Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Humanities/2015 April 9

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April 9

Is the life insurance contract toast?

Life insurance policy issued, with a certificate number and everything, asking for acceptance confirmation within 10 days. It's postmarked a day before the Insured died (a conversion from a Group Life policy to an individual, fixed payout upon retirement). I had written on the conversion form that the spouse would be the new owner of the policy, but while the check was accepted (amount due is now $0), it has not been cashed and the Owner is listed as the deceased on the acceptance form. New York State. Thank you. 69.22.242.15 (talk) 00:30, 9 April 2015 (UTC)

This appears to be a request for legal advice - which we do not answer. AndyTheGrump (talk) 00:34, 9 April 2015 (UTC)

Turkmen

What constitutions did the Turkmen SSR have, and when were they promulgated?Moclone (talk) 01:21, 9 April 2015 (UTC)

We love to help but did you even try google "turkmen ssr constitution"? (sans quotes) (1st hit at the top - google books) 196.213.35.146 (talk) 13:28, 9 April 2015 (UTC)

That only gives the date of promulgation of the first Turkmen SSR Constitution (1927), and doesn't say whether there were subsequent constitutions during the Soviet period. Hathi Trust has a copy of a Constitution that was promulgated on 2 March, 1937 (this same Constitution was still in use, as amended, at least through March 1948). That's all I can find though. And of course, the post-soviet constitution was promulgated in 1992. —/Mendaliv/^2¢/_Δ's/ 15:21, 9 April 2015 (UTC)

Cielito Lindo

What's the gender of Cielito Lindo? I always assumed male, because it isn't *Cielita Linda. But Santa Barbara Music Publishing has a translation in their sheet music SBMP 566, which reads "... her black eyes like those of a smuggler", and translates "lindo" with "pretty", not "handsome". — Sebastian 15:35, 9 April 2015 (UTC)

Cielito Lindo means approximately "nice skies", and it is used for very much the same sense than "sweetheart" was in English. It does not need to follow other gender agreements, as they are intended implied by the context.--Askedonty (talk) 16:02, 9 April 2015 (UTC)

You are right, of course. It's very common for love songs to be intentionally vague about gender, so they appeal to people regardless of their sexual orientation. As the creator of {{gender-neutral}} I should have known better. :-] — Sebastian 18:08, 9 April 2015 (UTC)

Probably that's what refdesks have been made for. In fact I'm not sure that a satisfying translation could be obtained without kind of "grammatically intruding" into the title expression, the way SBMP do. --Askedonty (talk) 18:30, 9 April 2015 (UTC)

I'm sorry, you lost me. I have no idea what you're talking about. — Sebastian 18:38, 9 April 2015 (UTC)

Sorry, I was just supposing that if you had been focusing on the translation given in the sheet music, as gender shifts do slightly differ between languages their presence is not always obvious from every possible view. In any event, in order to translate a foreign expression while keeping the original image and that image is not known in the destination language, that image has to be exaggerated, which risks giving way for later caricatures. I suspect this is why the publishers choosed to alter the gender inside the title expression instead. --Askedonty (talk) 20:35, 9 April 2015 (UTC)

I see what you mean now. I don't actually think they exaggerated, or even "altered" the gender, because, as you point out in your first reply, "cielito" doesn't even have a (natural) gender in the first place. So the translators just picked what is more common: That the subject of the song is a woman. Of course, if gender neutral pronouns were generally accepted in English, then they could have been truer to the original. (Or if you didn't have to use the possessive pronoun for body parts in English.) — Sebastian 20:48, 9 April 2015 (UTC)

Same way the Comedian Harmonists didn't sing "meine liebe Schätzin, bist du aus Spanien" (and Elvis didn't sing "und du meine Schätzin bleibst hier" :-) ---Sluzzelin talk 20:54, 9 April 2015 (UTC)

Oh, thanks, I love the Comedian Harmonists! And of course, "Schatz" is a good example, because normal Germans such as me would not expect "Schatz" to refer only to men, just because it happens to be Grammatically male. That certainly contributes to answering the question, or at least makes the OP happy, and deserves to be written big; so, sorry, I had to edit your post. ;-) — Sebastian 21:01, 9 April 2015 (UTC)

There is no such thing as "grammatically male". You mean masculine. --Trovatore (talk) 21:22, 9 April 2015 (UTC)

I'm guilty of having made the same mistake for the same reason as Sebastian: In German there is one word, männlich, for both "male" (in the biological and cultural sense) and "masculine" (in every sense). ---Sluzzelin talk 22:55, 9 April 2015 (UTC)

Thanks for jumping to my defense. But then again, we probably should avoid this topic altogether, since we're the people known for confusing the gender of a young lady with that of a turnip. — Sebastian 01:26, 10 April 2015 (UTC)

Look, this has nothing to do with the song being a love song. Grammatical gender is only loosely related to biological sex. A male person is una persona, not *un persón. There are tons of other examples. Cielo is masculine, so is cielito. There is no more mystery beyond that. --Trovatore (talk) 21:01, 9 April 2015 (UTC)

That distinction has already been addressed above. What has to do with the song being a love song is that it's describing the beauty of a person's eyes, which, in our society and language, just is more expected to be "her black eyes" than "his black eyes". — Sebastian 21:11, 9 April 2015 (UTC)

Well, you don't really have to rely on textual analysis for that. Cielito lindo has almost always been sung by male singers. --Trovatore (talk) 21:17, 9 April 2015 (UTC)

{{cn}} Just because she sings so nicely, listen to Marta. When you're done, you will see many other ♀ singers. — Sebastian 21:26, 9 April 2015 (UTC)

How do gays and lesbians become couples?

Since homosexuality is so rare, how do gays and lesbians even meet and become couples? Considering that there may be considerable danger in revealing sexual interest to a person of the same sex, how do they know or find out that someone else is also gay or lesbian and start a relationship with that person? 140.254.136.154 (talk) 17:23, 9 April 2015 (UTC)

There are gay and lesbian dating sites. There are gay and lesbian pubs and nightclubs. Some people choose to openly advertise that they are gay/lesbian. In many countries it is not considerably dangerous, whereas in others it may be. Which country do you happen to be talking about? KägeTorä - (^影_虎) (もしもし！) 18:29, 9 April 2015 (UTC)

But what if a person does not drink alcohol and attends weekly church services? Do churches provide meetings for Christian gays and lesbians who may emphasize more on commitment and monogamy? 140.254.136.157 (talk) 19:49, 9 April 2015 (UTC)

Going to a pub or nightclub does not necessarily involve having to drink alcohol, as they also serve soft drinks. Churches are not particularly relevant to the discussion, as people are forced (according to their social background) to attend them, and have no bearing whatsoever on their actual sexuality (except to mostly just make them feel bad about it). People cannot change their sexuality. They are born with it, and if some God disapproves, then let him know that he was the one who created you the way you are. Or just move on and accept reality for what it is. Jayron's answer below is very relevant in this reagrd, when it comes to Christianity. KägeTorä - (^影_虎) (もしもし！) 20:38, 9 April 2015 (UTC)

Do nightclubs and pubs serve food too? Do the drinks have to be soft drinks? Do they serve distilled water or juice? 140.254.136.157 (talk) 21:06, 9 April 2015 (UTC)

I've certainly been to gay pubs in London and had decent food and non-alcoholic drinks. As to religion: it's my experience that I can meet (although perhaps not date) my fellow queers of all kinds simply by attending high-church Anglican worship in the Diocese of London, and staying for coffee after the service. (Or sherry, as at at least one such church, the default after-service drink is also alcoholic.) AlexTiefling (talk) 22:24, 9 April 2015 (UTC)

They certainly might. I personally know several LGBT clergy, and many mainstream denominations are not hostile or discriminatory against LGBT people. So yes, homosexual Christians have the opportunity in many places to meet other homosexual Christians through church. Wikipedia has an article titled LGBT-affirming Christian denominations if you want more information. --Jayron32 20:02, 9 April 2015 (UTC)

Yes, in many areas of the world there is not much danger, but in some areas there is. On WP, we have gay bar, Cruising_for_sex, Gay_bathhouse, Handkerchief_code. I don't know if something like the Hanky code is working in e.g. modern Iran, but it was very popular and useful in certain places and times in the USA. In contemporary USA, gay people meet partners much the same as heterosexual people do - awkwardly and with lots of trial and error. See also courtship, LGBT_community and LGBT_culture, and links therein. SemanticMantis (talk) 19:00, 9 April 2015 (UTC)

Oh, and depending on where you are, homosexuality isn't that rare - Demographics_of_sexual_orientation#Modern_survey_results. SemanticMantis (talk) 19:03, 9 April 2015 (UTC)

As for knowing if someone else is gay, Gaydar is a real thing, though some people are better at it than others, and it's never 100% accurate. SemanticMantis (talk) 19:14, 9 April 2015 (UTC)

According to the only mainstream gay couple of my generation, one and one makes two, and that's good enough for me. (Here's the dry text, if that's more your bag.) Loneliness works for any sort of sex. InedibleHulk (talk) 21:03, 9 April 2015 (UTC)

Sexual interest is sometimes expressed in ambiguous ways. For example, instead of upfront flirting, you may say "lets compare bodyparts" and you scope the reaction. Others may flirt in a jokey manner and if one feels comfortable, move onto flirting. Others may feel more safe in a one-to-one encounter. That way, adverse reactions are less likely. 84.13.148.26 (talk) 21:08, 9 April 2015 (UTC)

Cracked published 5 Dangers Of Coming Out To Your Family (You Never See On TV) today. Seems timely and relevant here. InedibleHulk (talk) 00:27, 10 April 2015 (UTC)

Today, my time. Not by the Greenwich schedule. InedibleHulk (talk) 00:36, 10 April 2015 (UTC)

As for the question about church services, please see Metropolitan Community Church, a denomination with 222 congregations in several countries. Other liberal Christian denominations are welcoming as well. As a Jew, I am aware that many synagogues (but not all) are welcoming to LGBT people. Pretty much every city in the world has gathering places, some open and some underground, where LGBT people gather and socialize. Cullen³²⁸ Let's discuss it 00:50, 10 April 2015 (UTC)

Political campaigns

Do politicians take annual leave to campaign before elections? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 90.201.190.183 (talk) 23:03, 9 April 2015 (UTC)

The pre-election part of a politician's job is campaigning, though usually not annually. If they leave during that part, they don't come back. They usually have whole teams working, so incumbents can relax a bit if there's some urgent government work to do, but in a way, they never stop. InedibleHulk (talk) 23:44, 9 April 2015 (UTC)

So they don't have to ask for time off work? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 90.201.190.183 (talk) 23:47, 9 April 2015 (UTC)

Who would they ask? They were elected to lead. Though if you mean new candidates, it's best they leave their old job before they start. Inspires confidence that they'll get the new one. InedibleHulk (talk) 23:54, 9 April 2015 (UTC)

In the UK, once parliament is dissolved prior to a general election (which happened on Monday 30 March 2015), there are no MPs. The cabinet still exists, but is expected to only make decisions of national importance. The (former) MPs, however, are still paid until election day (Thursday 7 May 2015). LongHairedFop (talk) 14:16, 10 April 2015 (UTC)

Yes, "Under the Fixed-term Parliaments Act 2011 a Parliament is dissolved 25 working days before the general election". [1] Parliament was dissolved on 30 March 2015. David Cameron had to go to Buckingham Palace on that day and ask the Queen if she wouldn't mind dissolving Parliament please (I don't think she can say no, but one has to ask anyway).[2] However, Parliament had already closed for business on 26 March in a ceremony called Prorogation.[3] In Scotland, the dissolution of the Westminster Parliament has to be announced by the Lord Lyon King of Arms and his chums in an ancient ceremony that predates the Act of Union. Alansplodge (talk) 19:25, 15 April 2015 (UTC)

Election voting in the uk

When people vote in the UK, do they vote for the party they support or the mp? I know the ballot paper lists MPs but which do people generally think in terms of? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 90.201.190.183 (talk) 23:45, 9 April 2015 (UTC)

I'd say it's usually the party, but some MPs are popular or unpopular out of step with their party's popularity. I'd be interested to know if there's any research on this, though. Officially, we vote for the MP: an MP who crosses the floor does not lose their mandate. AlexTiefling (talk) 23:59, 9 April 2015 (UTC)

The funny part is, if there is research, it'll be flawed by the same party bias it's trying to find (or hide). InedibleHulk (talk) 00:04, 10 April 2015 (UTC)

Some MPs have a strong personal vote, so when they step down, the party's vote changes at he next election. The ballot paper lists both candidates' name and parties' name, but pre 1960 (or so), only listed the candidates' name. LongHairedFop (talk) 09:50, 10 April 2015 (UTC)

Actually, you always vote for the politician. You might think you are voting for the party, but that doesn't change how the election works. Think of it this way: the politician can change his party, or resign, at any time. If he does resign, another election is held - the party doesn't get to nominate a new politician. The party can expel the MP from the party, but that's about it. In the same way, independents can run without a party at all.

That's theory. In practice, I think most people do not know much about their MP in particular or have strong opinions on them. Politicians who are/were popular in their own right include Boris Johnston, Ian Paisley Snr or party leaders, like David Cameron.--Crazy Aberdeen Guy (talk) 15:31, 12 April 2015 (UTC)

"I always voted at my party's call / And I never thought of thinking for meself at all." -- WSG ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 16:57, 12 April 2015 (UTC)