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Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Language/2010 March 23

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March 23

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Etymology of "broke"

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How did the term "broke" come about to describe someone who is poor or someone with no money? Is there any connection to the everyday word "broken"? Thank you for any insight. (64.252.65.146 (talk) 00:53, 23 March 2010 (UTC))[reply]

One of the many definitions of "break" is "to ruin financially". The adjective "broke" is a Middle English "alternate" of "broken". In modern usage, you would say you're "broke" if you have no money, and "broken" if you feel severely depressed about it (or about any other tragedy). Curiously, "bust" or "busted" is a colloquialism for "burst" and is often used as a synonym for "broke" or "broken". As in "the balloon busted". Or the company "went bust"; or "I'm Busted", the Johnny Cash song about a farmer with no money and no good prospect of getting any. ←Baseball Bugs What's up, Doc? carrots→ 01:13, 23 March 2010 (UTC)[reply]
See http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=bankrupt. -- Wavelength (talk) 02:52, 23 March 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Thank you to all for the above information ... it was very helpful ... and much appreciated. Thanks! (64.252.65.146 (talk) 17:39, 27 March 2010 (UTC))[reply]

Forcefully, forcibly

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What is the difference between them please? 92.24.91.12 (talk) 00:15, 23 March 2010 (UTC)[reply]

"Forcefully" means "with force". "He spoke forcefully" means he spoke with great force or strength.
"Forcibly" means "by force". "The residents were forcibly evacuated" means that the residents were removed by force. --PalaceGuard008 (Talk) 00:18, 23 March 2010 (UTC)[reply]
"Forcibly" means "against your will". "Forcefully" does not. StuRat (talk) 17:33, 23 March 2010 (UTC)[reply]
The act of taking forcibly could require acting forcefully, e.g. by knocking a door down. ←Baseball Bugs What's up, Doc? carrots→ 18:47, 23 March 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Lies

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What is lies-on-the-ground?174.3.113.245 (talk) 05:09, 23 March 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Methinks that's a veiled personal attack against another user. Let's leave it at that. [Or not, apparently.] ←Baseball Bugs What's up, Doc? carrots→ 05:16, 23 March 2010 (UTC)[reply]
"Lies-on-the-ground" was Mbz1's personal attack against the user Factsontheground. Forgetting that part, though, it's a play on words, taking "lies" to be the opposite of "facts". ←Baseball Bugs What's up, Doc? carrots→ 18:45, 23 March 2010 (UTC)[reply]
See also wikt:facts on the ground and facts on the ground. Quite a clever choice of username, I think. --Avenue (talk) 22:44, 23 March 2010 (UTC)[reply]
Thank you for that find, Avenue! I am afraid now we've got IP completely confused :)--Mbz1 (talk) 00:04, 24 March 2010 (UTC)[reply]
He's learned a lot so far, I should think. :) ←Baseball Bugs What's up, Doc? carrots→ 02:49, 24 March 2010 (UTC)[reply]
As a matter of fact, so did I thanks to Avenue.--Mbz1 (talk) 02:52, 24 March 2010 (UTC)[reply]
Yes. Every day is an opportunity for a new learning experience. :) ←Baseball Bugs What's up, Doc? carrots→ 02:58, 24 March 2010 (UTC)[reply]
It's reminded me why I stopped editing Wikipedia! FreeMorpheme (talk) 21:52, 24 March 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Bengali, What does "Da" after a name signify

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What does "Da" after a name signify. Is it the same as "Ji" in Hindi? -- Q Chris (talk) 14:35, 23 March 2010 (UTC)[reply]

The same kind of thing, apparently. The second line in the lead section of our article Ghanada says: "The suffix "da" behind the name "Ghana" commonly means "respected elder brother" in Bengali". However, there is no citation to confirm this. Karenjc 20:21, 23 March 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Holla?

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What does it mean when characters say it in Hamlet, for instance. I've seen it in other plays of the era, too. My professor jokingly related it to the modern hola, used in hip-hop culture : ]  ?EVAUNIT神になった人間 18:24, 23 March 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Your professor is unwittingly on the right track. The question was asked at answers.yahoo.com a couple of years ago, which I found by googling [hamlet holla]: [1] ←Baseball Bugs What's up, Doc? carrots→ 18:50, 23 March 2010 (UTC)[reply]
As to the origin of "Holla" itself, my Webster's says "unknown". It would be reasonable to guess that it could be a colloquialism for "Halt", which comes from the German for "Hold", but Noah must not have thought so. ←Baseball Bugs What's up, Doc? carrots→ 19:03, 23 March 2010 (UTC)[reply]
This is from the Online Etymological Dictionary. Pallida  Mors 19:53, 23 March 2010 (UTC)[reply]
Excellent. We should use that site as a first line of defense anytime an etymology question arises. I also note that "holler" is a related word. One amusing thing is the 1926 argument that "Hello" is impolite and that you should answer with your name. That's standard procedure in a business setting nowadays, but on your home phone you're not likely to give a caller your name unless you recognize the phone number on your caller-ID. ←Baseball Bugs What's up, Doc? carrots→ 20:03, 23 March 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Arabic/asian(?) symbol on back of $10 bill USD

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What is it? http://reisio.com/tdbw-symbol.png ¦ Reisio (talk) 23:25, 23 March 2010 (UTC)[reply]

It would be kind of you to indicate what you mean in some format more convenient than a 3.5 megabyte download. AnonMoos (talk) 23:29, 23 March 2010 (UTC)[reply]

http://reisio.com/tdbw-symbol-cropt.png ¦ Reisio (talk) 23:35, 23 March 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Looks like s.o. named "Nasir" put his stamp on the bill. kwami (talk) 23:48, 23 March 2010 (UTC)[reply]
See Nasir (name). -- Wavelength (talk) 00:01, 24 March 2010 (UTC)[reply]
Note that it says "nṣir" (نصـيـر), not "naṣr" (ناصر). Gabbe (talk) 00:23, 24 March 2010 (UTC)[reply]
According to the Arabic dictionary, the words naṣīr / نصـيـر and nāṣir / ناصر have pretty much the same basic meaning of "helper", protector", though each has some specific connotations. AnonMoos (talk) 00:39, 24 March 2010 (UTC)[reply]
According to Behind the Name: Arabic Masculine Names and this page, they are variants of each other.
-- Wavelength (talk) 00:41, 24 March 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Thank you all :) ...now, why would someone have a fancy stamp for their name that they use on banknotes? I can imagine a fair number of reasons, but am curious if there are any well known practices this falls into. Would a financial institution do this? ¦ Reisio (talk) 03:11, 24 March 2010 (UTC)[reply]

I thought at first this was some variant on "Where's George?", but I'm not seeing it. More research is needed. ←Baseball Bugs What's up, Doc? carrots→ 03:30, 24 March 2010 (UTC)[reply]
In my experience - and I don't know whether it applies here - marks on banknotes tend to be from counting processes. For example, it is reasonably common to find numbers written on banknotes here in the UK (in pen). This might be the case. - Jarry1250 [Humorous? Discuss.] 14:09, 28 March 2010 (UTC)[reply]
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