Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Language/2010 June 30

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June 30

non-offensive wordlist

Does anyone know where I can get a wordlist that has all words that could possibly be considered offensive removed? I want to create random passwords and I don't want any embarrassing combinations. (And yes for this application, I do want words and not random characters.) Thanks, Ariel. (talk) 01:24, 30 June 2010 (UTC)

Take your dictionary, and throw it in the trash, and you have removed all possibly offensive words. You don't need an obscure word, especially if you can't think of one. Consider something that would be obscure to others but familiar to you, like maybe a street near your first childhood home or something. Then replace the vowels with special characters and tack 01 on the end of it so you can keep using it by incrementing it after it expires. ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 03:34, 30 June 2010 (UTC)

I'm pretty sure that based on Ariel.'s history, he or she is not doing this for his or her own passwords. Here is a page with links to many general word lists in English. I googled list of curse words and found the Banned Words List, "a resource for web administrators", and this list, which are nowhere near comprehensive; but what I would probably do is use a general word list, select the word(s), look up the selected word in the banned word list, and proceed if it's not banned. Comet Tuttle (talk) 03:52, 30 June 2010 (UTC)

Yes, it's not for my personal password, it's for a web application I'm making. (And I'm He.) Thanks Comet Tuttle, those links are very helpful and exactly what I need. Ariel. (talk) 04:25, 30 June 2010 (UTC)

Wow. Not that it's terribly relevant, but I always assumed you were a she. Presumably your name is, in fact, a reference to the typeface? 86.164.57.20 (talk) 13:22, 30 June 2010 (UTC)

It may come as a disappointment, but you might want to know that this lady is a he, too.—Emil J. 13:54, 30 June 2010 (UTC)

The typeface is spelled Arial. The name Ariel was a man's name for centuries until Disney got their greasy mitts on it. +Angr 14:05, 30 June 2010 (UTC)

D'oh! I think I was thinking of Ariel (The Tempest), who was played by a woman the only time I saw it, with contributions from Disney. 86.164.57.20 (talk) 16:18, 30 June 2010 (UTC)

Please also read http://thedailywtf.com/Articles/The-Automated-Curse-Generator.aspx so you get an approximate idea of what you're getting yourself into ;-) -- 78.43.71.155 (talk) 08:43, 30 June 2010 (UTC)

Keep in mind that while individual words may not be offensive, their combination may be. "eats" is benign, as is "hit", but they become rude when put together without punctuation. "camel" and "jockey" are both inoffensive on their own, but combined, even with punctuation, they may be construed as a racial slur. -- 140.142.20.229 (talk) 18:22, 30 June 2010 (UTC)

... as the people who registered these URLs perhaps didn't sufficiently consider. (Or perhaps they did.) Deor (talk) 21:03, 30 June 2010 (UTC)

What is the term for the person (other than a ‘pedant’)

who uses verbal excessively or over creatively for headings in articles? -Mr.Bitpart (talk) 01:37, 30 June 2010 (UTC)

Your question is a bit confusing, especially the "...uses verbal for..." part. Just a guess though, is verbose the word you're looking for? Dismas|^(talk) 02:40, 30 June 2010 (UTC)

Are you referring to the journalese / headlinese of traditional newspaper headline writers? They were more fond of short words and bad puns than verbosity... AnonMoos (talk) 03:51, 30 June 2010 (UTC)

Is it ‘snap’ or something else?

I think dictionaries do not give good definitions for the word ‘snap’ that is often used for in context. Is it the same, or is there any word that refers to a person who, for example, is not in favor to cite any academic references because in the belief that his or her highest achievement can therefore be jeopardized? -Mr.Bitpart (talk) 01:37, 30 June 2010 (UTC)

As with your previous question, I understand all the words but they don't make any sense in that order. Could you clarify what you're asking? Dismas|^(talk) 02:42, 30 June 2010 (UTC)

Do you mean "snapping at someone"? As in:

"Maybe you should cite this reference."

"I don't want to cite the damn reference!"

"Okay! No need to snap at me!"

Meaning a harsh, angry reaction, implying the person is figuratively trying to bite you?

Or do you mean saying "Snap!", implying that things match? Which would be a reference to the children's card game Snap. 86.164.57.20 (talk) 13:18, 30 June 2010 (UTC)

It could be ’snob’ that I have mistaken for ‘snap’. How can I explain a situation is this—when I went out of a class, a teacher told students ‘he is snob’, which I didn’t get it correctly. But I was sure that knew that I was working with lots of Aboriginal people (not just renting apartments but also providing beddings for those who do not care for sleeping in bare floors, and providing taxi services and janitorial supplies free of charge). So I thought it couldn’t be ‘snob’. -Mr.Bitpart (talk) 17:08, 30 June 2010 (UTC)

Could it be "snub" then? Was the teacher making the point that he felt you had snubbed him in some way? By the way, "Aboriginal" would tie in with "snob", it's just the sort of word an upper-class twit would use these days! --TammyMoet (talk) 18:40, 30 June 2010 (UTC)

Forearm limp

Hi all -

I am currently hobbling around with a broken ankle. As such, I've been on crutches for the last week, making my arms ache. At home, where I can, I am thus ignoring the crutches and crawling around on hands and knees. After using the crutches, I have an ache in my left shoulder, and as such, when I crawl I am favouring one arm over the other (no, this isn't a call for sympathy - there's a valid question coming up!)

When we favour one leg, we're said to be limping - but I can't think of an equivalent term for favouring one arm. I can't say I "have a limp in my left arm" - it sounds silly. is there an equivalent term for putting less weight on one arm than the other? Grutness...wha? 01:41, 30 June 2010 (UTC)

I don't think there's an "arm-specific" term. "Favoring" (which you already mentioned) is the only term I can think of that comes close to what you mean, although it can refer to both arms and legs. Fletch the Mighty (talk) 02:14, 30 June 2010 (UTC)

Incidentally, are you digging the crutch into your underarm? Try squeezing it between your upper arm and your body (after consulting with your doctor. I am not qualified to give medical advice, and this isn't any).—msh210℠ 04:33, 30 June 2010 (UTC)

No, but thanks for the suggestion. They're the hand-handle type of crutch, not the under-the-armpit type, but I bruised by collarbone/shoulder area at the same time as I broke my ankle and the added weight on my arms has made that shoulder ache. Grutness...wha? 07:06, 30 June 2010 (UTC)

For some medical terms look in Dyskinesia and Hypokinesia. Ariel. (talk) 04:39, 30 June 2010 (UTC)

Right to Left

Arabic is written right to left, so is Persian and Urdu. Are there any other languages that are written right to left ?  Jon Ascton  (talk) 02:28, 30 June 2010 (UTC)

Hebrew springs to mind. However, you should bear in mind that Persian and Urdu use Arabic script (albeit slightly modified), so it wouldn't be surprising that they are written in the same direction as Arabic. Uighur and several other languages are like this. Malay used to be written in the Arabic script, as did Swahili, as well as Turkish at some point. Chinese and Japanese, when written from top to bottom, are usually written right to left, too. Ancient Egyptian could be written in any direction, and right to left was not uncommon. --KägeTorä - (影虎) (TALK) 02:36, 30 June 2010 (UTC)

And what about Thai ? —Preceding unsigned comment added by Jon Ascton (talk • contribs) 02:42, 30 June 2010 (UTC)

Thai is left to right. +Angr 05:31, 30 June 2010 (UTC)

See boustrophedon for texts that go alternately right-left and left-right. Adam Bishop (talk) 02:42, 30 June 2010 (UTC)

Writing from left-to-right seems natural, as most people are right-handed, and this lessens the chance of smearing the ink as you go. I wonder why Hebrew and others go from right to left? ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 03:28, 30 June 2010 (UTC)

Not all writing is done with ink. Adam Bishop (talk) 03:30, 30 June 2010 (UTC)

Indeed. Writing with a hammer and chisel is easier right to left when you're right-handed. +Angr 05:31, 30 June 2010 (UTC)

Judaic tradition would maintain that the direction of the written language was provided by God. DRosenbach ^{(Talk | Contribs)} 21:15, 30 June 2010 (UTC)

Well, I'd agree in the sense that God gave us handedness, and the cleverness to invent writing, and the perspicacity to arrange writing in such a way as to make it most convenient. +Angr 19:45, 1 July 2010 (UTC)

Any language in the Arabic or Hebrew script (and perhaps others) is written right-to-left. Arabic: aao, acx, aeb, afb, ajp, apc, apd, ar, arq, ary, arz, ayl, ayp, az (though it's in Latin and Cyrillic too), bal, brh, chg, esh, fa, glk, gwc, ha (though it's in Latin too), khw, ks (Devanagari too), ku (Latin too), mzn, ota, pga, pnb, ps, sd, shu, ug (Latin and Cyrillic too), ur. Hebrew: arc, he, lad (Latin too), tmr, yi. (This information comes from wikt:template:langscript.) (Language codes can be looked up lots of places, one way to look up 'az', say, is by checking wikt:template:az.)—msh210℠ 04:30, 30 June 2010 (UTC)

Other right-to-left writing systems besides the Arabic and Hebrew scripts are the Syriac alphabet and the Avestan alphabet. +Angr 05:31, 30 June 2010 (UTC)

And the same source gives, for those, language codes syr, ae.—msh210℠ 17:03, 30 June 2010 (UTC)

The code syr stands for Syriac as a macrolanguage made up of aii and cld, but I think all Christian Neo-Aramaic languages are written with the Syriac script. The Mandaic alphabet (used to write the Mandaic language) is also right-to-left. +Angr 19:52, 30 June 2010 (UTC)

There is the Tāna script, which is also written from right to left. It is used to write Dhivehi, and there's the Dhivehi Wikipedia. --Магьосник (talk) 04:13, 1 July 2010 (UTC)

Is there any Semitic script that is written left to right? --Soman (talk) 17:50, 1 July 2010 (UTC)

Well, Maltese is written left to right, but that's because it uses a variant of the Latin alphabet. +Angr 19:45, 1 July 2010 (UTC)

Somali is also written in Latin script, but is there any specifically Semitic script that uses left to right? --Soman (talk) 20:35, 1 July 2010 (UTC)

Somali isn't Semitic, but Amharic is, and it's written in the Ge'ez script, which is left to right. +Angr 21:00, 1 July 2010 (UTC)

Japanese Mole

In Japanese, mole (the animal) is 土竜 もぐら mogura, but its kanjis have the following readings (from Wiktionary): 土 (ground) = ど (do), と (to), つち (tsuchi); 竜 (dragon) = りゅう (ryū), りょう (ryō), ろう (rō), たつ (tatsu). None of these readings seems to be present in mogura. Am I missing something? --151.51.25.173 (talk) 08:32, 30 June 2010 (UTC)

Because it's ateji like 海豚 (イルカ). Oda Mari (talk) 09:39, 30 June 2010 (UTC)

French translation

http://www.20minutes.fr/article/389008/vous-interviewez-Vous-avez-interviewe-Cheryl-Cole.php

The sentence in question is "Tu le vois comment ton prochain album, dans le même style que «3 Words» ou dans un style différent? miika

Ce sera un peu plus dansant certainement, et le public français risque d'être ravi d'une chanson en particulier... Peut-être..."

My French skills are a bit rusty. Does this mean Cheryl's music will include more dancing, or the music will be dance, as in the music genre. I'd be extremely grateful for any clarification! —Preceding unsigned comment added by 91.49.100.47 (talk) 11:09, 30 June 2010 (UTC)

It means the next album will be more danceable. I would roughly translate the whole thing as:

"How do you see your next album, will it be in the same style as 3 Words or something different?"

"It will certainly be a bit more danceable, and the French public will be delighted by one song in particular... maybe..."

--Viennese Waltz ^talk 12:22, 30 June 2010 (UTC)

Japanese

Is there a free program which works like the on-screen keyboard but with katakana/hiragana? It gets kind of annoying to go to katakana or hiragana and copypaste each individual character. --75.25.103.109 (talk) 21:09, 30 June 2010 (UTC)

See http://www.lexilogos.com/clavier/multilingue.htm and scroll down to "Autres alphabets".—Wavelength (talk) 22:23, 30 June 2010 (UTC)

See http://tlt.its.psu.edu/suggestions/international/bylanguage/japanese.html. -- Wavelength (talk) 22:32, 30 June 2010 (UTC)

If you're using Windows, the Control Panel:Regional and Language Options:Keyboard settings will allow you to activate the Japanese IME - allowing you to switch between your standard keyboard settings and Japanese ones. The one that comes with English-language Windows is designed so that you can type in Latin letters and it will convert to hiragana/katakana/kanji as you go. Here's one guide: [1]. Steewi (talk) 01:55, 2 July 2010 (UTC)

Greek translation

What is the translation of the following Greek words:

ATΔIOΣ ENΔIAITATAI

Googlemeister (talk) 21:10, 30 June 2010 (UTC)

Well, the second one is the third-person singular of ἐνδιαιτάομαι, "s/he dwells". If we assume that the T in the first one is a misreading of an iota (perhaps an uppercase iota with a mark of diaeresis, something like a Cyrillic Ї), it would be ἀίδιος, "everlasting". I'm assuming that we're talking Classical Greek here; I don't know much Modern Greek. Deor (talk) 21:31, 30 June 2010 (UTC)

Putting those two parts together, it means "The everlasting one dwells". +Angr 13:15, 1 July 2010 (UTC)

Thanks to you both. Googlemeister (talk) 15:28, 1 July 2010 (UTC)