Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Language/2007 June 29

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June 29

Anyone know some good Welshisms?

I'm looking for as many Weshisms I can possibly collect. By Welshisms, I mean things the Welsh say in English (or combined with English) that would mark them as Welsh. As an example, "Top o' th' mornin'" would be considered an Irishism (whether or not the Irish ever use it, I've never heard one say it). Anyone know any of these for Welsh? Krys Tamar 02:49, 29 June 2007 (UTC)

Look you, do you think I am so twp as to answer that question?... Clarityfiend 03:15, 29 June 2007 (UTC)

....boyo.--Shantavira|^{feed me} 06:46, 29 June 2007 (UTC)

I thought "boyo" was a Hibernicism. —Angr 07:08, 29 June 2007 (UTC)

You could try the article on Welsh English, and I think boyo is Welsh. Although as with top of the morning I've never heard a Welshman say it. Cyta 07:36, 29 June 2007 (UTC)

A couple of things I've noticed the people in our Welsh head office say. "look see" instead of "look at this" and ending sentences with "isn't it". - X201 07:51, 29 June 2007 (UTC)

My wife, after moving to her southern Welsh village from England, would still be described by locals as being "from away" even after ten years' residence. This tickles me no end.

"Ye" (corresponding with Welsh "Ie"), meaning "yeah" or "yes". Seems like they say this all the time. "Oh, ye ye". The Jade Knight 02:11, 30 June 2007 (UTC)

Quote

Can anybody translate this quote

You can praise me, disagree with me, quote me, disbelieve me, glorify or vilify me but the only thing you can't do is ignore me.

into:

Language	Translation
Spanish	Usted me puede alabar, no estar de acuerdo conmigo, citarme, no creerme, glorificarme o vilipendarme, pero lo único que no puede hacer es ignorarme. =)
French	Vous pouvez me louer, ne pas être de mon avis, me citer, ne pas me croire, me glorifier ou me dénigrer mais la seule chose que vous ne pouvez pas faire est de m'ignorer. (2) On peut me louer, ne pas être de mon avis, me citer, ne pas me croire, me glorifier ou me dénigrer mais la seule chose qu'on ne peut pas faire est de m'ignorer. (3)
German	Du kannst mich loben, mir widersprechen, mich zitieren, mir nicht glauben, mich preisen oder verteufeln, aber das einzige, was du nicht kannst, ist mich zu ignorieren.
Russian	Можете хвалить меня, не соглашаться со мной, цитировать меня, не верить мне, прославлять или поносить меня, но что вы не можете делать, так это не замечать меня.
Arabic
Farsi
Turkish
Urdu
Hindi	Tum mujhe daad de sakta ho, mujhe galat maan sakta ho, mere shabd istamal kar skata ho, mujhe samman kar sakta ho ya mujh se nafrat kar sakta ho parantu kaval ek jeej nahi kar sakte, mujhe dhyan se inkaar karna.
Tamil	நீ என்னை பாராட்டலாம்,மாறுபட்ட கருத்து கொண்டு இருக்கலாம்,என்னை மதிப்பிடலாம்,என்னை நம்பாமலும் போகலாம்,என்னை போற்றி புகழலாம், தூற்றி பேசலாம்,ஆனால் ஒன்று மட்டும் உன்னால் முடியாது- “ என்னை உன்னால் ஒதுக்க முடியாது”
Chinese (traditional)
Japanese
Korean
Filipino

Fill in what you can. I would appreciate it. Thank you! --hello, i'm a member | talk to me! 05:25, 29 June 2007 (UTC)

I added a German translation. Many of these words could be translated differently (and at least "vilify" was new to me), though. I tried to keep it short and idiomatic. --Dapeteばか 13:12, 29 June 2007 (UTC)

Russian translation added. --Ghirla^-трёп- 19:49, 29 June 2007 (UTC)

(2) (Direct) French translation added. First one is bad grammar. AldoSyrt 20:31, 29 June 2007 (UTC)

Note that different translators here make different assumptions on whether the tone should be formal or informal. There is no hint in the original English sentence since English lacks the T-V distinction. In the translations above, the Spanish, French and Russian ones are formal, while the German one is informal. You might want to specify what the level of formality should be, as well as how many people you are addressing and what sex they are. — Kpalion^(talk) 20:35, 29 June 2007 (UTC)

You are right. A "familiar" French translation: Tu peux me louer, ne pas être de mon avis, me citer, ne pas me croire, me glorifier ou me dénigrer mais la seule chose que tu ne peux pas faire est de m'ignorer. AldoSyrt 20:45, 29 June 2007 (UTC)

If "you" doesn't mean the speaker specifically, another option in French is to use "on peut". It's translated by "one can" in English, but in French is used more often than in English. I'll add that as (3) above. --Anon, June 30, 2007, 01:07 (UTC).

I want it somewhat poetic, so the familar form is prefered on my part. Of course, I don't really care what's put in there as long as it's correct. --hello, i'm a member | talk to me! 21:41, 1 July 2007 (UTC)

If you want a formal German, just switch du kannst to Sie können in both instances. That works for both the formal singular and plural - yet another distinction unclear in the original. Informal plural would be ihr könnt. — Laura Scudder ☎ 22:00, 1 July 2007 (UTC)

I made some corrections to the Spanish translation; cotizarme is one word, for example. Also, by reading the Spanish version, I feel that the English quote really loses some of its effect when it's translated, just so the person who posted it knows.--El aprendelenguas 21:40, 29 June 2007 (UTC)

Shouldn't it be alabarme? And I'm not sure about no creerme... Corvus cornix

It should probably be descreerme. Mike Dillon 20:03, 30 June 2007 (UTC)

Also, no estar de acuerdo conmigo could be disentir conmigo. Mike Dillon 20:06, 30 June 2007 (UTC)

"Cotizar" is for markets (stock, foreign exchange, etc). To "quote somebody" is citar. Also, "la única cosa" sounds too long and is avoidable; "lo único" is better. --RiseRover|^talk 08:45, 1 July 2007 (UTC)

Chinese? Rock inscription

Found this rock in a creek bed of an area which used to be panned for gold. This was an era when lots of Chinese migrated to Australia for the gold rush. Could someone please translate it?

http://www.flickr.com/photos/52507572@N00/657536306/

Thanks. --liquidGhoul 06:15, 29 June 2007 (UTC)

The character looks contain 车, so maybe a rather cursive 军 (?). Cheers.--K.C. Tang 08:02, 29 June 2007 (UTC)

That can be 金, of course, given the context.--K.C. Tang 01:33, 30 June 2007 (UTC)

Thanks for those mate, it doesn't cease to amaze me what help you can get on wiki. I personally think, out of those choices, that it looks most like "cart", the "army" one just has too many horizontal lines. Is there any symbol like 车, but with a ^ at the top instead of the horizontal line? Thanks --liquidGhoul 06:23, 30 June 2007 (UTC)

Hmm, are you sure it's made intentionally? It doesn't look like 车 to me. It could be that someone was crudely trying to write the simplified character character, but that person would have to have learned it after 1956, when they were introduced in the PRC - long after the Australian gold rushes. Also, while the wedge shape of the strokes may give them a more Chinese appearance, the actual character isn't really supposed to have any tapering strokes (except for the upper half of the "L"-shaped stroke in the middle - but that should taper the other way!) For caoshu, which has been around much longer, and from which the simplified character is derived, it has much too many strokes:

• the aforememtioned ^ at the top
• the double stroke at the bottom
• the fact that the "L"-shaped stroke is done in two intersecting strokes
• the top horizontal stroke reaching too far left, and not extending to the right
• random strokes to the right and at the lower edge

In conclusion, it rather reminds me of some natural shapes that look remarkably like letters - see also nature's alphabet. — Sebastian 21:03, 2 July 2007 (UTC)

Honestly, it doesn't look like any Chinese character known to me. The problem is I can't figure out the flow of the strokes, and the most important thing in deciphering a cursive character is figure out how the strokes run. No matter how cursive a character is written, there is logic behind the flow of the strokes. But I can't see the logic in this one. So I'm not really sure it's a Chinese character. Sorry for not being able to help you. Cheers.--K.C. Tang 01:12, 3 July 2007 (UTC)

It looks to me like this character (zhongwen.com), meaning 'cow', with some extra lines added. Maybe a improvised character for a cow under a roof? --The Photon 05:45, 4 July 2007 (UTC)

Something detoriating

Detoriate (as in "detoriating conditions") is a word I've used often and one I'm sure to have heard being used often. So what's the right spelling of the word? Merci beaucoup.--202.164.142.82 18:30, 29 June 2007 (UTC)

Deteriorate. -FisherQueen (Talk) 18:33, 29 June 2007 (UTC)

grammar

should i say:this will be use OR this will be used?

This will be used. — Kpalion^(talk)

In this sentence 'used' is a past participle, and the phrase 'be used' is an infinitive marking the passive voice. Then 'will + infinitive' marks the future tense. If thaat makes any sense to you, it might help. — Gareth Hughes 19:04, 29 June 2007 (UTC)

7-0 or seven-o: a Secret Service code?

I'm subtitling a film. After an assasination, a Secret Service agent hold a man down and yells: "This guy's 7-0!" Does anyone know what that refers to? 84.48.169.39 23:44, 29 June 2007 (UTC)

It could be a fictional code inspired by 10-codes. Or a real-life one, of course. --Anonymous, June 30, 2007, 01:13 (UTC).

10-0 is 10-code for dead; 10 and 7 do sound similar so it could be that the agent is actually saying "This guy's 10-0" ("This guy's dead"). Laïka 23:29, 30 June 2007 (UTC)