos's point. There are 43 users in that category. In general, you (meaning, anyone who wants to know about the language) have no easy way of knowing who among them to write to, and if you write to all of them then it's spam, which is clearly frowned upon. On talk pages of users who speak rarer languages, I have seen messages like "Please translate the following for me ...", (e.g. with texts proselytizing the poster's religion, which is different from the recipient's), and I find that annoying. In the case of the OP's question, though, I think it's OK to ask, because it expresses a sincere interest, and Dpr is probably smart enough to figure out who to turn to among the 43. — Sebastian 01:31, 24 February 2010 (UTC)

See GEONAMES - Mongolic | Tungusic glossary. -- Wavelength (talk) 16:56, 22 February 2010 (UTC)

That's really cool. that actually helps. thanks, Wavelength--71.111.229.19 (talk) 20:47, 22 February 2010 (UTC) (Dpr)

You are welcome. I searched that website for "Mexico City", but found that page instead.—Wavelength (talk) 23:28, 22 February 2010 (UTC)

Referring to the original question, what is meant by "similar"? Mutually intelligible or genetically cognate? Those are two quite different categories. Listing phonemes, incidentally, is hardly a measure of similarity, as it does not take language change into account. [ɑ] in one language may or may not be related to [ɔ] in another, and either sound may or may not be intelligible by listeners in the other language. Bessel Dekker (talk) 20:22, 24 February 2010 (UTC)

Mann von Geist und sogar poetischen Geist

In doing research for Joseph Christoph Kessler, I found the following said about Kessler by Robert Schumann:

• Mann von Geist und sogar poetischen Geist.

I found this quote in a few sources ([16], [17], one other), but none of them translate it. What does it mean? My rough concept of it is that he's being called a man with the soul of a poet. -- Jack of Oz ... speak! ... 06:25, 21 February 2010 (UTC)

It means: a man of spirit, and a poetical spirit at that. TomorrowTime (talk) 11:44, 21 February 2010 (UTC)

Ah! Thank you, TomorrowTime. -- Jack of Oz ... speak! ... 20:15, 21 February 2010 (UTC)

Your first link gets the German wrong, the second link gets it right: und sogar poetischem (not poetischen) Geist. +Angr 20:34, 21 February 2010 (UTC)

Thanks, Angr. I've made the correction in the article. -- 202.142.129.66 (talk) 21:48, 21 February 2010 (UTC)

Dog biscuits

Are there dog biscuits in the USA, or are they called something else, or not exist? Thanks 89.243.197.22 (talk) 17:17, 21 February 2010 (UTC)

Of course we have them; see Milk-Bone, for instance. Deor (talk) 17:44, 21 February 2010 (UTC)

(edit conflict)When I grew up in the USA, we certainly gave our dog dog biscuits, and called them either that or puppy biscuits. +Angr 17:45, 21 February 2010 (UTC)

Thanks, I asked because of the different meaning of biscuit in the US and UK. So the the "biscuit" in "dog-biscuit" has its UK meaning in the US? 89.243.197.22 (talk) 17:47, 21 February 2010 (UTC)

Yes. Deor (talk) 17:58, 21 February 2010 (UTC)

Speaking as an American, the biscuit/cookie distinction is not so much one of texture or consistency (or the number of times it's been baked), but one of sweet/savory. Cookies are, practically by definition, sweet. Biscuits are not. Dog biscuits are not sweet (though, to be honest, I've never tried one), so they can't be cookies. There are other "biscuit/cookie" like items which might have been used as terms, but crackers are flakey, and hardtack is only eaten by sailors. -- 174.21.254.47 (talk) 18:58, 21 February 2010 (UTC)

I tried them a couple of times when I was a youngster—hardly the worst-tasting thing I've ever tried—and yes, they're not sweet. Deor (talk) 22:44, 21 February 2010 (UTC)

If I may add a Canadian usage, we do call them "dog biscuits", but we usually call them "cookies" or "treats". The few dogs I am familiar with all knew/know what "cookie" means, and if they hear you say it, they will expect one, even if you were referring to cookies for human consumption. But I don't know how widespread that is. Adam Bishop (talk) 15:46, 22 February 2010 (UTC)

I gather they were once called "puppy cakes", unless that's something different. Eating dog biscuits instead of cookies, or even hardtack, is probably kind of like eating field corn instead of sweet corn - probably harmless, probably nutricious, but not very tasty. ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 22:43, 22 February 2010 (UTC)

of course, none of this should be confused with cow pies, which you which you probably don't want to eat if offered... --Ludwigs2 22:52, 22 February 2010 (UTC)

Unless you're a fly. ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 06:37, 23 February 2010 (UTC)

..or Desperate Dan. AndrewWTaylor (talk) 11:52, 23 February 2010 (UTC)

This American has always violated trade mark by referring to dog buiscuits as Milk Bones. But, to return to your original question, I'll pile on and confirm what all the other Americans have reported: "dog buiscuit" is indeed perfectly acceptable American English.—PaulTanenbaum (talk) 05:08, 23 February 2010 (UTC)

In South Africa, "dog biscuit" is a slang term for military-style field ration-pack biscuit. It's hard and dry and not terribly palatable but apparently full of sustenance. Dog food biscuits - as opposed to dog treat biscuits - are generally called pellets ar kibbles. Treats can be biscuits or cookies. Andre in SA —Preceding unsigned comment added by 196.214.78.114 (talk) 08:59, 24 February 2010 (UTC)

February 22

strange use of quid pro quo

An Indian politician's strange use of this Latin expression is the subject of this question.

Accusing Trinamool Congress chief and Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee of being “quid pro quo” with the Maoists, Brinda Karat, Communist Party of India (Marxist) Polit Bureau member, said here on Saturday that it was “unprecedented in the country’s history where a member of the Union Cabinet is utilising her position to give patronage to a banned outfit.”

It appeared here. It is repeated in the report:

when your party MPs glorify violence against poor CPI(M) victims, the message is clear that you are in quid pro quo with the Maoists

I haven't seen the expression used thus anywhere else. What do you think of it?--Falsebeep0 (talk) 05:11, 22 February 2010 (UTC)

It seems to be used here in a general sense of an exchange, which should suit the meaning, but a Google search seems to show someone being quid pro quo instead of something is rarely used. That "someone being quid pro quo" and "someone being in quid pro quo" are used interchangeably in the examples above suggests uncertainty about its usage. -- the Great Gavini 06:28, 22 February 2010 (UTC)

Repluralisation of initialisms, not to mention fried chicken

Here’s a question about the pluralisation of acronyms and initialisms that I haven't seen discussed anywhere.

In my line of work, I'm always advising clients how best to frame their responses to Key Selection Criteria when applying for positions. These are usually referred to as KSCs. It struck me that the term Key Selection Criteria is a plural that does not use –s, yet when we pluralise the initialism, we do use –s. Or, more correctly, the initialism is of a term that is already plural (because they always come in groups of more than one), yet we feel the need to repluralise it anyway.

We sometimes talk about a single Key Selection Criterion – "That KSC is one you're going to need to pay very close attention to; it's more 'key' than the others". In a way, it then makes sense to convert the singular KSC to the plural KSCs when referring to more than one of them. Yet, it would not be entirely wrong to use KSC (not KSCs) as the abbreviation for Key Selection Criteria. Except that it would sound quite odd to say "Here are the responses to those KSC you were after". It almost sounds like someone’s talking to fried chicken. (See, there was a connection, for those who thought I was just grabbing your attention in a cheap, tawdry manner.)

Has this issue been covered anywhere, and what are their recommendations? -- Jack of Oz ... speak! ... 07:56, 22 February 2010 (UTC)

In American English I would say it's simply a matter of how exactingly accurate you want to be. In normal conversation most people would automatically append the 's' as you have just as a reflexive action. Similar things happen to nouns from other languages like "Lego" or "Samurai" -- in these cases being accurate means being unusual. Clearly, KFC in particular is complicated because the abbreviation is the same for both singular (criterion) and plural (criteria). Ultimately, I think this is going to be a 'do as you like' sort of thing... 218.25.32.210 (talk) 08:24, 22 February 2010 (UTC)

I think what happens, Jack, is that once you form an acronym such as this one, it takes on a life of its own, becomes a word in itself, with a regular singular KSC, and a regular plural KSCs. Trying to reference this back to the original is unhelpful and unnecessary, in my opinion, and also violates how the acronym 'feels' (ie to me it 'feels' like a new word, not a reference to the original). Maid Marion (talk) 14:10, 22 February 2010 (UTC)

Once an initialism is formed people tend to lose track of its inner makeup—i.e., the features of the words inside it are lost. Even the words themselves may be lost, and repeated outside the initialism. For example, "PIN number" (= "Personal identification number number"), "ATM machine" (= "Automated teller machine machine"), and "EMT technician" (= "Emergency medical technician technician"). rʨanaɢ ^talk/_contribs 14:18, 22 February 2010 (UTC)

Ah, it turns out there's even a word for this: RAS syndrome (= "Redundant acronym syndrome syndrome", of course). rʨanaɢ ^talk/_contribs 14:22, 22 February 2010 (UTC)

Yes, I did consider RAS syndrome before I posted my question, but this doesn't seem to fit there. The definition is "the redundant use of one or more of the words that make up an acronym or initialism with the abbreviation itself, thus in effect repeating one or more words". KSCs repeats none of the words; all it does is, in effect, turn 'criteria' into 'criterias', and thus the 's' is technically redundant. But to insist on dropping the 's' would seem to be taking pedantry to a new high (? low). -- Jack of Oz ... speak! ... 20:14, 22 February 2010 (UTC)

Another way to look at it, Jack, is that the individuals tend to think of each requirement as an item -- a Key Selection Criterion, if you will. I'll bet you've seen usage like "I had to rewrite one KTC KSC," which is the mirror image of the question you're posting. The initialism nudges the user toward the singular, and so a bunch of these criterion things needs to have a plural. I've seen similar behavior with KSA (knowledge, skills, attitudes [or abilities, though I can't see much distinction between skill and ability]: submit your KSAs, meeting the KSAs, and so forth. --- OtherDave (talk) 22:04, 22 February 2010 (UTC)

Run batted in, in baseball, abbreviated to RBI. Runs batted in also abbreviated to RBI on stats sheets, and often colloquially to RBIs (or RBI's, or "Ribbies"). Theoretically, it could be RsBI, but that's not used. ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 22:39, 22 February 2010 (UTC)

Not sure what you mean by KTC, Dave? Was that just a slip of the pen, or is this a different example of the same thing? -- 202.142.129.66 (talk) 01:41, 23 February 2010 (UTC)

Just a typo, which I've revised with a strikethrough. Thanks. --- OtherDave (talk) 22:23, 23 February 2010 (UTC)

Jack, whether or not it's a word that's being repeated, it's still an illustration of the same phenomenon (RAS syndrome). In this case, what's being repeated is a morphological element (the plural -s) instead of a whole word. rʨanaɢ ^talk/_contribs 23:26, 22 February 2010 (UTC)

I think it may be a cousin, but not quite the same think. The original example was KSC, which was said to be Key Selection Criteria. But it could also be Criterion. In the latter case, you case KSCia, but that's kind of goofy, so you say KSC's instead. Just like KFC could be a single chicken, and you say, "I'm making a run for some KFC's", meaning several servings of chicken. ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 23:31, 22 February 2010 (UTC)

I tend to agree with Bugs on this one (except for apostrophising KSCs and KFCs, and for saying "not quite the same think"). Not even the -s is being repeated, because there was no -s there to begin with. What's being "repeated", if that's the right way of expressing it, is the pluralisation of Criterion. First, it's Criteria, then it's effectively Criterias, although that non-word is never actually spelled out. In this context, are the -a of Criteria and the -s of KSCs considered to be the same morphological element? They're certainly not the same lexical item. However, if this truly is an example of RAS syndrome, the definition will need to be broadened to take into account this sort of case where it's not a word as such that's being repeated. And if it's not an example, I'm not sure where we go from here, except maybe just continue to talk about meeting KSCs, without losing a second's sleep. -- 202.142.129.66 (talk) 01:41, 23 February 2010 (UTC)

It certainly is being repeated. This is a basic fact of English plural morphology; sometimes the plural feature is realized as an -s or an -es, sometimes as a spelling change (c.f. "mice", "geese", etc.). "Criteria" within the phrase is clearly plural, and that plural feature is clearly being repeated outside the phrase when you say "KSCs". rʨanaɢ ^talk/_contribs 02:10, 23 February 2010 (UTC)

OK, so the definition of RAS syndrome is a little deficient. Would it be OR to broaden it, or do we need to wait for a reliable external source that talks about KSCs? Are there any similar examples that anyone can think of? -- 202.142.129.66 (talk) 02:30, 23 February 2010 (UTC)

I'm not sure the definition needs updating. I never said this is RAS syndrome, I just said it's an "illustration of the same phenomenon": losing track of the inner makeup of an initialism (due to that initialism's reanalysis as a lexical unit) and repeating one or more of its inner features outside it. rʨanaɢ ^talk/_contribs 02:35, 23 February 2010 (UTC)

Alright then. So, if it's not RAS syndrome as such, what exactly is it? Or is there even a label we can use for this at all? -- 202.142.129.66 (talk) 05:56, 23 February 2010 (UTC)

A parallel case might be initialisms which start with a vowel sound where the full name doesn't, or vice versa. We use a or an with the initialism according to its own first sound, not the original one; it functions as a new term. ("A non-disclosure agreement"; "an NDA"). Marnanel (talk) 14:08, 24 February 2010 (UTC)

• This might well be viewed as one aspect of RAS syndrome, since that in itself is a misnomer. It is never the acronym which is redundant (akthough it might be maintained that all acronyms are redundant as a phenomenon): one of the elements within the acronym is, and traditionally the reduncancy is taken to be a word (or, optionally, its initial).
• Technically, a redundant morpheme (or its reduced sign), whether realised differently or not, would then be the same phenomenon. However, since RAS syndrome is not defined in that way, RAS syndrome it is not.
• The question is not what it is, if it is not RAS Syndrome. We know what it is: morpheme repetition. The question is: Do we have a name for it? Bessel Dekker (talk) 19:53, 24 February 2010 (UTC)

"Mexico City" in various languages

It seems to me that the two reasonable choices for the name of Mexico City in a given language X would be the Spanish-language name "Ciudad de México" or a translation of this into the language X. But the articles about Mexico City in the Danish, German, Javanese, Macedonian, Samoan, and Swedish Wikipedias use the English title "Mexico City" (or a straight transliteration). Why? Do the speakers of these languages really use the English name of this Spanish-speaking city? (The Fiji Hindi Wikipedia uses "Mexico City" too, but apparently city is the Fiji Hindi word for "city," so this is not so mysterious. The same might go for Samoan, but I can't find the Samoan word for "city.") —Bkell (talk) 08:00, 22 February 2010 (UTC)

The German article, at any rate, was only called de:Mexico City for a few hours this morning; until then it had been called de:Mexiko-Stadt and is now so called again. I can't speak for the other languages. +Angr 09:01, 22 February 2010 (UTC)

"Mexico City" is very common in German, as can be seen by the fact that there are over 50 articles linking to that redirect.[18] — Sebastian 19:10, 22 February 2010 (UTC)

I don't know about other languages either, but when I was there the city's inhabitants did not refer to it as "Ciudad de México", or Mexico City for that matter. As I understand it Mexicans only refer to the city as "México DF". --Richardrj ^{talk email} 09:33, 22 February 2010 (UTC)

In Romanian we usually use the English "Mexico City". I haven't heard anything else. Rimush (talk) 10:11, 22 February 2010 (UTC)

In the case of Japanese, there seems to be a discussion about changing the name to メキシコ連邦区 (literally Mexico Federal District), and that headword already points to the same article. Paul Davidson (talk) 11:15, 22 February 2010 (UTC)

I think residents of Mexico City just call it the DF (es:Distrito Federal).

75.62.109.146 (talk) 12:04, 22 February 2010 (UTC)

The Farsi, Marathi and Bengali (but not Hindi) names seem to be English transliterations as well.--Dpr (talk) 12:39, 22 February 2010 (UTC)

FWIW, in Czech it's called "Mexico City" or just "Mexico" (despite that cswiki calls it "Ciudad de México", apparently on account of its being the official name; I've never heard anybody say that).—Emil J. 14:24, 22 February 2010 (UTC)

In Mexico, the city is informally known as México DF, el DF, or even just México when it is clear from the context that you are referring to the city. Marco polo (talk) 16:43, 22 February 2010 (UTC)

I've lived in Sweden all my life and I've never heard a Swede call the Mexican capital anything but "Mexiko City" (or "Mexico City"). I suspect that this is a post-World War II phenomenon, however. For example Nordisk familjebok lists the name of the capital as Mejico, with Mexico as an alternative.[19] Gabbe (talk) 17:20, 22 February 2010 (UTC)

Most Mexicans regret the dominance of the United States. It seems almost cruel for speakers of languages other than English to add to the humiliation of the Mexicans by using the English name for their capital city, as if Mexico were a colony of the United States. Marco polo (talk) 19:18, 22 February 2010 (UTC)

So, the obvious question is: Why do so many countries use the English name? — Sebastian 21:01, 22 February 2010 (UTC)

I guess the standard explanation: "So far from God and so close to the United States" -- AnonMoos (talk) 23:06, 22 February 2010 (UTC)

For Swedish at least, appending "city" to the name in cases of ambiguity is more of a rule than an exception, regardless of the host language. For example, Guatemala City, Panama City, Cebu City, Kuwait City, etc. And as for why that is, I guess the answer is Anglicisation. Gabbe (talk) 12:21, 23 February 2010 (UTC)

I've got a hunch that the English language in general is just much better known in those countries than Spanish is, and they might have learned the city's name from English speakers and writers. In English we have a tendency to bring words in from every language on God's green earth. Other languages are a tad less open to the inevitably hodgepodge approach of English. There would be no equivalent Danish word for "Mexico", so it could make sense they would pick up on the English equivalent. It would be interesting for someone with knowledge of German to look into the usage of other Mexican place names, and see if the English or the Spanish version is used. I find it interesting that one Nordic source would list "Mejico", which is what some Spanish language revisionists have tried to call it (along with Don Quijote, etc.) ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 23:23, 22 February 2010 (UTC)

I couldn't think of any off the top if my head, but I looked up Gabbe's list above; the only one where the German Wikipedia article has the English name is Cebu City, but for the others, "... City" is still at least sometimes used. — Sebastian 01:42, 24 February 2010 (UTC)

This use of what we could call a "third-party exonym" is not unheard-of. For example, English uses the Venetian term "Montenegro" rather than the English "Black Mountain" or the Serbian "Crna Gora." We use the French word "Prague" rather than an English-looking word or the native Czech "Praha." -- Mwalcoff (talk) 00:06, 23 February 2010 (UTC)

Oh, yes! Now that you mention it, there are more examples for English using third-party exonyms: (All French in this case:) Cologne, Aix-la-Chapelle and Mayence (both historically), Nuremberg, Danube and Lake Constance. — Sebastian 03:08, 23 February 2010 (UTC)

Not quite the same thing but, as we've discussed here before, the English-language names Czech, Czechia and Czechoslovakia all use not Czech orthography, but Polish, for the initial /ch/ sound, and English for the rest. (In Polish, Czechoslovakia was Czechosłowacja. In Czech, it was Československo.) It looks like a stupid thing to say, but there is no -cz- cluster in the Czech language. They use Č č for the /ch/ sound. This is not normally anglicised at all (Janáček is never respelt as "Yanachek" or even "Janachek"), but if it were, it would be done via -ch-, not -cz-. The Russian name Чехов, which refers to the Czech people, is romanised "Chekhov", and not "Czechov", because the latter would be considered very silly. Yet a whole country gets this "silly" treatment. High time the Chekh Republic/Chekhia threw off its Polish shackles and changed its English name. -- Jack of Oz ... speak! ... 07:42, 23 February 2010 (UTC)

According to our article on Czech orthography (there's a little more at cz:Český pravopis), the Czech language used digraphs similar to those still used in Polish until Jan Hus replaced most them with diacritics, e.g., cz → č, rz → ř, ʃʃ → š, etc. So the English name of the Czechs may date back to those times before the 15-century orthographic reform. — Kpalion^(talk) 09:09, 23 February 2010 (UTC)

That's what I originally thought, too. However, according to the online OED the word only entered English in mid 19th century, first with funny spellings like Tshekh or Tschech that eventually stabilized on the current Czech, and they give "[Boh. Čech, Pol. Czech.]" as its etymology.—Emil J. 12:59, 23 February 2010 (UTC)

As for the third-party exonym for the Mexican capital city, what I think is unique in this case, is that many of those languages that use the English name for the city have their own exonyms for the whole country; cf. German Mexiko, Javanese Meksiko, Polish Meksyk. It looks like the English name is used to distinguish the country from the city. — Kpalion^(talk) 09:23, 23 February 2010 (UTC)

Especially as Americans say "Meksikoe" and Mexicans say "Meheekoe" (with a strong guttural "h" sound). ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 09:27, 23 February 2010 (UTC)

Still, we perhaps should share the blame equally--almost all the languages mentioned above (Javanese, German, Polish)...and others including French, use the IPA /ks/ ("x") pronunciation instead of the IPA /x/ (Spanish "j", German "ch", Russian translit. "kh"). The culprit of course is the Spanish-language orthography change from "x" representing a "sh" (/ʃ/) sound -- as in Portuguese-- to "j", while leaving the word Mexico unchanged in most countries except Spain (Mejico). Perhaps Mandarin is the only one to get it close to right: 墨西哥, where 西 xi comes close to the guttural /x/ ("ch") sound used in Spanish (close to /ç/), since Chinese has no /x/. But even that's ambiguous. --Dpr (talk) 14:12, 23 February 2010 (UTC)

Hmm, interesting. In Welsh the city is Dinas Mexico or for stricter compliance with Welsh orthography, Dinas Mecsico since "x" doesn't normally occur in Welsh. We do famously have the [x] sound in the language, but we don't use it in either the country or the city name, which would be "Mechico" if that were the case. -- Arwel Parry (talk) 22:27, 23 February 2010 (UTC)

Mandarin Chinese does have [x], it's written h in pinyin.—Emil J. 14:31, 23 February 2010 (UTC)

Thanks for pointing that out--I don't know what I was thinking!!! But Mandarin does forbid the /x/ sounds before a /i/ vowel.--Dpr (talk) 17:18, 23 February 2010 (UTC)

The Chinese transliteration probably came through Cantonese via English, not directly from Spanish. 墨 is mo is mandarin whereas in Cantonese it's /mak/. --Kvasir (talk) 16:14, 23 February 2010 (UTC)

The Cantonese origin sounds likely. Pointing that out shows that whoever promulgated the original transliteration may have intended the English-style /ks/ sound to be adopted into Chinese, but obvious Mandarin's lack of syllable final consants (except nasals) removes that in Mandarin. --Dpr (talk) 17:17, 23 February 2010 (UTC)

Secretaría de Turismo | Gobierno del Distrito Federal uses "mexicocity" in its web address. -- Wavelength (talk) 16:37, 23 February 2010 (UTC)

Wow, that pretty much blows away most claims of Anglo chauvinism and dominance...--Dpr (talk) 17:17, 23 February 2010 (UTC)

I like the idea that one's Mexico-ness (whatever that means) could be measured by reference to one's "mexicócity". I imagine that in virtually all cases people's mexicocity would be 0, since I don't know of anyone who actually is Mexico. But it's a nice conceptual idea, all the same. And not entirely unprecedented - L'état, c'est moi. :) ---- 202.142.129.66 (talk) 22:19, 23 February 2010 (UTC)

This isn't the science RD, but it is important to point out that the above value is not correct. Given that there are 111,211,789 people per 1 Mexico, the average Mexican has a mexicócity of about 9 ppb. (8.991852473 ppb, to be exact). — Sebastian 23:41, 23 February 2010 (UTC)

Fair enough. But I can beat that. My Australicity is 82.2062 at the moment, but falling constantly. -- Jack of Oz ... speak! ... 20:27, 24 February 2010 (UTC)

hip hip hurra

What are the origins of the expression: "hip hip hurra" —Preceding unsigned comment added by 65.199.189.6 (talk) 15:05, 22 February 2010 (UTC)

Online Etymology Dictionary says: [20]

hip (interjection)
exclamation used to introduce a united cheer (cf. hip-hip-hurrah), 1827, earlier hep, cf. Ger. hepp, to animals a cry to attack, to mobs a cry to attack Jews (see hep (2)); perhaps a natural sound (cf. L. eho, heus).

Does that help? Gabbe (talk) 15:36, 22 February 2010 (UTC)

The Penny Cyclopedia (quoted in the OED) considered "hep" to be the initials of "Hierusalem est perdita", since it was used as a cheer in anti-Jewish riots in the ninteenth-century. (I think we had this question before, and someone said that phrase was also a cheer used during the crusades, but I've never seen any use of it that far back.) Adam Bishop (talk) 15:43, 22 February 2010 (UTC)

Hep-Hep riots... -- AnonMoos (talk) 23:04, 22 February 2010 (UTC)

The Royal Navy, by tradition, has 3 "hips" for each "hooray"[21]. Why, I don't know. Alansplodge (talk) 16:20, 22 February 2010 (UTC)

Verbs

In the sentence I eat an apple, I am the subject, eat is the verb and the apple is the object, is that correct? What about I found something to eat? Then 'found' is the verb and 'to eat' is... what? Is it an intransitive verb? Is 'something to eat' just the object? What about She performs her toilet? Is toilet ever a verb? It seems to function more as a noun here. 195.60.13.52 (talk) 15:43, 22 February 2010 (UTC)

In your second sentence, you could describe something to eat as the object of the verb found, or you could describe something as the object and to eat as a verbal adjective modifying something. I've never seen or heard the word toilet used as a verb. There is the verb toilet-train, but toilet cannot stand alone as a verb. In your example, it is a noun. Marco polo (talk) 16:36, 22 February 2010 (UTC)

Yes, toilet can be a standalone verb. Merriam Webster:

Toilet (verb). Date: 1840

Intransitive verb

1 : to dress and groom oneself

2 : to use the toilet —usually used of a child

Transitive verb

1 : dress, garb

2 : to help (as a child or sick person) use the toilet

It is used in hospital, care home or childcare settings, where a person requires help to use the toilet or cannot get to the toilet without assistance. "I toileted Mrs Smith and Mrs Jones straight after breakfast, then helped them dress." Sounds horrid, I know, but it is a genuine current use. Karenjc 17:46, 22 February 2010 (UTC)

English (and maybe other German languages] has these fascinating strange verb schemes. I have found these verb schemesApparently, these verb schemes are called complex-transitive verb structures. Here the complement is a verbal adjective, as Marco Polo already pointed out above; nouns, predicatives and adjectives also suit the verb find. Pallida  Mors 18:21, 22 February 2010 (UTC)

I stand corrected. Apparently toilet has been used as a verb. However, I am an educated, middle-aged native speaker of English, and I have never heard or seen the word used as a verb. I think that I can say that the use of the word as a verb is rare—except perhaps by healthcare professionals as a kind of jargon—and sounds awkward. So, if the person who posted the question is learning English, I would advise that person not to use toilet as a verb unless they find themselves in a context where others are using it as a verb. Marco polo (talk) 19:13, 22 February 2010 (UTC)

I'm a native speaker and agree it's extremely rare in common use. If you're a non-native speaker I would be be sparing in using it and only in the right context. However, I will report that occasionally, a native speaker might say (intransitively), "I have to toilet", meaning, "I have to use the restroom/WC". --71.111.229.19 (talk) 20:25, 22 February 2010 (UTC)

Really? That sounds as made up to me as "She will probably medal at Vancouver but whether she'll gold medal is another question". Or "I spent my afternoon Wikipediaing". Or "Katharine Hepburn Academy Award for Best Actressed four times in her career". Surely there's a limit beyond which it is simply not OK to take any noun or noun phrase at random and convert it into a verb. -- Jack of Oz ... speak! ... 20:33, 22 February 2010 (UTC)

It could be an Americanism; it could be very idiosyncratic...I didn't make it up. But in response to your comment, you're clearly a prescriptivist, not a descriptivist :) At least in the States, there is (descriptively) NO limit on making nouns into verbs (e.g. to google, to bork, etc.) I'm nor arguing normatively here. In any case, I would NOT be totally shocked if I heard any of the bolded examples you gave in daily speech--Americans love to nominalize, especially people under 50.--71.111.229.19 (talk) 20:42, 22 February 2010 (UTC) (Dpr)

I don't like to be tied down by labels such as precriptivist or descriptivist. Just because people say or write things - and they do, God knows they do - does not make those things acceptable. There is a natural law operating here, and I have been given the authority to interpret it for the benefit of those less fortunate.  :) :) -- Jack of Oz ... speak! ... 20:51, 22 February 2010 (UTC)

Middle-aged, native English female speaker with social care background here! The original question "She performs her toilet" - toilet here is not a verb, it is a noun with the meaning of "ablutions" and comes from the French "toilette". Maybe in this case the French spelling should be used. The verb "to toilet" is in common use in social care settings. If you've never either been a care worker in an old people's home, or a carer for an elderly or disabled person, you've probably never come across this usage. --TammyMoet (talk) 21:35, 22 February 2010 (UTC)

One thing the OP should probably be aware of is that the idea that parts of speech are determined by semantics is a lie to children. (A verb is a doing word! A noun is a person, place, or thing!) In fact, parts of speech are determined by syntax. In She performs her toilet, there is no way "toilet" could be a verb, because verbs cannot have possessive pronouns operating on them. Marnanel (talk) 19:28, 23 February 2010 (UTC)

I hope you don't mind my saying, but verbs can have possessive adjectives operating on them as in the first part of this sentence. Possessive pronouns are also possible, but I don't understand why you suddenly said that when your example, She performs her toilet, did not contain one. --KägeTorä - (影虎) (A word...?) 17:45, 24 February 2010 (UTC)

In "I hope you don't mind my saying", "saying" is a gerund, a type of noun derived from a verb. In "She performs her toilet", "toilet" can't be a gerund because it doesn't end with the -ing suffix. +Angr 18:30, 24 February 2010 (UTC)

Yes, but I think the discussion shifted from merely that single example sentence to the more general use of toilet alone as a verb.--Dpr (talk) 23:38, 23 February 2010 (UTC)

Looking for a 1997 definition of "Font" as "a specific member of a type family."

Where can I find a dictionary published in 1997 that defines the word "Font" as "a specific member of a type family such as roman, boldface" or "a specific style of type within a type family?" I found this current definition in Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia on February 18, 2010 under the heading, "Typeface." My problem is that most dictionaries such as Webster's or The American Heritage define "Font" as "A set of type of one size and face." Can you please respond to my question at your earliest convenience? Thank you. Mary Ann Becker, Librarian, —Preceding unsigned comment added by Maryannbecker1 (talk • contribs) 17:49, 22 February 2010 (UTC)

I removed your email address, in accordance with our policy, and to prevent spam. Is there a reference number given in our article by the definition? If so you can click on that number and find the source for the definition. --TammyMoet (talk) 18:01, 22 February 2010 (UTC)

You don't need a dictionary; try Google Books. I searched for "font versus typeface" (without quotation marks) and found many references, including this one.174.131.122.254 (talk) 03:00, 23 February 2010 (UTC)

• The question was about font versus type family, but 174's quote is correct. A type family is a family of fonts: thus, the Times family includes numerous fonts, such as Types roman 12 pt, Times italic 10 pt, Times boldface 14 pt and so on and so forth. Countless permutations are possible, but as long as it's Times, it's a type family. Courier in all its sizes and guises would be another family, and so on. Sometimes contaminatory font face is used. Bessel Dekker (talk) 19:39, 24 February 2010 (UTC)

February 23

Goofy foot

What is the origin of this term? Specifically, why is the word 'goofy' used to refer to this stance? and is Goofy referring to the Disney character? the 'goofy' appearance of the person in the stance? something to do with left-footed people being goofy? -- œ^™ 08:09, 23 February 2010 (UTC)

Goofy foot redirects to Footedness which explains what it is (leading with opposite of "regular" foot) but doesn't specifically explain why it's called that. I don't see why it would be related specifically to the cartoon character Goofy as such. "Goofy" basically means "silly, only more so", and that's an old slang word for which the cartoon character was named. Reading between the lines, it's probably typical kids labeling anything nonconforming as being "wrong". ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 09:12, 23 February 2010 (UTC)

The article on the character points out that he was originally called "Dippy Dawg", as he is an anthropomorphic dog, and "Dippy" is another adjective for a "Goof". Nowadays such a character would probably be called a "Retard" by politically incorrect kids. Edgar Bergen's dummy called Mortimer Snerd is a similar type, basically a not-too-bright country bumpkin type (Alfred E. Neuman is another example). There could almost be an article on "Goof"/"Goofy". In their "Who's on First?" bit, Abbott and Costello talked about the real-life ballplayers Dizzy Dean and Daffy Dean, and Costello mentioned their supposed "French cousin, Goofé Dean". Then there's the long-running series in Highlights for Children about two kids named "Goofus and Gallant", wherein "Goofus" is always messing up, and "Gallant" always does things the right way. ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 09:20, 23 February 2010 (UTC)

According to The Goofy Foot Surf School the term comes from a Walt Disney cartoon in which Goofy surfs with his right foot forward. The surf school have the date wrong but it's true that in the 1937 cartoon Hawaiian Holiday Goofy can be seen surfing 'goofy foot' at 7:50. --Frumpo (talk) 15:14, 23 February 2010 (UTC)

Very interesting! Thank you! -- œ^™ 17:43, 23 February 2010 (UTC)

common imageries/metaphors for

friendship? lack of permanence? goodbyes?

thanks. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 59.189.218.130 (talk) 15:05, 23 February 2010 (UTC)

Friendship: sharing food/drink; hands clasped/together (e.g. hands in Claddagh ring); embracing happily/arms around shoulders; standing side by side[22]. Impermanence/transience: shifting sands (e.g. sandpainting in buddhism); mayfly; candle; memento mori (e.g. skull); wilting flowers[23]. Goodbyes: waving; kissing goodbye (e.g. at railroad, port, airport); embracing with tears; door closing[24]. --Normansmithy (talk) 17:36, 23 February 2010 (UTC)

Thai (?) translation request

Hi Refdeskers, I got this t-shirt at a thrift store and am wondering what the logo says. I assume it's in Thai, but my ignorance in this area is both deep and broad. Thanks. --Sean 15:59, 23 February 2010 (UTC)

From the graphic alone, one can tell it's a Red Bull t-shirt. The Thai script says Krating Daeng. --Kvasir (talk) 16:07, 23 February 2010 (UTC)

Dubious usage of (English) word

I found this question on the Miscellaneous Desk: "i m 18 year old,found that my protests are bigger than other boys.iask what i should do & hw is this possible bcoz whether by musterbation or something like that?" What is a "protest" as used here? And maybe someone could also say in what variety of English the word is used. Thanks in advance. Rimush (talk) 17:38, 23 February 2010 (UTC)

Given the other spelling and punctuation slips, I assumed he meant prostate (perhaps it was autocorrected through the Cupertino effect). I don't know how he would know this. I think this is probably asking for medical advice, though, and if so should be removed. Marnanel (talk) 17:40, 23 February 2010 (UTC)

I don't know, since it's plural and then the verb is plural too: "are bigger" Rimush (talk) 17:55, 23 February 2010 (UTC)

Perhaps by some weird mutation of the word, testicles are meant. I draw this from the mention of "mastermusterbation". Still in the dark about "hw", though. Is that supposed to mean homework? Then how does homework relate to (possibly) testicular size and masturbation? The mysteries pile up... TomorrowTime (talk) 18:13, 23 February 2010 (UTC)

"hw" is surely "how". -- Coneslayer (talk) 18:17, 23 February 2010 (UTC)

(EC)I think he meant testes as well. Maybe he calls them protests because he wears jeans that are two sizes too small. And I assumed hw == how, bcoz == because. -- Flyguy649 ^talk 18:18, 23 February 2010 (UTC)

He just probably mistook the testes for prostate. Their anatomy may be a little off. You can blame that on whichever education system they receive.174.3.99.176 (talk) 19:26, 23 February 2010 (UTC)

Why use "they" and "their"? Much as I like gender neutral pronouns, I don't think that's necessary in this case. — Sebastian 20:51, 23 February 2010 (UTC)

Especially when you start off with "He just..." :P Rimush (talk) 21:12, 23 February 2010 (UTC)

I would have assumed the IP meant "their" to refer to the educational system in that area in general. Vimescarrot (talk) 06:53, 24 February 2010 (UTC)

you know, even when I was 18 I wasn't that much of an idjit. I suspect that was someone between 11 and 14 doing that adolescent 'let's see if I can fake everyone into taking my stupidity seriously' thing. If it were my kid I'd give him extra chores as penalty for publicly embarrassing the family. --Ludwigs2 07:05, 24 February 2010 (UTC)

What is the meaning of 'fake sbd. into doing sth.'? You mean 'dupe'? Anyway, by 'protests' I guess he meant his biceps. --KageTora - (影虎) (A word...?) 17:33, 24 February 2010 (UTC)

Use of stock phrases by the media

The ITV News just had a story about the world's tallest dog, and towards the end the newscaster said '[Dog's name]'s height is matched only by his fame.' I guess this means the dog is very famous, but he is defintiely not the most famous dog in the world even though he may be the tallest. Is there a name for this type of gibberish or is there a name for the phenomenon whereby newsreaders churn this kind of stuff out? --KageTora - (影虎) (A word...?) 18:58, 23 February 2010 (UTC)

Journalese might help answer your question[ish]. - Jarry1250 ^{[Humorous? Discuss.]} 19:03, 23 February 2010 (UTC)

...no one seems able to think of turns of speech that are not hackneyed: prose consists less and less of words chosen for the sake of their meaning, and more and more of phrases tacked together like the sections of a prefabricated henhouse. — George Orwell, "Politics and the English Language", 1946. Tempshill (talk) 20:09, 23 February 2010 (UTC)

Cheers! Why didn't Journalese spring to my mind as it should have? And the quote is perfect....Thanks! Just as a side note, I forgot to mention that the story did not go onto to clarify what it meant by that phrase and no further mention of fame was included, meaning that the whole broadcast ended with a random incorrect statement to round off a totally mundane and pointless news story. Thanks. --KageTora - (影虎) (A word...?) 01:57, 24 February 2010 (UTC)

I think we're being a bit hard on the newscaster here. The quote isn't gibberish; it doesn't mean "he's both the tallest and the most famous", it means roughly "his tallness is a distinctive and defining feature, the only other feature he has that's such a big deal is his fame". Sure, it may be a little flowery and unnecessary, but it's certainly not gibberish. rʨanaɢ ^talk/_contribs 07:19, 24 February 2010 (UTC)

Etymology of Forever 21

What is the etymology of 21 in "Forever 21"? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 174.3.99.176 (talk) 19:19, 23 February 2010 (UTC)

My guess is that 21 refers to the age. Not sure if there's a source. --Kvasir (talk) 20:09, 23 February 2010 (UTC)

Word for something

hi, im looking for a word or concept to describe this; when someone deliberately does something 'bad' that will probably have detrimental effects, often in the long term, and they know will be 'bad' and 'wrong' in the eyes of others. It will often have a significant emotional effect on others, and possibly themselves as well, in a personal way, however they do it anyway, probably for the 'buzz' or even the challenge of 'fixing' what they have done and it might make them feel good in the short term'. (I'm not talking about something like taking heroin, for example.) Maybe something like destroying a war memorial, or even getting themselves in a difficult, yet no necessarily dangerous in the short term, situation, such as going to prison, just so they can escape. An extreme example would be to 'destroy the earth' just so they can try an survive.

Any ideas?, thanks, --86.141.136.150 (talk) 19:47, 23 February 2010 (UTC)

I'm not at all sure how the destruction of the Earth as a strategy for survival works, but maybe you're talking about Opportunistic behaviour. -- Jack of Oz ... speak! ... 20:06, 23 February 2010 (UTC)

malicious, perhaps? — Sebastian 20:18, 23 February 2010 (UTC)

Two subsets of what you describe are Hero Syndrome (e.g., fire-fighters who are also arsonists) and Münchausen syndrome by proxy. Also, thrillseeker. In erotic literature (and real behavior) there is hurt/comfort, a form of bondage/domination or sado-masochism (though that involves two people). Another example might be the rapist who fancies himself a "gentleman" (at some point in his relations with his victim), a type described by profilers. There is no single word or phrase which describes all manifestations. 63.17.65.39 (talk) 03:18, 24 February 2010 (UTC)

Or naughty, perhaps? 195.35.160.133 (talk) 13:06, 24 February 2010 (UTC) Martin.

Possessive apostrophe in a resume

Hello! I'm in the process of writing out a resume for a friend of mine, who is going into the cosmetology business, and have a pretty specific grammar/punctuation question. How would I best phrase "expertise in men's and women's hairstyling," if I wanted to stress the fact that she has experience in cutting hair of both men and women AND do so in a clear, concise manner appropriate for a resume? Is the way it's phrased above correct? Thank you! AlexHOUSE (talk) 20:12, 23 February 2010 (UTC)

They're both exactly correct, as far as the apostrophes go at least. It seems like a nice, concise way of making such a claim on a resume. -- Jack of Oz ... speak! ... 20:15, 23 February 2010 (UTC)

Awesome, thank you. A friend of mine (an English major, nonetheless) recommended I drop the 's from "men's," but I knew enough to at least avoid making this girl sound like she had "plenty of experience with men (...) and women's hairstyling." Thanks again! AlexHOUSE (talk) 20:25, 23 February 2010 (UTC)

It's easy to get confused these days, when we often see stores advertising things like "mens' clothing", or "mens clothing" (that latter one might be nice if one wanted to dress up one's mind - Mens sartoria in corpore sartorio and all that). Once upon a time, store signs could be trusted to be spelt and punctuated properly; not anymore. I don't know where your friend is coming from with "men and women's hairstyling". -- Jack of Oz ... speak! ... 20:44, 23 February 2010 (UTC)

It's not unusual for people to say something like "We're going to Bob and Alice's house for dinner." I assume the "men and women's" thing is the same kind of error; treating the "pair" as a unit that only needs to be pluralized at the end. -- Coneslayer (talk) 20:54, 23 February 2010 (UTC)

"Bob and Alice's house" is understandable, as the house is presumably owned jointly by Bob and Alice - if not necessarily "owned" in the strict legal sense by them both equally. The property might be entirely in Alice's name, but the home is still theirs jointly. But that doesn't apply to "men's and women's hairstyling", because the clients are always separate. A hairdresser might style the hair of a man and a woman who are a couple, but not while they're both sitting in the same chair at the same time. -- 202.142.129.66 (talk) 22:10, 23 February 2010 (UTC)

They must have a very select clientele. Clarityfiend (talk) 22:46, 23 February 2010 (UTC)

Last I checked, all Siamese twins were also identical twins, which makes them the same sex :) AlexHOUSE (talk) 23:11, 23 February 2010 (UTC)

They could be having an identicoincestofraternosexual relationship.  :) -- 202.142.129.66 (talk) 00:32, 24 February 2010 (UTC)

They could, but that wouldn't change the fact that they would be the same sex. Now, if they were having a identicoincestofraternotranssexual relationship, then we would be in business. --Tango (talk) 01:19, 24 February 2010 (UTC)

Well, of course! **(slaps forehead)** I can't imagine what I was thinking. :) -- Jack of Oz ... speak! ... 11:35, 24 February 2010 (UTC)

Some Italian

Hi. I am studying Italian in my spare time and, on reading some Italian texts, have a few questions I would like to ask.

"Qualche volta..." - Does this translate as 'some times', as I suspect, and if so, why do you not make volta plural?

"...ogni giorno..." - Does giorno not need to be made plural when using ogni? Would you only make it plural if you attach a finite number to the description, ie seven?

"...molto esigenti..." Does molto not have to agree with esigenti?

"...molti viaggi...", "...molto dinamica..." I can't derive a pattern for when molto agrees and when it doesn't. Help?

"...famosi uomini politici..." As I understand it, uomini is the noun meaning 'men' as opposed to the adjective meaning '(plural) male' but if so, why are the adjectives famosi and politici sandwiching the noun as opposed to both following it? Is this standard when using two adjectives on the same noun? What happens if you want to use three or more?

I think that's all for now, though I may be back later with more. Thanks for your help. 131.111.247.136 (talk) 21:24, 23 February 2010 (UTC)

For the "famosi uomini politici": think of it like in English, see "uomini politici" as one word ("politicians") - "famous politicians" = "famosi uomini politici". That aside, I don't know why it's like that in Italian. In Romanian we say "oameni politici faimoşi", but that might have to do with how adjectives are generally placed in Romanian (since "oameni politici" is still kinda treated as one word). Hope this makes at least an ounce of sense. Rimush (talk) 22:35, 23 February 2010 (UTC)

Actually, the standard order of adjectives in your last phrase would be ...uomini politici famosi.... The only adjectives that normally precede the noun are adjectives describing beauty, age, goodness, or size (which you can remember by the acronym "BAGS" — see this source). Some adjectives, such as famoso, may optionally precede the noun for purposes of emphasis. So, for example, if you wanted to say in Italian "Most politicians are X, but famous politicians are Y", you could put famosi before the noun in the second phrase to emphasize the distinction. Marco polo (talk) 01:58, 24 February 2010 (UTC)

• That's difficult to explain. It's like English: every time ("ogni volta"), but instead of every, is some. "Qualche" is always followed by a singular noun. I understand that's quite strange but this is it.
• "Ogni giorno" means every day, so it's just like in English. "Ogni" is always followed by a single noun, like every.
• "Molto" means a lot but with a somewhat uncountable meaning. It can be followed by adjectives or nouns: "bello, brutto, buono, fame, sete, caldo". "Molto freddo" means very cold, "molta sete" means a lot of thirst. It's never followed by a plural adjective or noun. When it's followed by an adjective it's always male ("molto freddo", "molto fredda"). It can be male or female in accordance to the following noun ("molta fame", "molta neve", "molta pasta", "molto sonno", "molto fango").
  "Molti" is it's plural form, and it means a large number of and it's followed by plural nouns (never adjectives): "molti gatti", a lot of cats, "molte rane", a lot of frogs.
• That's difficult too. Let me try to make some examples: "A me piacciono gli uomini politici famosi" (I like famous politicians). You could say (but that's more rare) also "A me piacciono i famosi uomini politici". You say "Gli uomini politici famosi mangiano le mele", "famous politicians eat apples". But also, more rarely, "I famosi uomini politici mangiano le mele". It's just a matter of different nuance of meaning (does this expression means something in English?). It's the same difference between "quel grande gatto" or "quel gatto grande" (that big cat). In the first sentence you emphasize more the adjective "grande". Here is a good internal link: [25].
  That reminds me of a famous advertising emphasizing the difference between a "un pennello grande" (a big paintbrush) and "un grande pennello" (a great paintbrush): in this case the position of the adjective change the meaning.
  Good luck with your Italian!

--151.51.1.230 (talk) 05:56, 24 February 2010 (UTC)

french

in french there are two ways tomake the future tense, I remember from high school languages. There are the form aller verb and verb+future ending (-ai, -as, -a, etc.). So I could say (excuse my french is not so good, correct me where I make a mistake) "Je vais aller aux vacances" or "J'irai aux vacances". Or I could say "Je vais lui envoyer une carte d'anniversaire" or "Je lui envoyerai une carte d'anniversaire". But what's the difference? How do I know when to use the "aller" form and when to use the simple form? Thanks. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 76.229.185.139 (talk) 23:07, 23 February 2010 (UTC)

I'm a French major, but I'm still not done with my basic classes, so don't take my response as gospel. I believe that aller+verb is usually used for something that is closer in the future, and that verb+future-ending is used for something more distant. I don't think there is a great distinction between the two, and I don't think that the usages are set in stone. Again, that's just my impression; it may or may not be correct. Falconus^{p t c} 23:27, 23 February 2010 (UTC)

From what I remmember and what impresses me is that le futur simple expresses more certainty than with "aller" (futur proche). Falconus is correct in that le futur proche is for something closer. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_verbs#Tenses_and_aspects . The difference is as ambiguous as in English: I am going to do it. vs. I will do it. --Kvasir (talk) 23:35, 23 February 2010 (UTC)

They are in large part interchangeable but the simple form is more formal and more appropriate in written language while aller + verb is much more common in daily communication. Check also http://french.about.com.--Dpr (talk) 23:38, 23 February 2010 (UTC)

The form with aller is both closer in time and less formal--i.e., you would use aller for something like "I'm going on vacation next week". Both of the examples you gave above sound a bit strange and jilted with the simple future (irai/envoyerai), those are for more distant or more abstract things. For things that are even closer than what you would say with aller, you can just use the normal present form. For instance, Je vais au cinema après le dejeuner for "I'm going to the movies after lunch". rʨanaɢ ^talk/_contribs 07:17, 24 February 2010 (UTC)

In French we say aller en vacances not aller aux vacances. The future of envoyer at the first person is j'enverrai. The word aller as a semi-auxiliary verb is used at the present tense to express the near future or a distant future if ineluctable. My reference: Grevisse. Le Bon Usage, 12th ed., §790 a). Neither J'irai en vacances nor Je lui enverrai une carte d'anniversaire sound strange to my (French) ears. In this case the usage of the simple future is not related to formality or abstraction. (Aside. To be very polite or to attenuate my purpose, one can use the simple future instead of the present: Je vous prierai de bien vouloir…) As you mentioned it, one can use the simple present for the near future, but your example could be misleading as you use the verb aller. A better example?: J'arrive dans cinq minutes.— AldoSyrt (talk) 10:22, 24 February 2010 (UTC)

February 24

Greek Terminology

Hi I have a question I came across Sigma Kappa Chi and the at the end __/ but that has a striaght line not slanted at the end I am thinking inverted gamma?? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 74.220.9.61 (talk) 15:09, 24 February 2010 (UTC)

If this was on the web, could you please provide a link? -- Flyguy649 ^talk 15:18, 24 February 2010 (UTC)

For the sake of clarity, are you saying you saw the Greek letters sigma, kappa and chi followed by a symbol that looked like _| resembling an inverted upper-case gamma? Σ Κ Χ _| 86.176.48.127 (talk) 15:49, 24 February 2010 (UTC)

Vedda language

I expanded this article, I am not a trainned linguist. I would like some linguitss to take a look at it. Thanks Taprobanus (talk) 15:24, 24 February 2010 (UTC)

Please post this request at Wikipedia talk:WikiProject Languages, which is the appropriate venue for discussing collaboration on language articles. +Angr 15:54, 24 February 2010 (UTC)

"A Future Fair for All"

Isn't the new UK Labour slogan slightly strange? Wouldn't "A Future - Fair for All" or "A Fair Future for All" be better? --Non Zero-sum Ed (talk) 15:59, 24 February 2010 (UTC)

"A Future Fair for All" sounds more poetic to my Canadian ears, but I agree your suggestions seem clearer. Or maybe they are proposing that everyone can attend a carnival -- Flyguy649 ^talk 16:23, 24 February 2010 (UTC)

If only... :) - Jarry1250 ^{[Humorous? Discuss.]} 16:28, 24 February 2010 (UTC)

It's odd that they'd choose half a quote from a Firesign Theatre album. --LarryMac | Talk 16:26, 24 February 2010 (UTC)

(edit conflict)x2 I think your second suggestion is grammatically what they mean. I would then suggest they went with "a future fair for all" for stylistic reasons, given the commonness of the "* for all" mantra. - Jarry1250 ^{[Humorous? Discuss.]} 16:37, 24 February 2010 (UTC) (should be 16:28, sorry.)

On a further point, it's not new. It was used by Brown in 2003, which is mentioned here along with a point of view on the word choice. - Jarry1250 ^{[Humorous? Discuss.]} 19:07, 24 February 2010 (UTC)

Fair can be a post-positive adjective, and Fair for All can be an adjectival phrase. -- Wavelength (talk) 16:56, 24 February 2010 (UTC)

At least they didn't say free for all.  :) Woogee (talk) 19:01, 24 February 2010 (UTC)

There is nothing wrong with the slogan — grammatically. It is on a par with All Creatures Great and Small: the predicative adjective is used when the relative pronoun and the copula (which plus are/is) are left out. Obviously, it might be objected that the sentence is homonymic, should readers be inclined to interpret fair as a noun. In spoken English, the homonymy disappears as sentence stress overrules the differences. Bessel Dekker (talk) 19:11, 24 February 2010 (UTC)

I suspect that the choice was made, at least in part, for rhythmic reasons—the plain iambic trimeter of "a future fair for all" sounds better than the stumbling "a fair future for all". Deor (talk) 19:13, 24 February 2010 (UTC)

I agree. Bessel Dekker (talk) 19:55, 24 February 2010 (UTC)

The Australian national anthem is Advance Australia Fair. -- Wavelength (talk) 19:58, 24 February 2010 (UTC)

Cangjie decomposition

Why does 肉 decompose as OBO rather than BOO? I understand the rule to be, go from the outer to the inner and the top to the bottom, but the B-component is outside (and above) the two O-components, isn't it? Or is the little flick on the top part of the O-element? I would appreciate help. Thanks! --Quentin Smith 19:19, 24 February 2010 (UTC)

dash, hyphen or space?`

Should the term provincially maintained have a hyphen or ndash between the words in the following sentence? Provincial Highway 3 is a provincially maintained highway in the Canadian province of Ontario.

Cheers - ʄɭoʏɗiaɲ ^τ _¢ 20:13, 24 February 2010 (UTC)

I would use a space. It certainly shouldn't be a dash. A dash is used to separate clauses in a sentence; a hyphen is used to join two words together. --Tango (talk) 20:22, 24 February 2010 (UTC)

(edit conflict) No, the usual rule (as given in the Chicago Manual of Style and elsewhere) is that a modifier consisting of an adverb ending in -ly plus a participle requires no punctuation, so "provincially maintained highway" is OK as it stands. Deor (talk) 20:24, 24 February 2010 (UTC)