Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Humanities/2009 October 17

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October 17

which type a plant of miswak is used for these important person? Prophet Muhammad P.B.U.H, Prophet Isa Aliah Salam and Prophet Musa Aliah Salam for cleaning the teeth?

According to our Miswak article, Salvadora persica, the arak or peelu tree. Tevildo (talk) 11:56, 17 October 2009 (UTC)

William and the Nasties

This is a short story for children from the book William the Detective – it isn't published any more as far as I know, due to its (debateable) anti-Semitism. Does anybody know of a (free) online source where I can get the whole text... Google Books? Something similar? Thanks! ╟─TreasuryTag►stannary parliament─╢ 13:37, 17 October 2009 (UTC)

I couldn't find an online text, but it appears that while the story was eventually removed from William the Detective, this did not happen until the Macmillan edition of 1986 and it was thus still in the Armada editions published in the 1970s. These can be obtained online for relatively little, for example here's one. This could be an alternative way for you to read the story if you wish. Karenjc 15:02, 17 October 2009 (UTC)

Hadith about killing anyone who insults Prophets of Islam?

Any idea where such a hadith can be found? A muslim here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=det7TUsLy8U&feature=player_embedded seems to be quoting one from somewhere. Шизомби (talk) 16:40, 17 October 2009 (UTC)

This website says it is from Al-Mustadrak alaa al-Sahihain but gives no more details and I cannot find similar mentioned elsewhere. This website describes the extremism often found at islam4uk and fabricating quotes to support a view is common in most causes. This site has the well referenced hadith from many works, "He who insults Ali, insults me. He who insults me, insults Allah. And he who insults Allah, Allah will throw him into Hell" Mustadrak, hakim, vol 3 p 121. 18:14, 18 October 2009 (UTC) Here is a fatwa on the question. meltBanana 18:18, 18 October 2009 (UTC)

Chinese People

In Talk:Gweilo#derogatory, Cheerful Eric mentions "It's a the result of several hundred years of living under British rule.".

I came to think, is this the result of Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis? I want to point out that "feilo" ("肥佬", meaning "fat man") is a very common word for calling males fat. It's systematic, and by that I mean that it is regularly used; some people are actually called Fat Man "肥佬", or people use it as a nickname, or people refer to these fat men as "Fat Man" "肥佬", in the way that they would say "Hey, Fat Man, come here.". This is seen in movies. Another example is Lydia Shum. In the article, it says "She was affectionately known to peers and fans as Feifei (肥肥) ...." (肥 meaning fat). If I were her, I would never let anyone call me that. And this is public.

There are other names that people call each other, but maybe someone can list them. So in light of these phenomena, are these phenomena the result of

• Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis
• The opposite of Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis, where culture affects the language (we and others (people) use)
• Linguistics (where the rules of Cantonese grammer and syntax require Cantonese people to be so forward with names)
• Anthropology (where Cantonese culture does not mind insulting names)?174.3.111.148 (talk) 18:36, 17 October 2009 (UTC)

I have no real answer, but I would like to add something re: your last proposition. How do you know something (for instance, putting remarks about fatness into nicknames) is realy insulting? You may feel it is, and others around you may feel the same, but do the Cantonese friends of the mentioned actress feel that way? TomorrowTime (talk) 07:47, 18 October 2009 (UTC)

My impression was that white people who really fitted in properly and spoke Hakka or Cantonese or whatever would be quite happy to call a chinese colleague a yellow devil. Possibly people like to keep the language and culture together so they can switch mode easily. Dmcq (talk) 10:03, 18 October 2009 (UTC)

You might find it useful to examine different cultures' perspectives on ideal body types. Just as Mid-evil Europe celebrated plump figures, there is a strong association in traditional Chinese culture that fat = healthy. So, calling Lydia Shum "Fatty" might well be akin to something like "Hey, good-looking!" DOR (HK) (talk) 04:57, 19 October 2009 (UTC)

Victoria of the UK + George V of Hanover?

When she was choosing a husband, Victoria obviously wasn't concerned with the fact that Albert was her first cousin. So why didn't she marry her paternal first cousin, the future King George V of Hanover, who was single at the time of her marriage to Albert? Had she married him, the Kingdom of Hanover and the UK would have formed a personal union again (assuming that Prussia didn't annex Hanover) and a member of the House of Hanover would still reign in the UK. I am reluctant to accept Victoria's love for Albert as a reason; politics had proven to be much stronger than love so many times. It seems to me that the British simply wanted to cut the ties with Hanover. Why? Was it that better to be on good terms with Prussia than to have the crown of Hanover? Was it something else? Surtsicna (talk) 21:43, 17 October 2009 (UTC)

Albert was tall, good-looking, and intelligent; Victoria liked him immediately. He was also being promoted as her future husband by her uncle, Leopold of Belgium. IMO Victoria couldn't have done better. B00P (talk) 23:16, 17 October 2009 (UTC)

A couple of factors against George; a) he was totally blind - not much tolerence for disabilities in those days b) he was an convinced autocrat - not a good qualification for someone who would need to tiptoe through the minefield of the British Constitution. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Alansplodge (talk • contribs) 23:28, 17 October 2009 (UTC)

I have read (source long forgotten, I'm afraid) that the British establishment was very happy to lose Hanover, since it wasn't particularly useful and had the potential to embroil them in messy German disputes. Algebraist 12:06, 18 October 2009 (UTC)

Since George was almost exactly the same age as Victoria, part of the British Royal Family (indeed second in line for the throne after his father until Victoria's first child was born), and partly raised in Britain, they were almost certainly acquainted. That he was apparently not a candidate prior to Albert may indicate that there was at best no particular attraction between them, and when the equally eligible Albert proved attractive to Victoria at her relatively early age of 17 there would have been no incentive for her, or her advisors, to look elsewhere.

(Further) In any case, since the young Victoria was very closely controlled by her Mother and other advisors (including her uncle Leopold who, as B00P mentioned above, wished to sponsor Albert), potential suitors were selected by them, much as in many arranged marriages today; it was fortunate for both Victoria and Albert that they were so mutually attracted, but if the opposite had been true, doubtless other candidates would have been presented. 87.81.230.195 (talk) 16:08, 18 October 2009 (UTC)

The political and strategic awkwardness for the British of continental entanglements resulting from just such a dual monarchy was clearly demonstrated as early as the Seven Years' War. The medieval idea of joining together disparate nations by dynastic marriages ordinarily appeals today only to the kind of genealogists who compile huge lists of the claimants to various thrones.--Wetman (talk) 08:38, 19 October 2009 (UTC)

How about King William's War (named by the American colonists for William III of Orange, husband of and co-monarch with Mary II of England and III of Scotland) or War of the Grand Alliance; the Hanoverians weren't the first imported monarchs to embroil England and Scotland in quarrels more relevant to the monarchs' continental interests than to Britain's insular, maritime and imperial ones. —— Shakescene (talk) 21:05, 22 October 2009 (UTC)

test (see if this brings it back to the front) —— Shakescene (talk) 21:09, 22 October 2009 (UTC)