Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Language/2022 March 14

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March 14

Fierceful Narmer

Of translations of pharaoh Narmer's name I read: Other translations include ″angry, fighting, fierceful, painful, furious, bad, evil, biting, menacing″, or "stinging catfish". Ignoring the interesting word *fierceful, how should I format the list so that it makes sense? Currently it gives the incorrect impression that "angry", "fighting", etc., stand on their own as potential translations. What it's really supposed to say is: Other translations include "angry catfish", "fighting catfish", "fierce catfish" [...] but is there a way to express this without writing "catfish" ten times (and using 20 quote marks)?  Card Zero  (talk) 14:35, 14 March 2022 (UTC)

Hi, the sheer number of adjectives contributes to the potential misreading, so to me the solution that repeats "catfish" several times is the most accessible solution, unlikely to be misunderstood by any level of English comprehension. You could reduce the list by omitting the synonyms "furious" and "evil" which are already covered by "angry" and "bad" - and I suppose it's possible that "fierce" and "fighting" are also synonyms. Because you've said "include" you don't have to be exhaustive. 70.67.193.176 (talk) 15:24, 14 March 2022 (UTC)

"Evil"'s a word with stronger connotations than simply "bad", though... 惑乱 Wakuran (talk) 16:28, 14 March 2022 (UTC)

Yes, although "raging" (a translation I didn't mention), "angry", and "furious" are pretty indistinguishable, so this is a fair point.  Card Zero  (talk) 18:56, 14 March 2022 (UTC)

How about Other translations of the name's second element mr include "angry", "fighting", "fierce", [...] Some scholars have taken entirely different approaches to the first element nꜥr that do not include "catfish" in the name at all,[18][19][20] but these approaches have not been generally accepted.? --Amble (talk) 18:50, 14 March 2022 (UTC)

Yes, good plan, will probably write something like this.  Card Zero  (talk) 18:56, 14 March 2022 (UTC)

What is his connection to a catfish (of whatever mood)? Clarityfiend (talk) 20:25, 14 March 2022 (UTC)

It was the electric catfish, so perhaps it meant that the pharaoh was stunning. (Or it might have been the Vundu, which can grow five feet long, making the pharaoh metaphorically the biggest fish.)  Card Zero  (talk) 20:35, 14 March 2022 (UTC)

The previous sentence says This word is sometimes translated as "raging catfish", so I think the simplest solution would be to follow with Other translations of the adjective include ″angry, fighting, fierceful, painful, furious, bad, evil, biting, menacing, or stinging". Iapetus (talk) 10:58, 15 March 2022 (UTC)

Right, that's sensible. I went for it and made this change (slightly adapted).  Card Zero  (talk) 12:11, 15 March 2022 (UTC)

One could write it more tersely: "raging (or fighting, painful, etc.) catfish" —Tamfang (talk) 01:39, 19 March 2022 (UTC)