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Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Language/2021 December 13

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December 13

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Well-knit

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From Beveridge Webster:

  • A Time magazine article from 1937 said of Webster, "Dark, well-knit, young Beveridge Webster is a good swimmer, takes pride in his tennis, likes to play poker or bridge with his great good friend Igor Stravinsky. He boasts of the little slam he once made against Sidney Lenz."

What does "well-knit" mean in this context? -- Jack of Oz [pleasantries] 08:15, 13 December 2021 (UTC)[reply]

It's in Wiktionary: wikt:well-knit. I suppose parts of him won't easily detach. Not at all friable.  Card Zero  (talk) 10:05, 13 December 2021 (UTC)[reply]
  Resolved

"can include, but is not limited to"

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A EULA which I just had to sign contains the words "[The bag you're buying] can include, but is not limited to [a cat]". Is there any meaning left in this sentence? I'm asking merely from a logical point of view, just about language, and am not asking for any legal advise here. To me, it appears that both what it can and what it can't include have been watered down to the point of insignificance. ◅ Sebastian 08:15, 13 December 2021 (UTC)[reply]

Logically, no, it might as well say "this is a bag". Practically, though, it's drawing your attention to the possibility of a cat, or a cat and something else besides, just in case you were thinking of being surprised by either of these discoveries and making a complaint.  Card Zero  (talk) 09:59, 13 December 2021 (UTC)[reply]
Oh, I'm terribly sorry, I contaminated the sentence with meaning. Please replace the content of the first pair of brackets with ‘This thingamabob’. In reality, it's a product name that might or might not suggest some meaning, but let's keep matters pure and simple here. ◅ Sebastian 11:46, 13 December 2021 (UTC)[reply]
It's always an exciting experience going shopping at Schrödinger's. 惑乱 Wakuran (talk) 13:41, 13 December 2021 (UTC)[reply]
You've missed the first "can", drawing your attention to the possibility of: only a cat; a cat and some other thing(s); one or more things, none of which is a cat; nothing at all. I'd hate to see the EULA for a more complex bag. Bazza (talk) 10:13, 13 December 2021 (UTC)[reply]
Nice riddling song, that. Would you believe that I got a whole book on such riddles (Marjorie Dundas: Riddling Tales from around the World, University Press of Mississippi, 2001) and it's not in there? ◅ Sebastian 11:46, 13 December 2021 (UTC)[reply]
It reminds me of advertisements claiming that you can save "up to 50% or more" [1]. --Amble (talk) 20:53, 13 December 2021 (UTC)[reply]
Or "At least 50%, if not more". Duh! -- Jack of Oz [pleasantries] 21:19, 13 December 2021 (UTC)[reply]
Jor-El in the late 70s Superman movie: "This planet will explode within 30 days, if not sooner." ←Baseball Bugs What's up, Doc? carrots→ 21:40, 13 December 2021 (UTC)[reply]
My favourite: Dr Gridlock advised changing one's car's oil every 3,000 to 6,000 miles, whichever came first. -- Jack of Oz [pleasantries] 00:24, 14 December 2021 (UTC)[reply]
I recently heard the phrase "by the time we get to the end of the first half of this fiscal year" and thought, hm, what's your current estimate of when that might happen? —Tamfang (talk) 02:07, 14 December 2021 (UTC)[reply]

In what language does "Torana" mean "to fly"

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According to our article Holden Torana 'The name comes from an Aboriginal word meaning "to fly"'. According to our article Australian Aboriginal languages there are at least 250 such languages. Which language is torana from? Thank you, DuncanHill (talk) 22:13, 13 December 2021 (UTC)[reply]

The New South Wales Aboriginal Education Consultative Group Office would like to know that too [2]. --Amble (talk) 22:40, 13 December 2021 (UTC)[reply]
There's also Monaro, Barina, Camira and Maloo. Camira is a town, as well as a car, supposedly from the same word, but that hasn't helped me discover the language. Oh, Monaro is a Ngarigo word apparently.
Several of these happen to sound a bit like Camaro.  Card Zero  (talk) 00:07, 14 December 2021 (UTC)[reply]
That would probably be the Hype dialect of Advertisingese. Clarityfiend (talk) 02:03, 14 December 2021 (UTC)[reply]

Whatever language it is, i did some research, and it is not in Alyawarr, Dhanggati, Dhurga, Eastern or Central Arrernte, Gurgun Mibinyah, Mawng, Mudburra, Ngarinyman, Ngaanyatjarra, Ngaatjatjarra, Ngarrindjeri, Ngiyampaa, Pitjantjatjara / Yankunytjatjara, Sydney, or Umpithamu. Or, it might not come from any Aborginal language at all, and it might just be to make people think it's 'cool'.104.187.66.104 (talk) 20:27, 20 December 2021 (UTC)[reply]

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