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July 16

Velopharyngeal fricatives

According to Extensions to the International Phonetic Alphabet, the character ʩ represents a velopharyngeal fricative (snoring sound), which often occurs with a cleft palate. What does this mean? Are most velopharyngeal fricative sounds produced by people with cleft palates (i.e. the minority is non-cleft palates who can produce it), or are most people with cleft palates able to produce velopharyngeal fricative sounds (i.e. the minority is cleft palates who can't pronounce it)? Nyttend (talk) 05:52, 16 July 2014 (UTC)[reply]

I don't think it's meant to be about ability, about who can or cannot produce a velopharyngeal fricative, but about where you might hear it as part of spoken language. According to "FrathWiki", for example, it is not used phonemically in any natural or constructed language. The sound is categorized among articulation disorders (see for example Arnold Elvin Aronson's Clinical Voice Disorders, Thieme, 2009, p 58).

Another source says

"A velopharyngeal fricative produced without simultaneous oral articulatory activity would be transcribed with the symbol [ʩ]: thus SAFE as [ʩeɪʩ], although this is generally felt to occur only rarely in speech related to cleft palate, as usually the friction is simultaneous with an attempt by the speaker to produce an oral target."

(Cleft Palate Speech: Assessment and Intervention, Sara Howard and Anette Lohmander, John Wiley & Sons, 2012, p 133) ---Sluzzelin talk 17:46, 16 July 2014 (UTC)[reply]

The sound may not be used as a phoneme in a language, but I think this sound can be used in Nonverbal communication, e.g. a snort [1] can indicate derision or incipient laughter -- see e.g. these examples on Google Ngram [2]. SemanticMantis (talk) 19:29, 17 July 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Jack In The Box

What would be the plural of this?

Jacks in the box? - this woud mean multiple Jacks in one box
Jack in the boxes? - this would mean the same Jack in all of the boxes
Jacks in the boxes - this seems to be more logical

KägeTorä - (^影_虎) (Chin Wag) 21:11, 16 July 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Methinks you've asked this question before; see Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Language/2014 February 4#Jack In The Box Plural. -- Jack of Oz ^{[pleasantries]} 21:25, 16 July 2014 (UTC)[reply]

I have indeed. Thank you for pointing that out to me. KägeTorä - (^影_虎) (Chin Wag) 23:01, 16 July 2014 (UTC)[reply]

You're most welcome. See, I'm a lazy sod, and I'm attracted to anything that avoids us having to reinvent the wheel. (But I have this fantastic new idea, about everyone in the world being connected through their computers, and antiquating many existing forms of communication. Radical, sure, but it just might catch on. I wonder where the nearest patent office is ... ). -- Jack of Oz ^{[pleasantries]} 23:17, 16 July 2014 (UTC)[reply]

You're a sarcastic b*stard, but you know I like you. KägeTorä - (^影_虎) (Chin Wag) 00:55, 17 July 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Bustard? ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 07:07, 18 July 2014 (UTC)[reply]

bistard? bestard? bustard? byStard? boostard? baystard? -- Jack of Oz ^{[pleasantries]} 11:16, 18 July 2014 (UTC) [reply]

I always thought a bustard was a driver who didn't know his route. KägeTorä - (^影_虎) (Chin Wag) 14:51, 18 July 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Not to be confused with a busturd, which is what the homeless guy on that backseat leaves behind. StuRat (talk) 15:29, 18 July 2014 (UTC) [reply]

Greek epsilon with caron

I'm looking for the Greek letter ε with a háček/caron needed for the IPA of pinyin. --2.245.175.139 (talk) 23:50, 16 July 2014 (UTC)[reply]

See fr:Ɛ̌.—Wavelength (talk) 23:57, 16 July 2014 (UTC)[reply]

The hexadecimal HTML codes Ɛ̌ and ɛ̌ produce Ɛ̌ and ɛ̌ respectively.

—Wavelength (talk) 17:29, 17 July 2014 (UTC)[reply]

The proper glyph for open-mid front unrounded vowel, /ɛ/ is the latter, U+025B ɛ LATIN SMALL LETTER OPEN E. No such user (talk) 08:19, 19 July 2014 (UTC)[reply]

July 17

What does "Renaissance boy" in this sentence mean?

In Amis' book "Lionel Asbo:State of England",the following sentences can be read; "I fancy modern languages, sir. And history. And sociology. And astronomy. And- You can't study everything, you know. Yes I can. Renaissance boy, innit. ..You want to watch that smile,lad. All right.We will see about you."

And what's the "smile" ? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 210.22.166.186 (talk) 05:45, 17 July 2014 (UTC)[reply]

A "renaissance boy" is a younger equivalent of the renaissance man. As for what's meant by "You want to watch that smile, lad", I think it depends on the context. It might mean "Wipe that smirk off your face" but it might mean any of a number of other things. —Aɴɢʀ (talk) 06:32, 17 July 2014 (UTC)[reply]

This question was asked and answered here two weeks ago.--Shantavira|^{feed me} 15:14, 17 July 2014 (UTC)[reply]

What are the Chinese characters?

What are the Chinese characters here? File:ShanghaiUnknownHS.jpg

Thanks WhisperToMe (talk) 20:13, 17 July 2014 (UTC)[reply]

上海市

澄衷初彶中学

→Σ σ ς. (Sigma) 20:22, 17 July 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Thank you! What about File:HongqiaoNewHighSchool.jpg? I can't find the Chinese name from the English. Also File:ShanghaiUnknownES.jpg and File:ShanghaiUnknownSecSchool.jpg

So 上海市澄衷初级中学 would be Shanghai City Chengzhong Junior High School, right? WhisperToMe (talk) 20:25, 17 July 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Meaning of series of symbols

Template:Formerly

I dont get what የ ሓበሻ ሻ ጆ means. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 174.16.157.243 (talk) 20:14, 17 July 2014 (UTC)[reply]

I am revising the heading of this section from Question to Meaning of series of symbols, in harmony with WP:TPOC, point 12 (Section headings). Please see Microcontent: How to Write Headlines, Page Titles, and Subject Lines. The new heading facilitates recognition of the topic in links and watchlists and tables of contents.

—Wavelength (talk) 20:27, 17 July 2014 (UTC)[reply]

It's Amharic. The language of Ethiopia. I have no idea what it means. KägeTorä - (^影_虎) (Chin Wag) 21:53, 17 July 2014 (UTC)[reply]

The Ge'ez script is used for various languages.

—Wavelength (talk) 22:35, 17 July 2014 (UTC)[reply]

It appears to mean ya ḥābašā šā ǧo. Is that any help? Where did you find it? —Tamfang (talk) 05:40, 18 July 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Habasha is the Arabic name for Ethiopia and/or Abyssinia; I expect that it's used in other languages as well. --Xuxl (talk) 12:00, 18 July 2014 (UTC)[reply]

July 18

Names' Names

Good Afternoon, I would be most grateful for your help in regard to a reference that is quoted in http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/-onym.

The last paragraph of the inntroductory section of the article reads:

According to a 1988 study[1] of words ending in -onym, there are four discernible classes of -onym words: (1) historic, classic, or, for want of better terms, naturally occurring or common words; (2) scientific terminology, occurring in particular in linguistics, onomastics, etc.; (3) language games; and (4) nonce words. Older terms are known to gain new, sometimes contradictory, meanings (e.g., eponym and cryptonym). In many cases, two or more words describe the same phenomenon, but no precedence is discernable (e.g., necronym and penthonym). New words are sometimes created, the meaning of which duplicating existing terms. On occasion, new words are formed with little regard to historical principles.

and the reference [1] refers to Scheetz, Names' Names, p. 1.

The full title of that article is given later under 'References' and is

Names' Names: A Descriptive and Prescriptive Onymicon. (“What’s In a Name?” Chapbook Series; 2.) Sioux City, Ia.: Schütz Verlag, August 1988.

So far so good _but_ my researches so far have revealed that that article was some 20 pages in length and was issued by the author in a _very_ limited edition of just 50 copies and so far I have not been able to find a single one (:

However, it is clear that the author of the paragraph quoted above _must_ have had some form of access to Scheetz' publication.

Since I really would like to be able to read the entire publication I wondered if you could possibly contact the author and ask her/him to contact me

I appreciate that this is an unusual request and it is not made lightly and I hope that you will feel able to help

Many thanks Yours Michael Message 81.86.115.192 (talk) 10:44, 18 July 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Looking at the history of that page, the information was added by User:PlaysInPeoria in this edit [3]. You would probably need to ask that editor (PlaysInPeoria). It looks like they're still occasionally active, and including a link to their name here in this comment should mean they receive a notification to join this conversation. 86.164.27.197 (talk) 13:19, 18 July 2014 (UTC)[reply]

The other place to ask is at the resource exchange. --ColinFine (talk) 15:45, 18 July 2014 (UTC)[reply]

off of

Hello. What does it mean to say "I'm living off of grass", it's from the song Something in the Way. -- 2.181.80.201 (talk) 15:44, 18 July 2014 (UTC)[reply]

"Off of" is normal in some dialects of English where other dialects (and Standard Englishes) use "off" or "from". So "living off of" means the same as "living off". What "grass" means in this song I couldn't say without context. Quite likely cannabis, but it may be something else. --ColinFine (talk) 15:48, 18 July 2014 (UTC)[reply]

So, taken literally, it would mean "I derive all my nutritional needs from grass". Unless the singer happens to be a ruminant, I find this unlikely, so it probably means "I smoke a large quantity of cannabis", as noted above. StuRat (talk) 17:14, 18 July 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Just to say that the lyrics were written by Kurt Cobain who comes from Aberdeen, Washington, so "off of" must have some colloquial use in the USA too. Looking at the lyrics on Google, it talks about the subject living under a bridge and not having the heart to kill the animals that he traps, so it's possible that it means that he lives in such straightened circumstances that he's reduced to eating grass for sustenance (I know humans can't digest grass, but Cobain may not have done). Besides that, looking for sense in popular music lyrics is often a fruitless pursuit. 17:53, 18 July 2014 (UTC)

It's OK to eat fish, because they're not made of cellulose. And "they don't have any feelings." InedibleHulk (talk) 18:41, July 18, 2014 (UTC)

But, as the song article says, if Cobain was literally under the bridge, he'd have been swept away by the Wishkah River. InedibleHulk (talk) 18:46, July 18, 2014 (UTC)

Probably not what Kurt meant, but I'll note that contrary to some comments above, millions of people derive their sustenance primarily from grass grass. Another thing to consider is that "I went off of [stuff]" can mean "I stopped using [stuff]]" in some contexts. But in my experience "living off of" would mean something like "sustaining myself by," e.g. "living off of my inheritance." does not mean that the speaker eats her inheritance, but that it provides a means for living.

As for people being so hungry that they eat non-nutritive turf grasses, there are many reports of such in the media [4], [5]. SemanticMantis (talk) 19:04, 18 July 2014 (UTC)[reply]

From my experience, having weed for yourself at night is harder when you're homeless. Friends will share while you're couch-surfing, but generally won't follow you under the bridge (where he may indeed have slept a few times). When you're sober, alone and getting dripped on, depression and introspection follow, and if you're a songwriter, something like "Something in the Way" may occur.

Also keep in mind, cats eat grass to purge their systems. Could be that "living off of grass" means "getting off of something else". Something that was in the way, perhaps. Cats seem a common animal to trap and befriend in Aberdeen, and may have given him the fishing idea, too. InedibleHulk (talk) 20:27, July 18, 2014 (UTC)

The recent release of the film Jersey Boys has re-ignited discussion over the original title of Can't Take My Eyes Off (Of) You. HiLo48 (talk) 09:13, 19 July 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Franki Valli sang it without the "of". ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 14:12, 19 July 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Just to remind everyone, while the narrow question of what the "off of" means, we've all likely over analyzed what the deeper meaning of the song is. Cobain wrote (like many writers) for many different reasons, and "telling a literal autobiographical story which was entirely plausible and likely could happen" is but one possibility, and is likely not even the meaning behind this one song. Cobain wrote many songs based on the meter, rhythm, and sounds of the words themselves rather than having any inherent meaning; his songs could also have emotional or allegorical meaning. After scanning some google searches on meanings of this song, I'm led to think that Charles R. Cross's biography of Cobain titled Heavier Than Heaven may have some insight as to Cobain's songwriting process and the meaning of this song in particular. Several websites I have found say as much. I've not read it, but if someone wants to know what Cobain really meant behind his words, it would be a good way to start. --Jayron32 15:45, 20 July 2014 (UTC)[reply]

I've heard him say about as much about "meaning" in interviews. If "nothing on the top but a bucket and a mop, and an illustrated book about birds" goes any deeper than syllables, I'd be shocked. But this one has always seemed uniquely straightforward. Of course, that may just be my own paleomammalian complex reacting to the sound itself. The esteemed psychologist Alfred M. Yankovic may have clearly explained the unexplainable in "Smells Like Nirvana". Bargling noodle zous (or nawdle zouss) does beat raising cattle. InedibleHulk (talk) 20:58, July 20, 2014 (UTC)

Hard on

What is the origin and etymology of this word/phrase?--86.171.5.136 (talk) 20:07, 18 July 2014 (UTC)[reply]

As in erections or "you're being too hard on him". StuRat (talk) 20:36, 18 July 2014 (UTC)[reply]

First known use for a boner is 1888. I imagine it's simply because it gets "hard on" you. Like it gets "wide on" the others. InedibleHulk (talk) 20:39, July 18, 2014 (UTC)

There is a shop in Japan which uses the opposite. KägeTorä - (^影_虎) (Chin Wag) 20:42, 18 July 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Heh...junk. InedibleHulk (talk) 20:44, July 18, 2014 (UTC)

And there's this little shop in Redmond, which also qualifies as the opposite to "hard-on". They bought Nokia; wonder if they're gonna buy Pfizer too. - ¡Ouch! (^{hurt me} / _{more pain}) 05:51, 21 July 2014 (UTC)[reply]

July 19

leaving by the back door

In the sentence: "He left quietly by the back door, with as much dignity as he could muster." is "by" correct? My gut is mildly objecting and wants to replace it with "through" or "via". (My native ENGVAR is South African, the source of the sentence is British - probably what we now call "upper middle class" - from the 1950s). Roger (Dodger67) (talk) 07:51, 19 July 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Native Brit here, I see no problem with that sentence. --TammyMoet (talk) 08:55, 19 July 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Native USA'ian here. "By" is just fine there. I've heard and read it that way countless times. "Via" means "by way of". Just "by" by itself could be a shorter way of saying that. ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 08:56, 19 July 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Native Aussie here. It's fine by me. Some people might prefer "through the back door", which if read literally would be quite painful. -- Jack of Oz ^{[pleasantries]} 09:06, 19 July 2014 (UTC)[reply]

See File:1885 Punch three-volume-novel-parody Priestman-Atkinson.png for a little drawing of someone departing "through" a door... AnonMoos (talk) 19:18, 19 July 2014 (UTC)[reply]

I agree with all the above responses, that "by" is fine. But my introspection suggests a slight difference of meaning from "through" or "via". To me "by the back door" suggests that the back door is in a sense what he used to leave (tool, or method), as opposed to where he went through (route). I can't find any practical difference, but it has that feel to me. --ColinFine (talk) 09:11, 19 July 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Native Brit here. 'By' is fine. It means 'using', basically. If you said 'he went home by car', that would make sense. If you said he went home through the car, that would mean he got in one side and got out of the other side on his wy home. KägeTorä - (^影_虎) (Chin Wag) 09:18, 19 July 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Native ESL speaker here:o) The rest of the sentence would imply that the phrase “by the backdoor” carries some additional semantics. The backdoor (as opposed to front door) would be the entrance / the exit for tradesmen, domestics and lower class nobodies. Thus “leaving by the backdoor” may imply that the person is “sneaking out” in shame. Knowing the source of the citation may help. --Cookatoo.ergo.ZooM (talk) 15:22, 19 July 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Yes and that may have been intentional on the part of the writer, especially given the second clause of the sentence. --TammyMoet (talk) 16:43, 19 July 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Related Languages

I know that languages are grouped based on their roots, or presumed roots. Couldn't it be acceptable, however, to say that languages that have borrowed from each other are also related? KägeTorä - (^影_虎) (Chin Wag) 09:26, 19 July 2014 (UTC)[reply]

For linguists, it is rather important to keep these concepts apart, so we will typically insist that "related" can only be used in the genetic sense. In other cases we may speak of languages that have "converged", or of a "convergence area", a "sprachbund", or a language heavily "influenced" by another, and so on. Fut.Perf. ☼ 09:40, 19 July 2014 (UTC)[reply]

The distinction can be slightly blurry. Borrowing individual words would not make languages typologically related, but there are cases of languages adopting significant grammatical constructions from other languages when their communities are in contact. So English is an unambiguously Germanic language but which nonetheless has a little bit of Celtic syntax and a little bit of Romance word formation. Peter Grey (talk) 17:36, 19 July 2014 (UTC)[reply]

KageTora -- before 1800, most educated people would have had little reluctance to say that English was vaguely "related" to both French and Dutch (though Joseph Justus Scaliger was already classifying European languages by their word for "God"), but since that time linguists have been able to discern several different and distinct ways in which languages can have similarities, and don't wish to lapse into earlier terminological confusion... AnonMoos (talk) 19:11, 19 July 2014 (UTC)[reply]

I am quite aware of linguistics, having studied it for years. I was just putting forward a theory. Perhaps this is the wrong place, as it is not a forum for discussion. I was just wondering if anyone had any links to a book or something which had the same idea.

KägeTorä - (^影_虎) (Chin Wag) 23:13, 19 July 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Linguistics already has a long-standing genetic/genealogical analogy (mentioned by Fut.Perf. above), wherein one language can "give birth" to another, which then inherits certain traits and features of the "parent". I think the biological analogue of what you're describing would be horizontal gene transfer. A quick google of /horizontal transfer lingustics/ brought up this book [6], and this tantalizing scrap of what appears to be an abstract for a work in progress [7]. Hope that helps, SemanticMantis (talk) 22:24, 21 July 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Arab place name

Al Karak has the initial 'al' the article title, which I believe is a bit unusual among Arab place names in en.wiki. Am I correct? Is there a reason for this? A policy? trespassers william (talk) 21:11, 19 July 2014 (UTC)[reply]

It's fairly common, though there's inconsistency due to spelling the article "al" or "el", and separating it from the following word with a space or a hyphen, or joining the two directly together... AnonMoos (talk) 01:01, 20 July 2014 (UTC)[reply]

It used to be Kerak, but was moved, somewhat arbitrarily, I always thought. Adam Bishop (talk) 11:39, 20 July 2014 (UTC)[reply]

July 20

or not

What tone is implied by ending a question with the phrase "or not"? Seems to me it may imply impatience or perhaps a demand for a response. --Halcatalyst (talk) 00:48, 20 July 2014 (UTC)[reply]

I think you need to give an example so we understand the context. HiLo48 (talk) 00:55, 20 July 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Halcatalyst -- do you mean that "or not" at the end of a sentence becomes like a Tag question? -- AnonMoos (talk) 01:05, 20 July 2014 (UTC)[reply]

"Or not" can sometimes mean that the speaker is trying to take back whatever he just said, usually because whoever he's speaking to is reacting negatively. The implication may be that the speaker is thoughtless or self-absorbed, but there may also be an implication that the other person is a cruel, irrational meanie. A classic example:

Husband: "Honey, wouldn't you love a new toilet brush set for your birthday?"

Wife: (glowers menacingly)

Husband: "...or not."

That's not the only possibility, though. --NellieBly (talk) 02:39, 20 July 2014 (UTC)[reply]

That's the only way I hear it (at least as a two-word phrase). A form of wembling or conflict avoidance. Interchangeable with "On second thought..." or "Then again...". People (typically men on TV) who use the terms can't decide what the better idea is, just know they're wrong, somehow, and scared to guess again. Something like a tag question, without the explicit question. InedibleHulk (talk) 03:12, July 20, 2014 (UTC)

Examples might include: "Are you coming or not?" - "Is it raining or not?" - "Do you want to dance or not?" - "Are the kids fed or not?" --Halcatalyst (talk) 03:30, 20 July 2014 (UTC)[reply]

It's going to depend on the way it's said. You put a question mark only at the end, which to me implies that it's not said in an angry way, in which case it doesn't "imply impatience or perhaps a demand for a response".

Add an exclamation mark, to show it's said in an angry way, and then it does.

Adding a pause could also imply uncertainty or lack of confidence: "Do you want to dance ... or not ?".

Another case is where something changes mid-sentence: "Shall we eat dinner now ?" (opens oven door and smoke billows out) "... or not ?" StuRat (talk) 03:39, 20 July 2014 (UTC)[reply]

In other words, the use of the phrase isn't enough to imply any particular tone. --50.100.189.160 (talk) 04:06, 20 July 2014 (UTC)[reply]

But if you read someone yell "NOT!!!" after a sentence, it's proper to imagine in Wayne and/or Garth's's tone. Far less common today than a generation ago. I wish I could yell "NOT!!!" after that, but it's true. Still pops up here and there, though. InedibleHulk (talk) 04:30, July 20, 2014 (UTC)

interlingual communication

I’m trying to find the name of this phenomenon. Essentially, it’s when people are speaking separate languages to each other, but still comprehend each other. What is this? --66.190.99.112 (talk) 03:58, 20 July 2014 (UTC)[reply]

The closest term I can come up with at the moment is "receptive bilingualism". That section uses an example that is similar to what you are talking about.--William Thweatt ^Talk^Contribs 04:54, 20 July 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Typical of conversations between generations in immigrant households. -- Deborahjay (talk) 06:40, 20 July 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Some linguists also call it "semi-communication", although I personally find that a bit of a misnomer. Fut.Perf. ☼ 09:01, 20 July 2014 (UTC)[reply]

"Semicommunication"? What a bizarre term. There's even a movie about this, Um Filme Falado with a bunch of my favorite actors where they each speak their own language at dinner, yet understand each other well enough to hold a conversation. Tragic, but well worth seeing. Reminds one of the meaning of Boko Haram. μηδείς (talk) 23:09, 20 July 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Mutual intelligibility? But that's for related languages.Cfmarenostrum (talk) 12:35, 21 July 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Pronunciation of Russian aircraft models such as "Tu-2"

Many (but not all) Soviet and Russian aircraft have names that include the prefix assigned to the manufacturer or designer. So we have the Tupolev SB, but also the Tupolev Tu-2; the Polikarpov I-16 and the Polikarpov Po-2; the Beriev MBR-2 and the Beriev Be-30. I know how I would pronounce "MBR-2", but how would I say "Be-30"? Like the word "be", the individual letters "B-E", or would I say "Beriev 30"? Or something else? --203.96.145.52 (talk) 09:47, 20 July 2014 (UTC)[reply]

If you go by "AK-47", the letters would be pronounced separately, while if you go by "MiG-21", they would be pronounced as a word. For "I-16", the two options would be identical... AnonMoos (talk) 10:27, 20 July 2014 (UTC)[reply]

But... be careful with AK-47; the Soviets didn't even use the 47 prefix. It was tacked on by western intelligence, representing the year, 1947. In Soviet Russia, it was an "AK" without the 47, or the "Kalash'". - ¡Ouch! (^{hurt me} / _{more pain}) 06:11, 21 July 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Differences in meanings

What are the differenes in the shade of meanings of the following sentences:
1. There was half an hour left for the last entry.
2. Half an hour was there for the last entry.
3. Half an hour was left for the last entry.
Thanks. 14.139.82.7 (talk) 10:24, 20 July 2014 (UTC)Vineet Chaitanya[reply]

Number 2 is either archaically poetic or incorrect... AnonMoos (talk) 10:29, 20 July 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Depends on which word you stress. If you stress 'there' it is modern. KägeTorä - (^影_虎) (Chin Wag) 12:58, 20 July 2014 (UTC)[reply]

If you stress "there", then it's no longer an existential sentence, and so the meaning is completely different from 1 -- and "Half an hour" has to be some kind of quasi-concrete entity which can be present in a location, or some kind of quasi-volitional entity which can "be there for" something else... AnonMoos (talk) 16:27, 20 July 2014 (UTC)[reply]

I am not sure which type of measuring system for time you might have, but halves of hours do exist in our usual measuring system. KägeTorä - (^影_虎) (Chin Wag) 17:26, 20 July 2014 (UTC)[reply]

In #2, the absence of the word "left" means that "half an hour" is more likely to be the entry itself, as in filling out a time card, while the others sound more like half an hour is allotted to complete the last entry.

Also, depending on where the emphasis is, you might change the meaning. For example, emphasis on "half an hour" would indicate that this is an unusual amount of time, either less then needed or an excessive amount. StuRat (talk) 14:27, 20 July 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Japanese translation help

So, i've been working on the Man With A Mission article and in reviewing the Oricon charts, I noted an addition to the DVD page for the band. It's the third one on there, most recent one. I was able to determine that this is a movie of some kind and that the theme song for it is Your Way from the Man With A Mission album Tales of Purefly. So, I need two pieces of help.

1. What is the name of this film in understandable English? Because Google Translate is giving me "Www unusual life after making customs", which clearly is...not right. Or not very intelligible, at least. What's a better translation?

2. Is the ranking on Oricon of #60 for 1 week for the film or for the band's Your Way song due to it being used in the film?

If I could get some help with this, it would be very appreciated. Silverseren^C 21:39, 20 July 2014 (UTC)[reply]

1. "Going to the sex industry changed my life lol", or something like that. According to its Japanese Wikipedia article it's a 2channel post-turned-book-turned-movie about a guy who falls in love with a call girl. 2. The previous highest ranking (過去最高位) is 60th place~~; the current ranking is 3rd place (on the left). I assume that's the DVD's sales rank among DVDs that mention Man With A Mission in their metadata~~. -- BenRG (talk) 00:12, 21 July 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Ah, okay, so it's not something I would need to add to the article. Good to know. Thanks for the help. Silverseren^C 00:23, 21 July 2014 (UTC)[reply]

I guess I must be wrong about the meaning of the ranking numbers, unless they have 168+ albums. 過去最高位 does mean "highest past rank", 登場回数 means "times appearing", and the colored numbers on the left are also ranks of some sort, but I don't know how to interpret them. -- BenRG (talk) 00:40, 21 July 2014 (UTC)[reply]

July 21

July 22

The word "Holey"

How should the comparative and superlative form for the word "Holey" (adjective: full of holes) be spelled? Places I find by STFW do not seem to agree. Thieh (talk) 03:24, 22 July 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Wiktionary has "holier" and "holiest" at wikt:holey, but Collins English Dictionary has "holeyer" and "holeyest" at http://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/holey. In this instance, I prefer the forms given by Collins, because they avoid confusion with the inflected forms of "holy".

—Wavelength (talk) 03:36, 22 July 2014 (UTC)[reply]

I'd go with "holier" over "holeyer". Plenty of things are homophones, and people understand just fine, in the right context. Trying to avoid confusion like this would likely make more. InedibleHulk (talk) 03:40, July 22, 2014 (UTC)

I find that "has more holes" avoids any confusion, even in speech. --Jayron32 04:01, 22 July 2014 (UTC)[reply]

"Deceased"

I just watched an episode of the Antiques Roadshow filmed in Salt Lake City Utah. Two separate members of the public whose items were appraised used "deceased" in an identical manner that I'm not sure I've ever heard before. The first woman said something like "once my grandparents deceased I..." and then a man said "once my mother deceased I..." Note that even though they were not together at all, they were interviewed in the same segment (as they both brought in similar lamps), so there is a possibility the man heard the woman's usage, and then followed her lead in a way he wouldn't have if he hadn't just heard the word used that way. But anyway, two people saying this got my attention. Is this a common regional use? Is this common to any of you?--108.46.97.218 (talk) 04:35, 22 July 2014 (UTC)[reply]