Language desk
< January 7	<< Dec \| January \| Feb >>	January 9 >

Welcome to the Wikipedia Language Reference Desk Archives
The page you are currently viewing is an archive page. While you can leave answers for any questions shown below, please ask new questions on one of the current reference desk pages.

January 8

un mitte??

I was watching the French news a while back, and they referred to what sounded like "un mitte." I can't find the word (in any variant spelling) in either of my dictionaries, so I suspect I misheard. The context was fashion styles and body shapes, and they were saying the Italians have retained a kind of plump Mediterranean ideal of shapeliness for a woman, even in the world of high fashion, while the rest of the world (or much of it) has gone in for the heroin chic look. The sentence referred to "un mitte" as this ideal, saying it was established by Italian cinema in about the 1950s or something (I didn't really understand the whole thing). The sentence went something like "Un mitte fondu par le cinema ...." So in some way, "mitte" must mean an ideal, a standard, an expectation, a body shape perhaps, or something similar for that context. Can anyone guess what the word might have been? I know this is a tricky one, but kudos on anyone who gets it. Thanks, It's been emotional (talk) 09:44, 8 January 2011 (UTC)[reply]

Hmmm... Perhaps "un mythe" (a myth)? That almost sorta works, but I'm not convinced.... 83.81.50.146 (talk) 10:00, 8 January 2011 (UTC)[reply]

Well,... since it has to have almost exactly the same pronunciation as *mitte, and since it only has to fit the context somehow, leaving a lot to the imagination regarding what they said beforehand, I'd say you've got it. I'll leave it open in case someone can improve on this, but I think it's basically resolved. Thanks, but you made that look easy, :), It's been emotional (talk) 04:21, 9 January 2011 (UTC)[reply]

Perhaps "mètre"? LANTZY ^TALK 04:26, 9 January 2011 (UTC)[reply]

I can't imagine what the difference in pronunciation between mythe and mitte would be for a French person if the latter word existed. Another homophone is mite. 82.120.58.206 (talk) 04:53, 9 January 2011 (UTC)[reply]

Taiwanese/Mandarin mix?

In this video we see Tsai Ing-wen mixing Taiwanese and Mandarin. Is this a common way of speaking in Taiwan or is it just that Tsai is not fluent enough in Taiwanese? F (talk) 10:06, 8 January 2011 (UTC)[reply]

The name for this among linguists is code switching... AnonMoos (talk) 12:18, 8 January 2011 (UTC)[reply]

I would venture to suggest that this is a common trait for many speakers of a non-Mandarin variety of Chinese, because some concepts, including literary idioms, technical terms and abstract concepts, would have been learned via Mandarin, so they would refer to such in Mandarin rather than translating each word. Code switching with English is more common with those who are educated partly or wholly in English. --PalaceGuard008 (Talk) 17:17, 8 January 2011 (UTC)[reply]

Romeka - modern Greek dialect said to resemble Ancient Greek

I heard an item on BBC Radio 4 about a supposedly newly discovered dialect of Modern Greek that is said in some ways to resemble Ancient Greek. See [1] - is there any further information about this? --rossb (talk) 14:54, 8 January 2011 (UTC)[reply]

I don't know any more about it, and I was unable to get the audio to play on the link you provided, but in general I'm skeptical when someone claims a dialect of a language is somehow super-archaic, like that nonsense one used to hear about Appalachian English being unchanged since Elizabethan days. (There doesn't seem to be a "Language" section of our List of common misconceptions, but if there were, that canard would belong there.) I can believe that there is a dialect of Greek that's highly conservative compared to standard Modern Greek in some ways - but dollars to doughnuts there are plenty of other ways in which the newly discovered dialect is just as innovative, or even more innovative, than standard Modern Greek. It's just the way languages work. —Angr (talk) 17:04, 8 January 2011 (UTC)[reply]

Canards are not things that are widely believed to be true; they're the stuff of rumours and internet trivia lists that contain no sources. Only misguided and gullible souls would believe them. That's why the Appalachian thing would not be on the List of common misconceptions. -- Jack of Oz [your turn] 20:55, 8 January 2011 (UTC)[reply]

I read about this too, here: article in The Independent 81.131.68.97 (talk) 22:43, 8 January 2011 (UTC)[reply]

From the few facts in that article, it seems that it's a dialect which has been very little influenced by the Balkan sprachbund (which does not necessarily mean that it's thoroughly archaic). In any case, Pontic Greek is fairly well known... AnonMoos (talk) 22:51, 8 January 2011 (UTC)[reply]

The article says, "not only is the infinitive preserved, but we also find quirky infinitival constructions that have never been observed before – only in the Romance languages are there parallel constructions": in other words, it has at least one innovation that standard Modern Greek doesn't have, and that didn't exist in Ancient Greek. So it's as I predicted, conservative in some ways, innovative in others. —Angr (talk) 16:50, 9 January 2011 (UTC)[reply]

And indeed the researcher who was interviewed was a responsible academic who said that it was conservative in some ways but of course was not Ancient Greek. --ColinFine (talk) 21:51, 9 January 2011 (UTC)[reply]

adjective or adverb phrase

is the phrase "If you lived near a hill in England, you might get the name HILL" an adjective or adverb phrase? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 46.152.69.49 (talk) 18:54, 8 January 2011 (UTC)[reply]

That is a sentence. —Bkell (talk) 19:09, 8 January 2011 (UTC)[reply]

Chinese help - bank branch

How do you say "AB bank branch" as in a bank branch named "AB"?

I need help so I can make full Chinese descriptions of these images:

WhisperToMe (talk) 22:11, 8 January 2011 (UTC)[reply]

Banks in China are usually divided divided into province-level divisions, then the next level is at the city or town level, or district level in large metropolitan areas, and in some cases, a further division into the local branches. So the description of a particular bank branch will depend on its status - if it is the central office of a province-level division, then it will be known as 分行, lower branches as a 支行. Some local offices which are smaller than a 支行 may have other names, such as a 分理处.

For example, the Bank of China branch at 23 The Bund is called the 上海市分行 (Shanghai Branch), as it is a province-level branch (in this case, the Municipality of Shanghai). To differentiate the actual teller counters at this branch (which are no different to those at any branch) versus the administrative part, which oversees all other branches of the bank within the Municipality, the operational part is called the 营业部 (operational department).

At the next level, the Bank of China branch at 205 Maoming South Road is a main branch overseeing the Luwan District, and it is known as the 卢湾支行 (Luwan Branch). Again, as this branch has both an operational branch with teller counters and an administrative part that oversees other branches in the district, the operational part is called the 营业部 (operational department). Finally, a local branch such as that at 282 Huaihai Road is also called a 支行, in this case the 淮海中路第二支行 (Middle Huaihai Road Branch No. 2).

For your photos, I would suggest that they would be considered 支行 unless they happen to be a main branch which oversees branches within a sizeable local area, in which case they would be 分行. --PalaceGuard008 (Talk) 22:51, 8 January 2011 (UTC)[reply]

They are all lower branches, so I will use "支行" - Thank you very much for your help! WhisperToMe (talk) 04:52, 9 January 2011 (UTC)[reply]

Le Carré d'Encre

I really like the Carré d'Encre concept store in Paris (website), and have been wondering how the name would be translated in English. Would it be "Ink Square"? My French is nearly non-existent so I'm wondering whether there's some aspect of the meaning of which I'm not aware. Many thanks in advance. --PalaceGuard008 (Talk) 22:17, 8 January 2011 (UTC)[reply]

It appears to be a play on two senses of 'square': a plaza, and the square piece of rubber that makes a stamp. "Ink Square" fits. — Hm, Square is a disambiguation page that leads to town square and market square, but not all urban squares are either of these. —Tamfang (talk) 22:53, 8 January 2011 (UTC)[reply]

Thanks! That's very helpful! --PalaceGuard008 (Talk) 11:24, 9 January 2011 (UTC)[reply]

There's a retail complex in Sydney's CBD, called Australia Square. The tall tower dominating the setting is officially known as the Tower Building, but everybody has always called it Australia Square Tower or simply Australia Square – which is funny, since it's perfectly circular. -- Jack of Oz [your turn] 23:44, 8 January 2011 (UTC)[reply]

Someone once reported hearing a Belgian say, "Un square, ça est rond!" —Tamfang (talk) 01:22, 9 January 2011 (UTC)[reply]

Madison Square Garden is also oval or circular in shape. ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 09:30, 9 January 2011 (UTC)[reply]

I never knew the tower in Australia Square had a separate name! --PalaceGuard008 (Talk) 11:24, 9 January 2011 (UTC)[reply]

There you go then, PG. Your time spent here at Wikipedia hasn't been a total waste of time after all. :) -- Jack of Oz [your turn] 12:06, 9 January 2011 (UTC)[reply]

Pi are square, pizza are round. Roger (talk) 22:53, 9 January 2011 (UTC)[reply]

And as someone has observed, if the pizza has radius z and thickness a, its volume is πz²a, or in other words, pi zza. --Anonymous, 05:32 UTC, January 20, 2011.

Corn bread are square; pie are round. ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 03:59, 10 January 2011 (UTC)[reply]

Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Language/2011 January 8

Contents