Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Language/2011 July 6

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July 6

"Self checkout machine" in Spanish

What is "self-checkout machine" in Spanish? I'm trying to tag File:HomeDepotPinOakHoustonselfcheckout.jpg with a Spanish description Thanks WhisperToMe (talk) 05:21, 6 July 2011 (UTC)

Go to your local Lowe's store and see how they label it. :) ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 06:30, 6 July 2011 (UTC)

Turns out I do have a Lowe's nearby.. but I wanted to see if someone can figure it out before I get to the Lowe's.. WhisperToMe (talk) 06:34, 6 July 2011 (UTC)

I put "self checkout machine" into Google Translate and it came back with "propia máquina de caja". However, that translates back as "own cash machine", which seems odd. However "caja" has a lot of meanings: box, cash, case, etc., and most notably, cash register. So maybe "propia máquina de caja" works. The problem is the assumption that they would use the same descriptive term in Spanish that they would use in English. They might have a totally different term. I googled [what is "self checkout" in Spanish] and this page came up.[1] It indicates "autorealización de préstamos". However, Google Translate says that means "self-realization of loans". Maybe it's time to check out that Lowe's checkout. :) ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 06:57, 6 July 2011 (UTC)

I have never seen this concept in Spain but I reckon it would be something like "Caja de Autoservicio" or just "Caja Autoservicio". Richard Avery (talk) 07:34, 6 July 2011 (UTC)

The article es:Caja registradora says its a "Caja registrador autoservicio". William Avery (talk) 12:40, 6 July 2011 (UTC)

Thank you very much :) WhisperToMe (talk) 15:06, 6 July 2011 (UTC)

Ooh, that was close. Richard Avery (talk) 18:38, 6 July 2011 (UTC)

Are you guys related? :D 80.123.210.172 (talk) 19:50, 6 July 2011 (UTC)

The sign at my local Lowe's store (where all the signs are bi-lingual) says "Self checkout" / "Caja autoservicio". That squares with what Richard Avery said. That doesn't mean it's the definitive answer, only that it's "an" answer. ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 18:27, 7 July 2011 (UTC)

if a noise makes a sound, what does a color make?

If a noise makes a sound, then when does a color make? --188.29.111.138 (talk) 18:48, 6 July 2011 (UTC)

A noise does not make a sound. A noise is a sound. A colour is a colour. Do you have a worthwhile question? --Tagishsimon (talk) 18:50, 6 July 2011 (UTC)

Correct that noises don't make sounds...but...

If the question is what do we call the visual analog of a sound it would be a sight or an image. μηδείς (talk) 18:54, 6 July 2011 (UTC)

My guess is that it's a setup for some silly pun. "If a train station is where a train stops, and a bus station is where a bus stops, what's a workstation for?" But we'll see. --Trovatore (talk) 18:56, 6 July 2011 (UTC)

...and if they make olive oil by squeezing olives til the oil come out, and they make sunflower oil by squeezing sunflower seeds until the oil comes out, how do they make baby oil? Astronaut (talk) 10:55, 7 July 2011 (UTC)

To give the OP the benefit of the doubt, perhaps we can respond to the following question:

"Noise" relates to "sound" as "color" relates to "BLANK"?

Actually, I think I get the joke, unfortunately. Bus stop (talk) 19:16, 6 July 2011 (UTC)

Oh, really, because as the OP, I didn't put a joke in. I just wanted to know, if there's a noise (something falls, for example), then that creates sound. If there's a color, that creates a sight? Maybe... I'm not convinced though. What's the joke, anyway, Bus stop? 188.29.111.138 (talk) 21:13, 6 July 2011 (UTC)

What's your definition of "noise", OP? It seems to be different to mine. To me, a noise is one type of sound; speech and music are other types of sound. None of them creates sound. Something or someone creates them. -- Jack of Oz ^{[your turn]} 21:41, 6 July 2011 (UTC)

Vibrations in the air (or other medium) create a reaction in the ears, which in turn creates a sound (very simplified explanation). Lightwaves create a reaction in the eyes, which in turn creates an image (also simplified explanation). Maybe this is what the OP wants. By the way, anyone else having trouble with Wikipedia today? KägeTorä - (影虎) (TALK) 21:59, 6 July 2011 (UTC)

I took your question, OP, to be what is the visual analog of a sound, to which I responded a sight or an image. Was this not helpful? If not, can you explain yourself using fully concrete examples? Color and noise are not normally taken to be equatable. A color would normally be equated with a tone, and a noise with a blur, perhaps. μηδείς (talk) 22:02, 6 July 2011 (UTC)

I am having problems with Wikipedia, KageTora, my last response was lost. Anyway, I'm not sure if a sound only becomes a sound once it has been processed by an ear. A sound, to me, means a longitudinal propogation of a signal though a medium. If that signal happens to be picked up and processed by the complex mechanisms involved in hearing is irrelevant 86.138.104.72 (talk) 22:20, 6 July 2011 (UTC)

Really? You would refer to a longitudinal propagation of a series of pressure waves through the interior of a star as a "sound"? I don't think most people would do that. -GTBacchus^(talk) 22:25, 6 July 2011 (UTC)

Seems I got logged out too. GTBacchus, that is way out of my depth, I have no idea about that. Si1965 (talk) 22:32, 6 July 2011 (UTC)

Our article Sound defines it as "a mechanical wave that is an oscillation of pressure transmitted through a solid, liquid, or gas, composed of frequencies within the range of hearing and of a level sufficiently strong to be heard". Are the frequencies of the pressure waves in the interior of a star within the range of hearing (approx. 20 to 20,000 Hz) and sufficiently strong to be heard? Our definition doesn't imply it actually has to be heard to be a sound, merely that it has to be potentially audible. That suggests that the tree falling in a forest does make a sound, even if nobody is there to hear it. (But I think I have seen other definitions of sound that do require actually being heard as part of the definition of sound, which changes the answer to that famous riddle.) Angr (talk) 22:40, 6 July 2011 (UTC)

Thanks Angr. I should probably go to bed, but if I am walking though the forest with my severely deaf friend when the tree falls, I would say "what was that sound?", my friend would say "there was no sound". Is my friend wrong? Si1965 (talk) 22:59, 6 July 2011 (UTC)

How did he hear you ask that question? And mightn't he feel the vibration of the tree hitting the ground - possibly even more than you would? ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 10:59, 7 July 2011 (UTC)

Not all languages are oral/aural194.176.105.51 (talk) 12:00, 7 July 2011 (UTC)

No matter what language, why would you ask a deaf person, "What was that sound"? ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 12:38, 7 July 2011 (UTC)

I equate colours with our actual perception of the lightwaves hitting our eyes. This perception (experience) differs from species to species (and indeed between individuals within a species - such as those with 'colour blindness'). This is a verifiable fact, and leads me to assert that the colours themselves, in the absence of myself, or any other creature capable of 'creating' those colours, do not actually exist. In the same way, I equate 'sounds' with our actual perception of the vibrations within our surrounding medium. Therefore, the tree falling in the forest only makes a 'sound' to those capable of perceiving the vibrations (in whatever way). --KägeTorä - (影虎) (TALK) 23:16, 6 July 2011 (UTC)

(ec) A severely deaf person who is aware they are severely deaf should know never to deny the auditory experiences that hearing people have. They are inherently way behind the eight-ball, hearing wise. They may say truthfully "I didn't hear anything", but they should be exceedingly cautious about ever saying "There was no sound". -- Jack of Oz ^{[your turn]} 23:21, 6 July 2011 (UTC)

The pitch of a sound and the color of a light are a function of frequency, right? So the OP kind of has it turned around. A source of sound produces one or more pitch tones. A source of light produces one or more colors (counting infrared and ultraviolet as "colors"). ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 11:02, 7 July 2011 (UTC)

Despite the fact that most languages are aural, only silence is golden. Synaesthetes, your time has come. -- Jack of Oz ^{[your turn]} 19:51, 7 July 2011 (UTC)

Silence is golden, but my eyes still see. :) ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 12:17, 9 July 2011 (UTC)