Reference Desks
editCurrent Questions
edit- November 10 - Wikipedia:Reference desk/Humanities#Norman Mailer - Why a Pulitzer for fiction? { NOTE: Add a Follow Up -- What does that title mean? }
- November 12 - Wikipedia:Reference desk/Humanities#Prescription ethics - Is it insurance fraud to receive pills not entitled to? Follow Up - Physical Robbery of a Rite Aid Pharmacy?
- November 12 - Wikipedia:Reference desk/Language#Veterans Day - Why no apostrophe in title? Saint Elmo's Fire?
- November 21 - Wikipedia:Reference desk/Language#What is the proper phrase? - What is the opposite of a bird's eye view?
- November 21 - Wikipedia:Reference desk/Language#Correct past tense of verb - The episode was broadcast / broadcasted one million times.
- November 21 - Wikipedia:Reference desk/Entertainment#Television shows - What order are TV episodes filmed / broadcast?
- November 21 - Wikipedia:Reference desk/Entertainment#Most broadcasted TV shows and episodes - What is most broadcast show?
- November 26 - Wikipedia:Reference desk/Entertainment#Celebrity Birthdays - What is Cuba Gooding, Jr.'s birthday? --- NY Attorney General / Public Integrity Office = 212 - 416 - 8090 (A. Cunningham)
- December 05 - Wikipedia:Reference desk/Language#Encyclopedic Value - Definition? Wiki policy?
- December 18 - Wikipedia:Reference desk/Language#Verb tense - Past versus Past Perfect?
- December 19 - Wikipedia:Reference desk/Language#Verb tense follow-up - Past versus Past Perfect ... Follow Up: What is the tense called when you go into the past, yet pretend it's the present? Example: List of Academy Award records
- December 22 - Wikipedia:Reference desk/Miscellaneous#Removing price stickers from gifts - How to remove the adhesive?
- January 21 - Wikipedia:Reference desk/Language#Better wording - Oscars 58 of 79 Directors & Best Pictures ... MAYBE: Of the 79 films that have won Best Picture, the directors of 58 of them have won Best Director.
- February 11 - Wikipedia:Reference desk/Language#Singular versus plural - He is a five year old kid versus a five yearS old kid.
- February 14 - Wikipedia:Reference desk/Computing#Microsoft Word question - Check mark symbols ... hidden excel values
- February 20 - Wikipedia:Reference desk/Language#Which versus that - Which versus that? Will versus shall? (CUT AND PASTE and SAVE after discussion ends)
- Language - Subject Verb Agreement
- Language - sic ............. & pen name / psuedonym for Coens
- Math - a straight line --- CURVED lines on highway / roads? are called what? (mathematically, what shape?)
- June 22 - Wikipedia:Reference desk/Miscellaneous#Taxes
- Language -- is a person IN or ON a list? is a person's name IN or ON a list?
- Humanities / Language / Entertainment = Pinocchio = Italian = Geppetto / Pinocchio = Italian words? Play on words?
Future Questions
edit- Marines - capital "M"?
- Can you eat your own self
- Ask Question CP - drawings cartoons photoshop words books writings
- Psychology -- ??
- Language -- opp of egotist egoist egocentric etc (ethno)?
- People versus persons
- Science - fecal - smell - why biological / evolutionary reason -- Defecate
- Poem / science -- speed of light / returned the previous night
- Math neg * neg = pos numbers
- "White lie" named that why?
- How do they know/create OLD stats - 27,000 killed in 1407 flood (etc.) -- last comet was year 1273
- What causes optical illusions
- Planet / moon ???????
- Can you die from pain per se / anesthesia in olden days / can you have surgery without anesthesia
- The Night the Lights Went out in Georgia
- Science - generic drugs / composition / price (versus) generic consumer items / products ... quality
- Insanity AFTER incarceration
- Free fall 9-11
- Move the Photo of the Day up to visibility on the Main Page
- Alpha order for the 6 Ref Desks
- Text message -- texted texxed spell pronounce
- Bottled water -- keep in fridge versus out
- Perfect game in baseball
- Flags of England
- Computer desk - use of dingbats
- The number seven -- with or without a slash -- meaning? why?
- Good rule of thumb -- # of Math questions on a test
- How to "grade" -- absolute versus relative
- Sticky keys / shortcut / control XXXXX for my password
- Where can I find these 3 books (Buildings / Paintings / Photos that Changed the World)
- Why vandalize Wikipedia
- Why a gazillion fonts on Microsoft?
- Terms - bastard versus illegitimate - nuance differences? birth or conception w/o marriage? legal ramification? historical rooting?
- How do doctors manage to do surgery on the wrong side of the brain / limb? etc.
- Why do they use the (at) word instead of the @ symbol? Example: EDITOR'S NOTE - Frazier Moore is a national television columnist for The Associated Press. He can be reached at fmoore(at)ap.org
- He did or did not "refuse" the Oscar? Marlon Brando refused to accept the Best Actor Award for The Godfather (1972); he sent Sacheen Littlefeather to accept it on his behalf ...
- If urine sterile, why yellow as opposed to clear/water?
- What exacly is the function / purpose of tissue paper?
- An animal may be male/female. Is proper pronoun he/she or it?
- Does Wiki keep stats on each page's contributors?
- Is there a Wiki "term" for people who make a mad dash to enter new info? ex: Academy Awards
- What is typing convention? 8 space 1/2 8 1/2 81/2 8h 8 h
- When you italicize a film title, TV show, book, etc. ... does that refer to the film or the film's title? EX: The film's title Shine connotes David's brightness while coming from a history of darkness. Several previous alternate titles included "Flight of the Bumblebee" and "Helfgott".
- If you say "John and Mary are siblings" ( or brothers or sisters or whatever ) ... is there a word / way to distinguish that they are siblings of each other versus of someone else?
- Film dialogue - do they use any of it? do the later record it all over again? how do actors get the mouth movements & script lines in synch / to match?
- no "sic" (much less, two) IS warranted ... or ARE warranted ? when you have a singular noun and a parenthetical plural noun (or vice versa), is the verb singular or plural?
- What exactly are movie premieres? Isn't there a first showing / party for all major players / producers / director / etc? How do we hear stories that such and such never watches his own films?
- What are the biggest Oscar "mistakes"? Which film/actor/director was "robbed" of an Oscar? Any "classic" well-agreed upon instances?
- Criminals' mug shots - today they look unkempt and dishevelled ... in the "old days", they always looked clean cut / wore ties / etc. Why?
- left hand right hand ... WHY so much more prevalent ? ... is there an evolutionary reason? ... why left considered bad?
- actors in porno movies - receive money/payment for sex - why is this not illegal? why are they not charged with prostitution?
- to declare a saint, the person must be "incorrupt" - but the body can not have been embalmed - does the Roman Catholic Church engage in a process of NOT embalming a Pope when they die -- knowing that (later) they might be incorrupt? why or why not? (anticipating that the Pope might later be under review for being declared a saint) -- i.e., does his possible sainthood make them NOT embalm when he dies?
- can I have several (not just one) Wikipedia watch lists? If not ... can I split them up by category / etc. somehow? (e.g., a watchlist category for X type of articles, a separate watchlist category for Y type of articles, etc.)
- the phone company/police can get your phone records ... they can see exactly when you made a phone call, etc. BUT -- what about text messages and photos? does the phone company keep a copy of every text message that I send/receive? what about cell phone photos?
- is this sentence correct? Is the verb "would" appropriate ????? What is the correct tense to use in a situation like this? "The 81st Academy Awards ceremony would be the last during Sid Ganis' tenure as president of the Academy. Host Hugh Jackman acknowledged that Ganis was stepping down from his position, one which Ganis has held since 2005."
- how come we don't "consider" some words to "rhyme"? example: pig/wig IS a rhyme ... cat/hat IS a rhyme. Why not words like ( think of some good examples here ---- possibly, "major"/"her" ... like that?) ...? why does that "rhyme" leave U feeling "flat / deflated"? Isn't it technically a "rhyme"? Then why doesn't it "work" ?
- NFL boat deaths -- what exactly do they do out there in the water, while waiting for days / hours?
- what is the origin of SAUCY ... consistency of sauce ... how does that equal = bold, cocky, flippant, etc ...what is the connection ???
- if you are "lost" / abandoned ... re: cell phone ... is it better to keep the phone "on" hoping that you get a phone call or at least emit a cell tower signal ... or is it better to shut it off to preserve battery? advice for emergency?
Past questions
editLiterature / Poetry
editCertainly, this question involves subjectivity. But, a valid question, nonetheless. If one were to ask for the "Top 100" (or Top Ten or Top Whatever) Authors of All Time, there is no right or wrong answer, of course. And the definition of "Top" is fuzzy, arguable, and subjective, at best. But, surely, all lists would likely include the "givens" such as Shakespeare, Joyce, Hemingway, etc. Top 100 Movies? ... Citizen Kane, Casablanca, The Godfather, etc. Top 100 Actors? ... Olivier, Hepburn, Gielgud, etc. What would likely constitute the "givens" on a list of Top Poems of All Time? Poems, I say, not poets. Thanks. (Joseph A. Spadaro (talk) 07:07, 18 January 2008 (UTC))
- Possibly "Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?" (Shakespeare), "Do not go gentle into that good night" (Thomas), "The Raven" (Poe) are the first three that come to mind. Also perhaps Ullyses, Stop all the Clocks, Jabberwocky. These are of course, well known, rather than best, because best, as you say, is subjective, but That might give you a start on your own list (which I'm guessing you might be constructing). Steewi (talk) 07:21, 18 January 2008 (UTC)
- I thought of "The Raven" first, then "Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening", "The Road Not Taken" and others, even "A Visit from St. Nicholas" all of which are notable enough to have an article here. It seems a good place to start looking might be the master Category:Poems which contains many subcategories, each containing many notable poems. AUTiger » talk 07:52, 18 January 2008 (UTC)
- I'm on a modernist kick at the moment, so I would add The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock and The Waste Land. Plus some Yeats; possibly Easter, 1916? Algebraist 11:20, 18 January 2008 (UTC)
- I'd add I Am by John Clare, my favourite C19 poet. He prefigured modernist questioning of self-identity in this famous poem, which is very moving when you know the history of his life and mental breakdowns. Also I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud by William Wordsworth should probably be in there. "The Whitsun Weddings" by Philip Larkin. "The Thought Fox" by Ted Hughes. --Richardrj talk email 11:34, 18 January 2008 (UTC)
- I'm on a modernist kick at the moment, so I would add The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock and The Waste Land. Plus some Yeats; possibly Easter, 1916? Algebraist 11:20, 18 January 2008 (UTC)
- I thought of "The Raven" first, then "Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening", "The Road Not Taken" and others, even "A Visit from St. Nicholas" all of which are notable enough to have an article here. It seems a good place to start looking might be the master Category:Poems which contains many subcategories, each containing many notable poems. AUTiger » talk 07:52, 18 January 2008 (UTC)
Reaching back into the past a bit, I'd propose:
* "The Iliad" and "The Odyssey" by Homer
* "Beowulf" by an unkown author
* "The Gathas" by Zoroaster
* "The Rubaiyat" by Omar Khayyám
* "The Aeneid" by Virgil
* "The Psalms of the Bible" attributed to David (this may not match the criteria, since it's a collection of poems rather than just one poem)
* "The Songs of Chu" by Qu Yuan and Song Yu (again, a collection of poems)
* "Oku No Hosomichi" by Matsuo Bashō (yet again another collection of poems)
* "The Rg Veda" by unknown authors (another collection)
-- Saukkomies 09:35, 18 January 2008 (UTC)
- The Metamorphoses, Les Fleurs du mal (if collections of poetry are acceptable), Eugene Onegin (if a "novel in verse" is acceptable). 194.171.56.13 (talk) 15:17, 18 January 2008 (UTC)
And let's not forget She Walks in Beauty by Byron as well as the Rime of the Ancient Mariner and Kubla Khan by Coleridge. Ooh, and Ozymandias by Shelley. All favourites of mine. Matt Deres (talk) 16:05, 18 January 2008 (UTC)
- Sir Gawain and the Green Knight and Chaucer's Canterbury Tales. Wrad (talk) 16:10, 18 January 2008 (UTC)
- I almost forgot L'après-midi d'un faune. 194.171.56.13 (talk) 19:43, 18 January 2008 (UTC)
- If, Fitzgerald's Khayam, Whitman. DuncanHill (talk) 20:34, 18 January 2008 (UTC)
- This list could go on forever, and I'd disagree with some of the above suggestions, but I couldn't believe that The Divine Comedy, Paradise Lost, and The Song of Roland didn't make the list yet. Epic poetry is apparently coming down in the world. :-) Jwrosenzweig (talk) 06:44, 20 January 2008 (UTC)
- Don't overlook that the epic poems from Homer and of Beowulf and the Aeneid were included... It's just that, as you point out, this list could go on forever. -- Saukkomies 08:24, 20 January 2008 (UTC)
Thanks a lot! You all touched on some great ones ... including some of my favorites ... and some that I had completely forgotten all about! Thank you. (Joseph A. Spadaro (talk) 17:23, 21 January 2008 (UTC))
How do they do that?
editI will phrase this question the best way that I can, so bear with me. Some languages (like English) use the "regular" and "traditional" alphabet ... characters such as a, b, c, ... x, y, z, etc. Some other languages (I am thinking of Chinese, Japanese, Arabic, etc.) use other "odd" characters or symbols. I can't recreate them using my keyboard ... but, you know the kind of symbols I mean. The Chinese symbols that people sometimes get tattoos of or that you see on a Chinese menu, or the Arabic symbols that you see on those Al Quaeda terrorist videotapes sent to TV stations or on Arabic language TV news casts, etc. They all look like squiggly lines / curves, basically. So, my question is: how do people using those languages put things (words, lists, names, etc.) in "alphabetical" order? Surely, they must have a need at some point to generate long lists, and I can't imagine that they just willy-nilly put any squiggly symbol in any random order? Thanks. (Joseph A. Spadaro (talk) 16:20, 25 January 2008 (UTC))
- Just to point out - Arabic language is an alphabetic language, if we're lucky this will shew up blue Arabic alphabet. DuncanHill (talk) 16:24, 25 January 2008 (UTC)
- We also have Writing system which explains about the different systems of writing. DuncanHill (talk) 16:25, 25 January 2008 (UTC)
Even among languages (like English) that use the Latin alphabet, not all have the same rules for alphabetizing. For example, in Spanish, "ch" and "ll" are each treated as a single letter (following "c" and "l" respectively). You might find collation of interest. It's probably the broadest article on the subject, handling both alphabetical and non-alphabetical writing systems. - Jmabel | Talk 19:06, 25 January 2008 (UTC)
- True, the Welsh alphabet goes "a, b, c, ch, d, dd, e, f, ff, g, ng, h, i, l, ll, m, n, o, p, ph, r, rh, s, t, th, u, w, y" with the digraphs all counting as single letters where crossword puzzles are concerned. -- Arwel (talk) 23:22, 25 January 2008 (UTC)
Chinese characters represent ideas rather than sound, so they can't be automatically alphabetised. See the thread about "Japanese words" for links to the traditional radical-and-stroke ordering. However, Chinese characters are nowadays usually arranged alphabetically in dictionaries by their pinyin romanisation. Pinyin is a scheme to represent the pronunciations of the characters in Roman letters (what you called "regular" writing).
This is analogous (though a much younger development) to developments in other countries that formerly used Chinese characters, e.g. Japan, Korea, and Vietnam, all of which have "gone phonetic" by developing their own, phonetic, writing systems which can be ordered "alphabetically". Vietnamese, especially, is now written with Roman letters.--PalaceGuard008 (Talk) 01:11, 26 January 2008 (UTC)
- For what it's worth, the Chinese dictionary addresses the issue of there being no "alphabetical order" for Chinese. Yet Chinese dictionaries have been made since ancient times. The article says that the Chinese "developed three original systems for lexicographical ordering: semantic categories, graphic components, and pronunciations", and then goes on to describe how each of these three systems works. Pfly (talk) 08:06, 26 January 2008 (UTC)
The Arabic alphabet comes from the same source as the English one, and it used to be arranged in a similar order, but at some point the standard order came to be grouped by the shapes of the letters. So now instead of alif-baa-jiim (like aleph-beth-gimel in Hebrew, alpha-beta-gamma in Greek, and a-b-c in Latin/English), it goes alif-baa-taa-thaa-jiim-haa-khaa etc, since b-t-th are based on the same shape, jiim-haa-khaa on a different shape, etc. Adam Bishop (talk) 08:56, 26 January 2008 (UTC)
- Well, Chinese characters have no alphabetical order, but a relatively new invention allows one to spell out the sounds (and type them out with the right software: pinyin. However, many of the sounds are different from confentional English letters. C is pronounced "ts", g is always hard, i is pronounced "ee" except in some cases such as "shi" and "chi" and "zhi" that makes it a sound I can't discribe, although some westerners describe it as "er". To name a few more, u is pronounced "oou" (with round lips instead of flat), z is pronounced "dz", zh is pronounced "j", and so on. One major difference is that there is no v, instead there is a(n) ü with omlaut-like accent, so "he is not big fish" would be ta1 bu2 shi4 da4 yü2, with numbers representing tones, although they don't commonly use numbers for this, flat caved, and slanted accent symbols arew often used. Hope this helps. Thanks. ~AH1(TCU) 19:49, 26 January 2008 (UTC)
Thanks for all the helpful responses and links. Much appreciated. I did not realize there was so much to all this. Thanks. (Joseph A. Spadaro (talk) 19:10, 27 January 2008 (UTC))
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