Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Language/2011 February 12

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February 12

Wimmel

What's the literal meaning of the "wimmel" in wimmelbilderbuch? 81.131.56.30 (talk) 09:08, 12 February 2011 (UTC)

"Es wimmelt von..." means something like "It's teeming with...". Lots of small things running around. --Wrongfilter (talk) 09:37, 12 February 2011 (UTC)

Teemingpicturesbook. Good enough for me. Thank you! 81.131.64.195 (talk) 09:42, 12 February 2011 (UTC)

Actually, the Deutsches Wörterbuch by the Brothers Grimm gives the basic/original meaning as "sich lebhaft hin- und herbewegen", so it actually refers to a rapid, rather random movement back and forth, rather than the quantity.--Wrongfilter (talk) 09:45, 12 February 2011 (UTC)

Heh. Wrigglingpicturesbook? Even better. 81.131.64.195 (talk) 09:56, 12 February 2011 (UTC)

This web site can be useful. In particular, see this entry. Michael Hardy (talk) 16:50, 12 February 2011 (UTC)

It says in the German article:

Auf den sich dann im Buch meist doppelseitig erstreckenden Bildern wimmelt es von detailliert dargestellten Menschen, Tieren und Dingen, woraus sich der Name der Bilderbuchart ergibt.

Rough translation: "The usually double-sided pictures are teeming with detailed people, animals and things, where also the name of the type of the picture book comes from". JIP | Talk 17:18, 12 February 2011 (UTC)

Yes but "es wimmelt von" is an idiom that came from "wimmeln" which means to wriggle, so Wrigglingpicturesbook would be a more appropriate literal translation.--87.79.212.251 (talk) 20:36, 12 February 2011 (UTC)

Perhaps "crawling with" might be closer? --ColinFine (talk) 22:13, 12 February 2011 (UTC)

Could be. Google Translate translates wimmeln as "swarm", among other things. However, the root seems to be connected with something that turns, the English cognates being "gimlet" and also the now-obscure "wimble" (which has nothing to do with Wimbledon, FYI). ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 10:03, 13 February 2011 (UTC)

Who's that girl?

I met a German girl the other day, and she said her name was something like "Gute". I know it was definitely not "Ute". But, "Gute" is not a girls' name in German, apparently. Which other options are available? 212.169.188.95 (talk) 21:20, 12 February 2011 (UTC)

Jutte? Pity you're so sure it wasn't Ute, because that is a common girl's name. —Angr (talk) 21:25, 12 February 2011 (UTC)

Does "something like Gute" mean with a soft G? I know a German woman named Jutta, which must be a variation of Angr's answer; but the J is pronounced like a Y, as usual in German, ja. --Anonymous, 01:33 UTC, February 13, 2011. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 208.76.104.133 (talk • contribs) 2011-02-13T01:34:17

Some ideas: Gerda, Gerdi, Gerdis, Gerta, Gerti, Gertie, Gerty, Gertien, Gertje, Gita, Gitta, Gitte, Gitti, Goda, Godela, Godje, Gotje, Greet, Greeta, Greete, Gretje, Gretjen, Griet, Grieta, Grietje, Grete, Greta, Gret, Gretchen, Gretel, Grethe, Gretine, Grit, Gritt, Grita, Gritta, Guda, Gudula, Gudela, Gunda, Gunde, Gonda, Gundi, Gundel, Gundela, Gunna.--151.51.155.68 (talk) 21:26, 12 February 2011 (UTC)

Gudrun used to be fairly common although it sounds a bit old-fashioned now. A possible abbreviation for that name would be Gudi. I know of one person who's called that. --Wrongfilter (talk) 02:00, 13 February 2011 (UTC)

Not Gudi Tüschüs, by any chance?  :) -- Jack of Oz [your turn] 09:42, 13 February 2011 (UTC)

Aaaand the boy gets a cigar. :) ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 09:52, 13 February 2011 (UTC)

Are you sure that the girl told you her first name, or a nickname which was derived from her first name? I knew some girls whose nicknames were derived from their surnames (especially when their first names were very frequent, or when two friends had the same first name). In that case, the girl's name might be anything.

By the way, when my son was in the United States for half a year, he told Americans to call him "Nick", derived from his surname, as they usually could not pronounce his first name, "Achim".-- Irene1949 (talk) 22:58, 13 February 2011 (UTC)

Heh. I knew an American girl named Heather who lived in France for a year. Since the French couldn't pronounce either the [h] or the [ð] of her name, and she didn't want to spend a year being called "Ezzer", people called her Violette, from her explanation that heather is une fleure violette. (If she had known the genus name, she could have told them to call her Erica, but she didn't.) —Angr (talk) 14:42, 14 February 2011 (UTC)

Capital or not a capital

Is there a rule about when and where the word Arctic is capitalised within the body of an article? For example we have Arctic cod, Arctic ground squirrel and Arctic char where it is always capitalised. Then there is Arctic Hare where it is never capitalised. Of course Hare in the title is capitalised but never in the body of the article. Then there is Subarctic and Subarctic climate where it is not capitalised but who knows. There is also Arctic-alpine which gives arctic-alpine, "...the Arctic and more southerly mountain ranges, particularly the Alps." and "...between the arctic and the Alps." Looking at some of the references for Arctic hare does not help much Mammal Species of the World has the distribution on "Canadian arctic islands" and the "coast of Arctic Ocean." The ICUN Red List of Threatened Species in the "Taxonomic Notes" section says it is an "Arctic Hare" and in the "Range Description" that it lives on the "arctic tundra" and "Arctic islands" plus this time it's an "Arctic hare". Thanks. CambridgeBayWeather (talk) 22:56, 12 February 2011 (UTC)

"Arctic" isn't mentioned explicitly in WP:Manual of Style (capitalization). In my own usage, the "Arctic" is a part of the world and "arctic" is the adjective describing its climate. In some contexts they would be practically interchangeable. --Anonymous, 01:40 UTC, February 13, 2011. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 208.76.104.133 (talk • contribs) 2011-02-13T01:40:22

If you were to say "European" or "Asian" or "American" climate, you would capitalize. So I would think the same rule would apply to "Arctic" and "Antarctic". ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 13:10, 13 February 2011 (UTC)

For spelling, consult a dictionary! Merriam-Webster says that as an adjective it can be spelt either with or without a capital, though the place (proper noun) is capitalised, and the rubber overshoe known as an "arctic" is not capitalised.[1]. --Colapeninsula (talk) 10:57, 14 February 2011 (UTC)

Thanks folks. I should have thought about the dictionary thing and it turns out WordWeb gives a good explanation. It also gives the results in a different order depending on the capital/non-capital A. CambridgeBayWeather (talk) 15:48, 14 February 2011 (UTC)

Arabic writing translation wanted, please

Answered, thanks! More out of interest than anything, I would like to know what this ring says! You can see a photo here: http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Islamic-Arabic-Sterling-Silver-Ring-Carved-red-aqeeq-/200573336438?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item2eb31a3b76 Thanks for any help, --Snorgle (talk) 23:25, 12 February 2011 (UTC)

It's the last two verses of Sura Al-Qalam (The Pen) in Quran, translated here, usually used to keep bad eyes away. --Omidinist (talk) 05:18, 13 February 2011 (UTC)

Thanks for the information, Omidinist. Snorgle (talk) 14:05, 13 February 2011 (UTC)