Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Language/2019 May 1

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May 1

"Committed to put"

In the sentence "We are committed to put these values into practice", I would say that "put" is wrong and "putting" would be correct. Could "put" be acceptable here? --Viennese Waltz 10:51, 1 May 2019 (UTC)

I agree. Dictionaries say that the object of "commit to" is a course of action and thus a noun. The gerund ("putting") is therefore needed. I think the author of the cited phrase was interpreting the preposition "to" as requiring the infinitive form. Jmar67 (talk) 11:40, 1 May 2019 (UTC)

In somewhat of a digression, I note that my NavMan GPS occasionally tells me "there is a traffic commit on your route", meaning a Traffic jam of some kind. Clearly that wonder of modern technology has decided that "commit" can be a noun. HiLo48 (talk) 11:50, 1 May 2019 (UTC)

That appears to be in the computing sense (see wikt:commit#Noun). Not exactly user friendly. Or it could be a typo ("traffic comment"?).Jmar67 (talk) 12:23, 1 May 2019 (UTC)

I agree it should be "putting". I have seen similar in the wild, though. My guess is that the action item happened to be a singular event and they didn't want to use (what they considered to be) the continuous form of the verb. Maybe? Like, those actions are going to be put into place. Right away and definitive. Matt Deres (talk) 00:56, 2 May 2019 (UTC)

The author also may have been thinking of a similar construction such as "We have resolved to put...". Jmar67 (talk) 10:10, 2 May 2019 (UTC)

I'm not so sure. Substitute other words and see how it feels. "I'm committed to going to the gym every day." = 'I am, and have been, diligent about working out.' But "I'm committed to go to the gym every day." = 'I or someone else has made me obligated to exercise.'

"I'm committed to propose to my partner." = 'I have decided to get engaged and I'm not changing my mind.' But "I'm committed to proposing to my partner" = 'I habitually ask my lovers to marry me.'

These examples don't do much for the matter at hand, I admit. It's a separate problem. I think the issue is that the gerund "putting" makes it sound less agentic, more passive. "We are committed to put" sounds like 'We have a plan and we're gonna do it!' while "We are committed to putting" sounds like 'We're super in love with the idea of this action.' Temerarius (talk) 16:21, 5 May 2019 (UTC)

Ad medium Lana ponatur prima triumphi

At this very old book page, I'm having difficulty understanding the Latin citation in the end of the penultimate paragraph. --194.29.44.131 (talk) 14:33, 1 May 2019 (UTC)

Turns out it's a riddle! See this article. On page 101, they cite it as In medio lane ponat<ur> prima triumphi, and in footnote 124 they explain that one has to put the first part of triumphi, i.e. tri in the middle of la-ne, which give la-tri-ne. That certainly made my day! --Wrongfilter (talk) 14:57, 1 May 2019 (UTC)

"Nein Edition"?

What does the blackletter text on the title page of this book, B. H. Smart's Walker Remodelled, say? It looks like "Nein Edition" or something, which makes little sense. I have a source that says this dictionary went through eight editions and want to confirm it. This edition is from 1871 and apparently the author died the following year, so it is most likely the last edition at least during his lifetime. Nardog (talk) 18:15, 1 May 2019 (UTC)

New Edition. Bazza (talk) 18:17, 1 May 2019 (UTC)

Thanks, I totally see that now. Nardog (talk) 18:33, 1 May 2019 (UTC)

See article Minim (palaeography)... -- AnonMoos (talk) 04:43, 2 May 2019 (UTC)