Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Entertainment/2021 May 14

= May 14 =

Where are the nannies now?
I know Jo Frost and Stella Reid live in California, and Yvonne Finnerty lives in Boston. But where do Deborah Tillman, Deborah Carroll, Yvonne Shove and Lillian Sperling live these days?2603:7000:8100:BD38:285C:45A1:D380:86E7 (talk) 02:43, 14 May 2021 (UTC)
 * I took the liberty of trying to link your additional names. Have you searched Google? ←Baseball Bugs What's up, Doc? carrots→ 03:46, 14 May 2021 (UTC)
 * I can find no information on any of them. It isn't surprising, many people aren't easily found on the internet, and the residences of the very marginally famous people is not always easy to find.  They may very well not be leading a public life anymore, and may not make it easy to find out where their homes are.  -- Jayron 32 18:02, 14 May 2021 (UTC)
 * Should we even be helping this person track down minor celebrities? Clarityfiend (talk) 19:23, 14 May 2021 (UTC)
 * No, and we probably shouldn't be helping track down any living person beyond what's written in Wikipedia's articles (of course I don't mean stuff one occasionally finds in said articles that should be removed according to Wikipedia's policies) ---Sluzzelin talk  19:40, 14 May 2021 (UTC)

Question from Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (film)
After a black out in train, Hogwart says to his friends:


 * Malfoy: Hogwarts. What a pathetic excuse for a school. I'd pitch myself off the Astronomy Tower...if I had to continue for another two years.

What does "pathetic excuse" refer to? Rizosome (talk) 06:13, 14 May 2021 (UTC)
 * It's just an idiomatic English phrase meaning that it's not a very good example of a school. --Viennese Waltz 07:41, 14 May 2021 (UTC)


 * For the meanings of words we have Wiktionary. See pathetic: "Arousing scorn or contempt, often due to miserable inadequacy".--Shantavira|feed me 08:20, 14 May 2021 (UTC)
 * And wiktionary also explains this use of the noun "excuse" (third definition):
 * "(with preceding negative adjective, especially sorry, poor or lame) An example of something that is substandard or of inferior quality."
 * Examples: "That thing is a poor excuse for a gingerbread man. Hasn't anyone taught you how to bake?" and "He's a sorry excuse for a doctor."
 * ---Sluzzelin talk  08:50, 14 May 2021 (UTC)


 * Googling "pathetic excuse" brings up (first result): "a pathetic​/​poor​/​sad excuse for something phrase, informal: someone or something that is of very bad quality [example] We have a failing economy and a pathetic excuse for a President.". Alansplodge (talk) 11:00, 15 May 2021 (UTC)