Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Language/2012 September 16

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September 16

What does this girl's Chinese tattoo mean?

http://sphotos-a.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/375937_10151096517489401_1226392352_n.jpg She says it's her family members first names (Travis, Amanda and Jack) but I kind of doubt that they're translated properly... --58.178.198.68 (talk) 03:31, 16 September 2012 (UTC)

It says, "Never get a tattoo in a language you can't read." But seriously, it's not really translations, it's characters used for their phonetic values in Mandarin Chinese , but with some of the meaning of the charaters included. For example, "阿曼達" is (clickable) 阿 (a) 曼 (man) 達 (da).

"阿" is just there for the the sound, but "曼" can mean beautiful, and "達" can mean intelligent. Note that if spoken, it wouldn't sound exactly like "Amanda" in English, it would sound like "Āmàndá", the Chinese approximation of the English name. Sometimes this works with other Chinese dialects too, and with Japanese as well.

Google translate will actually do this for a lot of names: see mine.--Shirt58 (talk) 04:18, 16 September 2012 (UTC)

The first name is rendered 特拉维斯 (Tèlāwéisī – somewhat like "terh-lah-way-serh") which is probably as close as Mandarin gets to "Travis". The last name is rendered 千斤顶 (Qiānjīndǐng – "chian-jin-ding"), which doesn't sound to me like "Jack" at all. I think the standard Mandarin transliteration for "Jack" is 杰克 (Jiékè – "jieh-ker"). — Cheers, JackLee ^–talk– 19:35, 16 September 2012 (UTC)

千斤顶=Jack, hahaha, I learned a new word.--刻意(Kèyì) 14:56, 17 September 2012 (UTC)

Oh my goodness! Now that is a mistake. — Cheers, JackLee ^–talk– 15:44, 17 September 2012 (UTC)

Good thing that the guy's name wasn't Dick or Bob or . . . —Deor (talk) 15:48, 17 September 2012 (UTC)

Check out http://hanzismatter.blogspot.co.uk/ for more examples of why "never get a tattoo in a language you can't read" is very good advice. Also, never assume that your tattooist knows how to correctly read and write Chinese/Japanese/Korean/etc. just because s/he applies those characters to people's skin. Or that the people who've made up the flash (if you choose to go that route) know either. --Kurt Shaped Box (talk) 15:53, 17 September 2012 (UTC)

Don't even get one in a language you can read, because you never know what the outcome will be. KägeTorä - (影虎) (TALK) 08:10, 18 September 2012 (UTC)

That would be a good tattoo for Popeye, since he's a bit of an imp, and carries a torch for Olive Oyl. StuRat (talk) 16:34, 18 September 2012 (UTC)

The guy who did/does my ink always asks people to write down any words they want onto the form/questionnaire/disclaimer thing they sign before getting a tattoo. That way, if they end up with their wife or kid's name spelled wrong and threaten to sue (yep, this has apparently happened), it will be clear whose mistake it was. --Kurt Shaped Box (talk) 09:09, 18 September 2012 (UTC)

Oops, my bad. I just commented about the one I could read without looking it up. Was wondering when that website was going to be mentioned! Roland Barthes was fascinated by pragmatic semiotics in the culture of Japan, even wrote a book about it: Empire of Signs. Keen cyclists are beneficiaries of this: you can't take a bicycle on a train in Japan for obvious reasons, but when you put it in a "rinkobukuro" or "bike-bag" it stops being a bicycle and becomes an item of luggage. Thinking myself very clever, I wrote in kanji what I thought meant "fragile" (as in "easily physically damaged") on my bike-bag and I toted it around on trains for quite a long time. Then I overheard two say, dans la langue japonaise, "do you think he knows what that really means?" Appears I had written that my bike was "fragile", as in "emotionally fragile". --Shirt58 (talk) 11:17, 18 September 2012 (UTC)

You can take a bike on a train in Japan if you ask politely enough. I lived in Japan for ten years and travelled around very often by mountain bike, and I could get on the train with mine (usually in rural areas, and pretending the bike is broken also helps). It's prohibited, of course, but the train staff will let you on in rural areas at times when the train is empty. You'd never be able to do it in Central Tokyo - it's hard enough just getting yourself on the train there. KägeTorä - (影虎) (TALK) 04:22, 21 September 2012 (UTC)

I fixed your link. StuRat (talk) 09:21, 22 September 2012 (UTC)

"V P Lyubit Vas"? ("Vlad Putin Loves You"?)

Should this "В П Любит Вас" sign at this website be interpreted literally, as saying "loves" or as parodying "Uncle Sam Wants You"? Thanks. μηδείς (talk) 05:19, 16 September 2012 (UTC)

I'd say it's more like a "Big Brother loves you" kind of sign, i.e. "loves you [in a bad / undesirable way]".  dalahäst ^{(let's talk!)} 08:15, 16 September 2012 (UTC)

Presumably dalahäst refers to Big Brother (Nineteen Eighty-Four) ... Mitch Ames (talk) 09:33, 16 September 2012 (UTC)

Yes, but there seems to be no iconic "Big Brother Loves (as opposed to, is Watching) You" poster. Lyubit' doesn't seem to translate as 'want' either. μηδείς (talk) 18:55, 16 September 2012 (UTC)

I've never heard that meaning, either. It seems to be a play on the Uncle Sam poster, but with the basic message that whatever Putin's doing to the country to make him so incredibly "popular" at the moment, he's doing it for You, and you should be grateful. It could be used by people who are supporting him, but more likely sarcastically by people who are protesting against him. That's my 2 cents (or dve kopeyki in this case). -- ♬ Jack of Oz ♬ ^{[your turn]} 19:31, 16 September 2012 (UTC)

Well, if that poster is by his supporters then they have gone way beyond the Nazis in not caring how maniacal their leader looks. μηδείς (talk) 21:59, 16 September 2012 (UTC)

The green skin and red eyes on Putin in the poster make it clear they are not supporters of his (unless they are fans of the Incredible Hulk). StuRat (talk) 21:46, 16 September 2012 (UTC)

Looks kind of blue to me, maybe he was going for the Orion slave girl pimp look. μηδείς (talk) 21:05, 17 September 2012 (UTC)

The Monomakh's Cap and the old-fashioned script give the impression that he is a Muscovite tsar, and I would guess that it refers to the idea that the tsar loved the people (and that the people loved him back). Uncle Sam could definitely be an influence, though, as could Soviet posters like ru:Ты записался добровольцем?. I'm also almost certain he's not a Putin supporter. He is surrounded by supporters of the CPRF, which is a Communist party in the opposition. Lesgles (talk) 02:18, 18 September 2012 (UTC)

Funny, I was just about to ask if that was the Tsar's crown. The Russian caption of the poster means, "Have you signed yourself up as a volunteer?" μηδείς (talk) 02:36, 18 September 2012 (UTC)

Yes, the influence is not on the text, but possibly on the design. Lesgles (talk) 04:20, 18 September 2012 (UTC)

I gave the Russian translation only for those who don' read it, not as a criticism of your response. μηδείς (talk) 21:46, 18 September 2012 (UTC)

Ah, I see. :) Lesgles (talk) 21:59, 18 September 2012 (UTC)

What do you call it when you get a BIG fish?

When you are "fishing" (i.e. asking for information) what do you call it when you get a BIG fish? Normally one would expect to get the normal fish (i.e. normal information when asking a bunch of unrelated people the same question), but then every once in awhile you get a BIG fish (i.e. an answer you were not expecting, pleasant or not). Looking for a word other than "surprise". Example: a certain breed of puppies sell normally for $500 on average. You ask a dog owner who is down to his last puppy and is very motivated to get rid of it after selling his 10 others. You say: "What is the least you would accept for your puppy?" He answers: "You can have it for FREE! Just give it a loving home."--Christie the puppy lover (talk) 13:47, 16 September 2012 (UTC)

In the world of finance, this is called a windfall. --Jayron32 18:46, 16 September 2012 (UTC)

Serendipity? — Cheers, JackLee ^–talk– 19:23, 16 September 2012 (UTC)

Being in the right place at the right time. (And how come we don't have a single word for this very commonly-used expression, huh?) -- ♬ Jack of Oz ♬ ^{[your turn]} 19:39, 16 September 2012 (UTC)

Jack doesn't know about jackpots ? StuRat (talk) 21:42, 16 September 2012 (UTC)

Just leave me to my pot and everything's cool, man. Wait while I confirm this with that green man with the rainbow-coloured hair coming through the wall over there. -- ♬ Jack of Oz ♬ ^{[your turn]} 22:07, 16 September 2012 (UTC)

One of those people who can't handle her pot? I once gave someone I dated a joint, and she started mumbling "The ducks! The ducks!" like Brando in Apocalypse Now. Last time she got a toke. μηδείς (talk) 23:11, 16 September 2012 (UTC)

If it's information, a scoop. PS, can someone show the markup for linking to wiktionary? μηδείς (talk) 20:15, 16 September 2012 (UTC)

"[[wikt:WORD|WORD]]". — Cheers, JackLee ^–talk– 21:35, 16 September 2012 (UTC)

Thanks! μηδείς (talk) 21:54, 16 September 2012 (UTC)

Entry titles at Wiktionary are case-sensitive, so you have to type [[wikt:thanks|Thanks]] to link to an actual page. Angr (talk) 15:41, 18 September 2012 (UTC)

Thanks for that as well! μηδείς (talk) 18:44, 18 September 2012 (UTC)

Could also be a revelation or an epiphany, though those aren't words I'd usually associate with "free puppy".  Card Zero  (talk) 11:33, 17 September 2012 (UTC)

A jackpot, as in "You really hit the jackpot with that one !". StuRat (talk) 21:37, 16 September 2012 (UTC)

Thank you boys.--Christie the puppy lover (talk) 21:27, 16 September 2012 (UTC)

Paper News

I belive that I have coined a new phrase. Paper News as in news that is found in a paper form rather than digital. This is a total play on words for the 21st century. Can you tell me if the term Paper News has been used in this way beforeSkev1973 (talk) 23:21, 16 September 2012 (UTC)

Not sure, but this is a retronym. StuRat (talk) 23:25, 16 September 2012 (UTC)

Google gives me 2,350,000 hits for "paper news" (with the quotation marks). However, the first few don't seem to be quite the same sense as you are using it. One is news about paper, one is news from papers put on the web, etc. That 2nd one is pretty close, though. StuRat (talk) 23:29, 16 September 2012 (UTC)

As of now, I believe "newspaper" still means the thing made out of paper. If somebody reads an online news source, they are likely to specify so: "I went to cnn.com and saw...". However, this might change in the future. StuRat (talk) 23:32, 16 September 2012 (UTC)

It'll have to usurp the term dead tree edition.  Card Zero  (talk) 11:39, 17 September 2012 (UTC)