Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Humanities/2016 August 19

= August 19 =

Rescission
"Rescission" what does that mean regarding ownership? Example: First step: Person B acquires shares from Person A. Second step: Person B sales the same shares to Person C. Third step: Person A and B rescind their contract, which should take effect retrospectively. Has Person C to rescind his contract or retransfer the shares, too, without being able to object? Or is a rescission impossible, if it affects third parties? 87.139.83.214 (talk) 15:30, 19 August 2016 (UTC)
 * It should be impossible, without having undone, or neutralized the effects of the second sale of course. That's why rescission, in court, is discretionary. --Askedonty (talk) 15:53, 19 August 2016 (UTC)
 * Indeed. The Rescission article already linked says "A court may decline to rescind a contract if one party has affirmed the contract by his action...or a third party has acquired some rights or there has been substantial performance in implementing the contract" (my bolding). AllBestFaith (talk) 18:36, 19 August 2016 (UTC)
 * Thank you very much, --77.3.146.133 (talk) 20:15, 19 August 2016 (UTC)
 * Rescission in the context of stock sales has a specialized meaning that is not addressed in our article. Under section 12 of the Securities Act of 1933, if Person A violates certain laws in selling the stock, then Person B is entitled to receive the amount paid for the stock, plus interest but less income received, upon the tender of the stock to Person A. If Person B has sold the shares, then Person B is entitled to damages rather than rescission rights. John M Baker (talk) 15:58, 21 August 2016 (UTC)
 * The question is clearly about the contract law concept of rescission applied to share purchase. Given that the OP uses BritEng (and geolocates to Europe), it is highly unlikely that they are asking about a US statute. --PalaceGuard008 (Talk) 11:11, 23 August 2016 (UTC)

Lyrical Intercalation?
What is the term for the intercalation (other than intercalation) of lyrics in music?

Specifically I am talking about S&G's "Scarborough Fair", where Simon and Garfunkel sing over each other. Thanks. μηδείς (talk) 23:48, 19 August 2016 (UTC)


 * Part singing, perhaps, (discussed in Unison) and, or, perhaps, Polyphony? If Mozart, then probably imbroglio. --Tagishsimon (talk) 23:53, 19 August 2016 (UTC)


 * Scarborough Fair (ballad) tells us:
 * Simon & Garfunkel set it in counterpoint with "Canticle"—a reworking of the lyrics from Simon's 1963 anti-war song, "The Side of a Hill", set to a new melody composed mainly by Art Garfunkel.
 * Is that what you're after? --   Jack of Oz   [pleasantries]  23:58, 19 August 2016 (UTC)
 * Agreeing with Jack's citation is our article on The Music Man (which uses this trick a couple of times). It says, "Lida Rose' and 'Will I Ever Tell You', sung first separately and then simultaneously, are examples of Broadway counterpoint (songs with separate lyrics and separate melodies that harmonize and are designed to be sung together). Similarly, 'Pickalittle' and 'Good Night Ladies' are also sung first separately, and then in counterpoint." Deor (talk) 12:51, 20 August 2016 (UTC)
 * By what route may intercalation be connected with singing at all? The word arose according to etymologists from a necessary process in the Roman calendar to balance the solar and lunar aspects of it. Intercalation (from inter- "between" + calare "to call") was done after Feb. 23 or 24 (the terminalia), every two or four years. Twenty-seven days were intercalated, making a full intercalary month (which included the last four or five days of Februarius), known as mensis intercalaris (and also known, according to Plutarch, as Mercedonius). No one now knows why the intercalation was done in the middle of February rather than after its end, unless it was because the important festivals at the end of that month (Regifugium and Equirra) were closely associated with holidays in early March. After Caesar's reform (46 B.C.E.) the only intercalary day is Feb. 29 every four years. AllBestFaith (talk) 13:56, 20 August 2016 (UTC)
 * A book on improving one's command of English started by posing the question "How many people know what the word 'intercalate' means?"  Apart from its technical meaning it does have the general meaning of "interpose".   There are other specialist meanings as well - see Intercalation (university administration), also an "intercalary degree" is something you fit into your normal studies during the summer vacation.   The etymologists explain it quite well (apart from ignorance of how long the intercalary month actually was).   The process is essential to every calendar (apart from the Muslim, after Muhammad banned it) because it is vanishingly unlikely that there will be an exact whole number of days in a month or a year, or of months in a year. 81.151.129.213 (talk) 14:53, 20 August 2016 (UTC)
 * Vanishingly unlikely except for the possibility of resonance. —Tamfang (talk) 06:33, 23 August 2016 (UTC)


 * I've long thought of it as a counter-melody (in fact, it's the only song that immediately comes to mind when I think of a counter-melody). Our article says that counter-melody is a kind of counterpoint, so Jack's response is good too. --Trovatore (talk) 01:04, 21 August 2016 (UTC)
 * Here are 20 more. --   Jack of Oz   [pleasantries]  22:33, 21 August 2016 (UTC)
 * Cool! Somehow those countermelodies don't catch my attention the same way the one inScarborough Fair/Canticle does, though.  I wonder what the difference is.... --Trovatore (talk) 22:50, 21 August 2016 (UTC)
 * By the way, intercalation has to do with calendars. Oops, already covered. ←Baseball Bugs What's up, Doc? carrots→ 06:24, 21 August 2016 (UTC)
 * I had mostly associated the word with intercalation (biochemistry). There's a very useful dye called ethidium bromide that intercalates into DNA and makes it glow under UV light.  Everyone is terrified of it (but they still use it because it's so effective).  My impression is that the fear is mostly about theoretical possibilities, not so much based on any observed injuries (but that's not a criticism; I'd want to be careful too). --Trovatore (talk) 22:57, 21 August 2016 (UTC)


 * The question was brought up, because a Spanish speaker who had never heard "Scarborough Fair" said she especially enjoyed the intercalación of the voices. I knew what she meant, but thought that there was another term used in English.  Unfortunately, I am not familiar with any of the songs mentioned above, the only one I could think of was "Frère Jacques" which is considered a round although the technique might still be called intercalation. μηδείς (talk) 23:36, 23 August 2016 (UTC)


 * Having read the above answers, counterpoint seems like a reasonable one, although I always associated that with the notes, not the lyrics. μηδείς (talk) 23:47, 23 August 2016 (UTC)


 * One that comes to mind is "Old Folks at Home" aka "Swanee River", which is sometimes played along with one of Dvorak's "Humoresque" pieces. Unfortunately, "along with" is the way it's described in the article. No technical term. Here's a poorly-recorded version of it from I Love Lucy. ←Baseball Bugs What's up, Doc? carrots→ 01:46, 24 August 2016 (UTC)