Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Language/2014 July 17

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July 17

What does "Renaissance boy" in this sentence mean?

In Amis' book "Lionel Asbo:State of England",the following sentences can be read; "I fancy modern languages, sir. And history. And sociology. And astronomy. And- You can't study everything, you know. Yes I can. Renaissance boy, innit. ..You want to watch that smile,lad. All right.We will see about you."

And what's the "smile" ? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 210.22.166.186 (talk) 05:45, 17 July 2014 (UTC)

A "renaissance boy" is a younger equivalent of the renaissance man. As for what's meant by "You want to watch that smile, lad", I think it depends on the context. It might mean "Wipe that smirk off your face" but it might mean any of a number of other things. —Aɴɢʀ (talk) 06:32, 17 July 2014 (UTC)

This question was asked and answered here two weeks ago.--Shantavira|^{feed me} 15:14, 17 July 2014 (UTC)

What are the Chinese characters?

What are the Chinese characters here? File:ShanghaiUnknownHS.jpg

Thanks WhisperToMe (talk) 20:13, 17 July 2014 (UTC)

上海市

澄衷初彶中学

→Σσς. (Sigma) 20:22, 17 July 2014 (UTC)

Thank you! What about File:HongqiaoNewHighSchool.jpg? I can't find the Chinese name from the English. Also File:ShanghaiUnknownES.jpg and File:ShanghaiUnknownSecSchool.jpg

So 上海市澄衷初级中学 would be Shanghai City Chengzhong Junior High School, right? WhisperToMe (talk) 20:25, 17 July 2014 (UTC)

：The first one is too low-resolution to read, but the second is 虹口区丹徒路小学 and the third is 澄衷中学. Your translation for 上海市澄衷初级中学 seems right. --Bowlhover (talk) 05:07, 22 July 2014 (UTC)

Meaning of series of symbols

Thread retitled from "Question".

I dont get what የ ሓበሻ ሻ ጆ means. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 174.16.157.243 (talk) 20:14, 17 July 2014 (UTC)

I am revising the heading of this section from Question to Meaning of series of symbols, in harmony with WP:TPOC, point 12 (Section headings). Please see Microcontent: How to Write Headlines, Page Titles, and Subject Lines. The new heading facilitates recognition of the topic in links and watchlists and tables of contents.

—Wavelength (talk) 20:27, 17 July 2014 (UTC)

It's Amharic. The language of Ethiopia. I have no idea what it means. KägeTorä - (^影_虎) (Chin Wag) 21:53, 17 July 2014 (UTC)

The Ge'ez script is used for various languages.

—Wavelength (talk) 22:35, 17 July 2014 (UTC)

It appears to mean ya ḥābašā šā ǧo. Is that any help? Where did you find it? —Tamfang (talk) 05:40, 18 July 2014 (UTC)

Habasha is the Arabic name for Ethiopia and/or Abyssinia; I expect that it's used in other languages as well. --Xuxl (talk) 12:00, 18 July 2014 (UTC)