Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Humanities/2023 January 17

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January 17

Case Closed: The Time-Bombed Skyscraper

This household is modeled after Nymphenburg Palace in Munich. Can you help me to find even the models for these buildings: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7. Thank you very much. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 95.232.235.244 (talk • contribs)

• 2 looks like any of several Federal Style or Colonial Revival churches that were built across America for much of the 1800s and 1900s, for example First Baptist Church, Natchez, Mississippi or First Methodist Church, Meriden, Connecticut or Skillman Church of Christ, Dallas, Texas. These are just representative examples, there's probably hundreds of church (and also civic buildings like city halls) that all look roughly like that. --Jayron32 15:28, 17 January 2023 (UTC)
• 6 looks vaguely like Château des Tourelles [1] in Pornichet in France, (which is different from the one that has a wikipedia article in English), that is now a hotel and spa. But that particular building is fairly recent and basically a pastiche of Renaissance-style castles, which is exactly what the one in the picture looks like as well, only bigger. #7 is a type of French manoir [2] in the 19th century style, of which there are literally thousands accross the country. There's nothing particularly distinctive about the one in the picture. Xuxl (talk) 19:03, 17 January 2023 (UTC)

Those in #1 are Johnston-Felton-Hay House and Natchez Glen Auburn. Please, can you search for the others? Thank you very much.

Have you search for the others?

Euphemism in Gaudy Night

In Dorothy L. Sayers' Gaudy Night, Harriet Vane muses on the mundaneness of college life, thinking: "The most frightful thing that was ever likely to happen was that an undergraduate should 'take the wrong turning'." (ch 3, inner quotes in original) This comes across as a stock phrase, presumably with a well-understood meaning at the time (1935). Is this correct, and does it refer (as I guess) to sexual orientation? This would chime with other themes in the book, but it might equally mean communism, as far as I can see. It is compared with petty pilfering as another (major) disruptive event. -- Verbarson  ^talk_edits 14:43, 17 January 2023 (UTC)

I'm 99% certain it's a more general statement on misbehavior/sin etc. A google search turns up several references to The Unquiet Grave (book), written in 1944, which has the aphorism "Life is a maze in which we take the wrong turning before we have learnt to walk." which seems to be taken as a reference to original sin; i.e. we are born into misbehavior. Other than the plain meaning of "to take the wrong path" or "to turn off of the correct route", the metaphorical one seems to be "to misbehave". --Jayron32 15:36, 17 January 2023 (UTC)

I'd always assumed it meant go over to Rome. It's the sort of thing that did worry college authorities in the 20s and 30s. DuncanHill (talk) 15:53, 17 January 2023 (UTC)

One academic agrees with you, see Conversion in the British Detective Novel. 70.67.193.176 (talk) 16:54, 17 January 2023 (UTC)

Probably partly influenced by Bible verse Matthew 7:13... AnonMoos (talk) 01:58, 18 January 2023 (UTC)

the ultimate value of a ranch

How many years does it take to have a farm or other agricultural exploitations to take the value they would have after thirteen years of overexploitation? Is it a sort "treasure-friendly booby trap" or a kind of stripped investment? Boutus Spinach Chlore (talk) 15:27, 17 January 2023 (UTC)

The answer will depend on far too many variables to yield a quick answer. What is the climate? What resources were extracted from the area? Which nutrients are depleted? Can another resources be produced there? What is the cost of capital?DOR (HK) (talk) 17:06, 17 January 2023 (UTC)

It appears you are using the word "ranch" in a way that most people use the word "farm." In common use, a ranch is used to raise livestock. A farm is used to grow crops and, often, raise livestock as well. In other words, a ranch does not commonly grow crops, which would deplete the soil. If it is correct that you are referring to crops and soil depletion, rotating crops is a well established and commonly used method to avoid soil depletion. 12.116.29.106 (talk) 18:26, 17 January 2023 (UTC)

Georg Elser

Who were the eight people killed by his bomb? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 193.207.200.213 (talk) 18:57, 17 January 2023 (UTC)

Seven of the eight, the ones who died at the scene, are named in the article titled Georg Elser, while one of the victims is unnamed, only noting that one of those initially only injured died later of their injuries. --Jayron32 19:09, 17 January 2023 (UTC)

The article in the de:WP lists all victims, as reported in the news at that time. Cookatoo.ergo.ZooM (talk) 07:49, 18 January 2023 (UTC)