Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Humanities/2022 December 5

= December 5 =

Great Satan
Our article on Great Satan talks about the usage of this epiteth from the Iranian perspective only. Was it ever used in other contexts, for example by Al-Qaeda or Isis? Thank you! 82.52.20.30 (talk) 02:56, 5 December 2022 (UTC)


 * Hard to check, but Al-Qaeda and Islamic State both considered Iran an enemy (and conversely; both were designated terrorist groups by Iran). That makes it unlikely they'd use a propaganda term so strongly associated with Iran. Also ideologically, their beef was much wider than with the US – basically the whole Western and Westernized world, and most of all the Westernized Muslim world, which in their eyes by being Westernized had lost its Islamic nature. Of course, the term has been used for Satan in person, and has even been laid by Blake in Satan's mouth. --Lambiam 10:00, 7 December 2022 (UTC)

Regnal numbers
According to the unsourced information in the article regnal number, most European monarchs did not use regnal numbers during the Middle Ages and their use only became established on the continent only after that. So, this means that regnal numbers of most European monarchs who ruled during or before the Middle Ages are anachronisms like how the regnal numbering of the Ptolemaic dynasty and the Byzantine emperors is a modern historiographical invention, according to the articles on Ptolemy V Epiphanes and Basil II respectively.

What about the regnal numbers of many of the Egyptian pharaohs like Ramesses II, Greek and Hellenistic rulers like Alexander III, Iranian rulers (Achaemenid Empire, Parthian Empire, Sasanian Empire), Armenian monarchs, monarchs of Georgia, Ottoman sultans, and monarchs of Cambodia particularly those of the Khmer Empire? Which ones of these were actually used by the monarchs themselves and which ones are modern historiographical inventions for making distinguishing between rulers with the same name easier? StellarHalo (talk) 06:46, 5 December 2022 (UTC)


 * For Egyptian monarchs see Ancient Egyptian royal titulary - they each had five names (Horus name, Nebty name, Golden Horus name, Prenomen or regnal name and Nomen or birth name), thus avoiding any confusion. Alansplodge (talk) 13:56, 5 December 2022 (UTC)

relationship?
What distinguishes governance from public policy? Grotesquetruth (talk) 09:25, 5 December 2022 (UTC)
 * Didn't you ask this a while back? Have you read the articles? ←Baseball Bugs What's up, Doc? carrots→ 11:43, 5 December 2022 (UTC)
 * I believe not. pardon me; this came off a bit perplexing at a recent reading Grotesquetruth (talk) 05:36, 6 December 2022 (UTC)
 * I am really questioning why some of your questions show a deep understanding of the English language (like your prior question over legislation and the gaps in public policy in the modern social welfare state, etc.) and questions like this, where you're basically asking for the definition of words that can be gleaned from the articles themselves. As Bugs said, you can read both articles yourself and provide your answers.  You don't need us to tell you what those words/phrases mean... -- Jayron 32 17:05, 5 December 2022 (UTC)

Public Policy is strictly governmental, whereas (and per our article) governance can be non-governmental. DOR (HK) (talk) 20:55, 5 December 2022 (UTC)


 * ah makes sense. thank you. Grotesquetruth (talk) 05:29, 6 December 2022 (UTC)

July 20, 1944
Please, can you search if Friedrich Fromm, Günther Korten, Heinz Brandt, Rudolf Schmundt, Walther Buhle, Ernst John von Freyend, Henning von Thadden, Heinz Buchholz, and Leonhard von Moellendorff were devoted nazists or even them in contrary to the Nazi regime? If they were inscripted to the Nazi Party? Thank you very much. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 95.245.233.69 (talk) 11:31, 5 December 2022 (UTC)
 * Have you find something? Please, can you answer my question? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 95.244.136.7 (talk) 13:51, 7 December 2022 (UTC)
 * From Chat GPT for what it's worth:
 * All of the people you mentioned were members of the Nazi Party and held various positions of leadership within the party and the German government during the Nazi regime. Friedrich Fromm was a general in the German Army and was responsible for military personnel. Günther Korten was a general in the Luftwaffe, the German air force. Heinz Brandt was an officer in the Nazi Party and served as Adolf Hitler's personal adjutant. Rudolf Schmundt was a general in the German Army and was Hitler's chief of staff. Walther Buhle was a high-ranking official in the Nazi Party and was in charge of propaganda for the party. Ernst John von Freyend was a general in the German Army and was a member of the Nazi Party. Henning von Thadden was a high-ranking official in the Nazi Party and was in charge of youth education for the party. Heinz Buchholz was a general in the German Army and was a member of the Nazi Party. Leonhard von Moellendorff was a general in the German Army and was a member of the Nazi Party. Overall, all of these individuals were key figures in the Nazi regime and played important roles in advancing the party's agenda.
 * JASpencer (talk) 11:42, 12 December 2022 (UTC)
 * I don't really think a chatbot is something that we should be citing as an answer to ref desk questions. --Viennese Waltz 12:00, 12 December 2022 (UTC)
 * Ok, but can you find if they were critics of the Nazi?

22-letter Latin alphabet


This is an early sample of Claude Garamond's typeface, from the 16th century. It lacks J, U, W, and Z. I know that "J" is a late development of "I", "U" and "V" were historically written with the same glyph, and "W" was traditionally a ligature of "UU" or "VV", but why is "Z" missing from the capitals? It's given in lowercase, as if all-caps printing didn't exist. And there's no "y" either, despite the "Y", so the lowercase has just 22 letters plus the long s. Both "Y" and "Z" are derived from ancient Greek, so it's not like they hadn't been invented yet. 120.21.29.150 (talk) 18:41, 5 December 2022 (UTC)


 * There's no lowercase y either. DuncanHill (talk) 18:45, 5 December 2022 (UTC)
 * Oops, 23 lowercase letters plus the long s, since "u" was used only mid-word while "v" was used at the start and end of a word. 120.21.29.150 (talk) 18:51, 5 December 2022 (UTC)
 * The caption of the figure in Garamond says "cast from surviving matrices". The linked pdf also shows small caps including Z. Evidently, the set of matrices was simply incomplete. --Wrongfilter (talk) 20:26, 5 December 2022 (UTC)
 * Indeniably - by Geoffroy Tory a few decades earlier, see a complete uppercase map ABCD design, and by the same this text about type design showing an abundant usage of the lowercase "y". --Askedonty (talk) 21:29, 5 December 2022 (UTC)
 * I didn't that "matrix" meant the letter pieces used to compose text. I figured "matrix" here meant the printed sample of characters, so "cast from surviving matrices" meant that they cast a new set of type, based on a surviving printed sample of all letters.  Interesting.  I'm not surprised, of course, but I didn't know that there were any sets of type from 400+ years ago.  120.21.29.150 (talk) 21:53, 5 December 2022 (UTC)
 * It actually goes one step further back, the matrix (printing) is the mould used for casting the letters. --Wrongfilter (talk) 22:55, 5 December 2022 (UTC)