Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Humanities/2015 March 25

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March 25

I seek data on ancient Hx, and find nothing prior to the 1600's for ancient native Americans in NJ's Seacaucus area from where I have a 3,000 plus era stone axe-head.

How can Wikipedia improve posted data?? I've searched your site with no avail. Data for my inquiry, which I have sent and requested is non-engaging and responsive. It shouldn't take an hour to ask a question or suggest an idea!.

I seek data on ancient Hx, and find nothing prior to the 1600's for ancient native Americans in NJ's Seacaucus area from where I have a 3,000 plus era stone axe-head. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 68.193.25.192 (talk) 00:19, 25 March 2015 (UTC)

You question as stated is unclear. Can you define "ancient Hx"? Googling that term I get flashcards for words that deal with ancient Near Eastern civilizations, and the archeology of Halifax. I see your IP geolocates to Parsippany, and you mention Secaucus. The indigenous people during that time were the Lenape people and their predecessors.

This desk is run by volunteers who cannot necessarily guess what you are looking for without a better explanation, and the guidelines at the top of the page advise you to expect an answer within days (if possible), not "while you wait". μηδείς (talk) 02:09, 25 March 2015 (UTC)

Are you asking about ancient hand axes? If so see Hand_axe#History_and_distribution - our article says they were used in North America since the Pleistocene, but doesn't have many good examples or citations for that. There's some related info at Folsom point - but those are knapped projectile points, not axes. It does look like our article on hand axes could use some attention and citations for North America, if anyone wants to help with that. SemanticMantis (talk) 15:35, 25 March 2015 (UTC)

Hx is typically an abbreviation of "history", at least in a medical context (although not in the field of history itself). So I suppose the OP is asking about ancient history. Adam Bishop (talk) 23:15, 25 March 2015 (UTC)

That's unAustralian

In Australia, there's a catchphrase/ catchcry/ not sure what you'd call it, but it consists of calling something "unAustralian". The meaning is that the other person is not very laid back, and is taking rules too seriously, or just being plain unfair, or something like that. I've asked others about their national "word" and what it means, and heard one surprising answer: apparently in Singapore, it has a negative meaning - if you show you are obsessed with money, "that's very Singaporean." Can anyone tell me what the national word means around the world? IBE (talk) 15:48, 25 March 2015 (UTC)

Not exactly what you're after, but you may be interested in No true Scotsman. --Dweller (talk) 15:59, 25 March 2015 (UTC)

No true Australian would complain about that answer ;) IBE (talk) 16:07, 25 March 2015 (UTC)

We have articles on un-American and un-Australian. The latter, perhaps surprisingly, considerably predates the former. -- Jack of Oz ^{[pleasantries]} 16:13, 25 March 2015 (UTC)

The term "un-American" was presumably already established when Mark Twain spoke of the unfairness of condemning Satan without hearing his side of things: "To my mind, this is irregular. It is un-English; it is un-American; it is French!" ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 16:55, 25 March 2015 (UTC)

Very interesting, Jack. I would add that "unAustralian" had a simpler meaning, before being politicised, and was more about a "fair go". I first remember it in serious (so to speak) discussion in the media, on a current affairs show. Pubs were going off at restaurants for serving liquor without a meal, against the licensing conditions. Now restaurants pay something like $1000 a year for a restaurant liquor licence; pubs, maybe 10 times that. So at a restaurant, you can't order alcohol just on its own; it has to go with a meal. Bummer if the restaurants ignore it, but the pubs were complaining, obviously. But a restaurant spokesperson called that "unAustralian," with an obvious vested interest that sounds, well, very Singaporean. IBE (talk) 17:16, 25 March 2015 (UTC)

I Am Canadian may be interesting. --Jayron32 16:43, 25 March 2015 (UTC)

I speak German and have heard Germans describe something as deutsch in a disparaging way, often implying that the thing in question is rigid, narrow-minded, or authoritarian. Marco polo (talk) 16:44, 25 March 2015 (UTC)

Now that German one really interests me. From the Xenophobes' travel guide (or similar such title): "Contrary to popular belief, Germans are very funny people, in fact, Germans take their humour very seriously." IBE (talk) 17:10, 25 March 2015 (UTC)

I agree that Germans can be very funny, and this usage is an example of self-disparaging irony. Marco polo (talk) 17:52, 25 March 2015 (UTC)

That's a possible view. I'd prefer to understand it as a shortcut meaning "un-federal", "un-tribal" among the younger generations.--Askedonty (talk) 08:24, 26 March 2015 (UTC)

• The essence of un-American would be counter to what makes us distinctive, especially the principles of the Declaration and the Bill of Rights, and less so a dislike of July 4th and Thanksgiving. Meriam Webster: http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/un-american. Of course there's HUAC, which many consider to have itself been un-American. I'd assume the other major anglophone countries would share this sense of fair play for the defendant as a common English heritage. When I was young, one also used to hear "It's a free country" all the time, but I don't think I've heard that since the '90's. μηδείς (talk) 18:36, 25 March 2015 (UTC)

• Yes, HUAC was a committee which engaged in un-American activities. Rarely has a political group been named so honestly. :-) StuRat (talk) 21:42, 25 March 2015 (UTC)

• • I do recall Bob Novak once saying "there's too much freedom in America." ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 18:54, 25 March 2015 (UTC)

"Former Prime Minister Sir John Major brands Ukip 'profoundly un-British in every way' ahead of key by-election" [1] "Un-British" seems to be rather similar to "UnAustralian" except without the "laid back" part, although the related virtue of sangfroid is highly valued. Alansplodge (talk) 21:21, 25 March 2015 (UTC)

Given recent talk page debates... I can only assume that someone will soon complain that all of these answers (at least the ones that don't simply point to references) as being unWikipedian... or unReferencedeskian... or un-something like that. Blueboar (talk) 21:34, 25 March 2015 (UTC)

The negative version is called a cultural cringe. 50.0.205.75 (talk) 07:34, 26 March 2015 (UTC)

In Turkish there are a couple of words, "alafransa" (in a French manner) which means something like "modern, European or civilized", and its opposite "alaturka", which means "backwards, uncouth or jerry-built". Not very self-flattering. --Xuxl (talk) 18:26, 26 March 2015 (UTC)

That's very useful, thanks XuXl. Whenever I have occasion to refer to Mozart's "Rondo alla Turca" now, I'll be sure to think of it as "Rondo alaturka". Homophones have their uses. :) -- Jack of Oz ^{[pleasantries]} 22:19, 26 March 2015 (UTC)

There is "osvensk" - un-Swedish - which confers spontaneity, outgoingness, talking to people you don't know, having a good time without worrying too much about the consequences etc. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 176.10.249.240 (talk) 22:33, 26 March 2015 (UTC)

Did Nietzsche commit coprophagia?

I have read a few articles that briefly mention it, but haven't found a definitive answer, I have always been interested, and have considered writing an essay based around coprophagia and its correlation to Nietzsche's illness/philosophy JacobSmiley (talk) 18:44, 25 March 2015 (UTC)JacobSmiley

Cite some sources. ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 18:52, 25 March 2015 (UTC)

There's a discussion (with some sources) at Talk:Friedrich_Nietzsche/Archive_10#Nietzsche.27s_scatological_breakdown. ---Sluzzelin talk 18:57, 25 March 2015 (UTC)

If Nietzsche went crazy, that would seem to be the main story. ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 19:12, 25 March 2015 (UTC)

That is exactly what I was looking for, thank you, Sluzzelin. JacobSmiley (talk) 21:26, 25 March 2015 (UTC)

If you read German, here is a note stating that he smeared feces (not ate feces, hence no coprophagia) and there (PDF, 4 pages) is a diagnosis. --Stuhlsasse (talk) 03:18, 27 March 2015 (UTC)

I wouldn't want to leap to the conclusion that the feces-smearing is part of the illness, given that asylums were hardly known for their kindness. Throughout the "Security Housing Units" (i.e. solitary confinement) of American prisons today, the same behavior frequently occurs. Feces is often one of the last things a broken prisoner retains control of. Wnt (talk) 20:49, 27 March 2015 (UTC)