Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Humanities/2023 March 27

= March 27 =

ISO country codes for Antarctica - reason
Why exactly does Antarctica have an ISO 3166-1 alpha-2 and ISO 3166-1 alpha-3 code (and related others)? In other words: What exactly is Antarctica from the viewpoint of the ISO to assign it country codes? --KnightMove (talk) 08:41, 27 March 2023 (UTC)
 * The first sentence of our article ISO 3166-1 alpha-2 is:
 * ISO 3166-1 alpha-2 codes are two-letter country codes defined in ISO 3166-1, part of the ISO 3166 standard[ 1] published by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO), to represent countries, dependent territories, and special areas of geographical interest.
 * I have underlined what I think is the category that applies to Antarctica. --Lambiam 09:49, 27 March 2023 (UTC)
 * I see, thank you. Please can you give me a hint what would be best to be added as an explanation of Antarctica in brackets in Country codes: A? "Antarctica (special area of geographical interest)" sounds a bit clumsy. --KnightMove (talk) 10:15, 27 March 2023 (UTC)
 * Probably nothing; the terminology used is likely to be different between ISO, ETU, NATO, FIPS, and any of the other organizations that have given a code for Antarctica. -- Jayron 32 13:23, 27 March 2023 (UTC)

Guadalcanal's war deaths
All Japanese militaires killed by the Americans, or died of illness and starvation there until 9 February 1943, were buried somewhere in those islands or insted burned? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 193.207.102.214 (talk) 10:54, 27 March 2023 (UTC)


 * It seems based on Battle for Henderson Field that both occurred - "The Americans recovered and buried or burned as quickly as possible the remains of 1,500 of Maruyama's men left lying in front of Pullers's and Hall's lines". Tollens (talk) 08:12, 31 March 2023 (UTC)

Peter Carl Fabergé
Was he remained loyal to the Romanov until his death? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 193.207.102.214 (talk) 10:25, 27 March 2023 (UTC)
 * He was certainly not on the side of the Revolution. He fled the country during the Revolution, according to his Wikipedia article.  -- Jayron 32 12:19, 27 March 2023 (UTC)

Aizu clan
Who was the commander of the imperial unit who killed Nakano Takeko in 1868, and the one who won the battle of Aizu-Wakamatsu later? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 193.207.102.214 (talk) 10:54, 27 March 2023 (UTC)
 * Please, can you answer my question? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 193.207.96.169 (talk) 17:14, 2 April 2023 (UTC)

Nagaoka
What was the US Army's air unit and their commander when they attacked Nagaoka in the night of 14 August 1945? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 193.207.102.214 (talk) 10:54, 27 March 2023 (UTC)
 * According to Nagaoka, Niigata there was an airstrike on that city on 1 August 1945. Do you mean that one?  -- Jayron 32 12:22, 27 March 2023 (UTC)
 * Yes. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 193.207.102.214 (talk) 13:06, 27 March 2023 (UTC)
 * In which case, the Wikipedia article Bombing of Nagaoka mentions that the bombing was done by the 313th Air Division. The commander at the time, according to this page was Brigadier General John H. Davies, of whom there does not seem to be a Wikipedia article.  I believe he is the John Hubert Davies noted Here.  -- Jayron 32 13:20, 27 March 2023 (UTC)

C(K)ottbus
I was looking at this 1944 edition of Stielers Hand-Atlas, were Cottbus is spelled Kottbus. Our article about the city doesn't mention a renaming of it during the Nazi era. It actually elaborates a little about its spelling (Until the beginning of the 20th century, the spelling of the city's name was disputed. In Berlin, the spelling "Kottbus" was preferred, and it is still used for the capital's Kottbusser Tor ("Cottbus Gate"), but locally the traditional spelling "Cottbus" (which defies standard German-language rules) was preferred, and it is now used in most circumstances) but it seems that the official name during WWII still had a C and not a K. So, is the map right and it was spelled Kottbus? Do you have any idea? 195.62.160.60 (talk) 11:27, 27 March 2023 (UTC)
 * I don't know whether the spelling with K was official at the time – usually, city names and spellings are set by the cities themselves. However, I notice that the map also spells Cochem (on the river Mosel between Koblenz and Trier) with a K, so there may have been some attempt (by the map makers?) to homogenise the C/K spellings. Historically, similar cases included Coblenz/Koblenz (K spelling official since 1926 according to the German WP article) and even de:Cöln/Köln (K spelling since 1919). In the case of Cottbus, the C spelling appears to have been adopted officially by the city in 1905 . --Wrongfilter (talk) 12:16, 27 March 2023 (UTC)

Yang Zhifa
Is the discoverer of the first emperor's mausoleum a communist? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 193.207.205.87 (talk) 15:55, 27 March 2023 (UTC)


 * Do you have reason to think that his political views are on record? Or do you just mean "does he conform to expected behaviour from citizens of the PRC?" ColinFine (talk) 16:32, 27 March 2023 (UTC)
 * I doubt that there are publicly available sources documenting this. I assume that by "communist" you mean, "member of the Chinese Communist Party", which is not the same as being an adherent of the communist ideology. About 10% of China's adult population is a party member, so it appears more likely that Yang is among the 90% of non-members. When he was employed at the museum of the mausoleum of Qin Shi Huang he earned reportedly CNY 300 per month, which is the equivalent of about 1 or 2 euros per day. Somehow I think a party member would have had a higher salary. --Lambiam 17:13, 27 March 2023 (UTC)
 * There is no real reason to believe that a member of the CCP would be paid more than a non-member for the same job. DOR (ex-HK) (talk) 15:14, 28 March 2023 (UTC)
 * Although 27% of CCP members are farmers like Yang, but whether he himself was or not seems to have escaped the notice of the internet. I suspect that being a party member smooths the way through the notorious Chinese bureaucracy. Alansplodge (talk) 12:16, 28 March 2023 (UTC)

Guy goes into a pub, orders a bottle of whiskey, and pours himself a drink from it
Is that a thing? Serving whiskey (I mean liquor, not beer) in a pub? Story is set in 1970-era England if that matters. I know people drank more back then, but a whole bottle, set in front of you to drink on the spot? I'm bemused. It is important to the story that it is a bottle, because shortly afterwards he throws it at someone. Thanks. 2601:648:8200:990:0:0:0:C255 (talk) 22:06, 27 March 2023 (UTC)
 * In the 1970s, a pub would have an on-licence permitting sale of alcohol for consumption on the premises. The quantity served should be such that it could reasonably be consumed on-premise; also, it is not allowed to serve intoxicated patrons, which they would be after consuming half a bottle of whiskey. The pub could additionally have an off-licence permitting the sales of unopened bottles of alcoholic drinks to be consumed off-premise. (Since then the licencing laws have changed, but I think the currrent situation is not materially different.) I don't know how a typical publican would handle a customer buying a bottle of whiskey for off-premise consumption who opens it and starts consuming it on the spot, but condoning it might cost them their licence. --Lambiam 22:50, 27 March 2023 (UTC)
 * Serving whisky in a pub would not have been in the least unusual. It would have been, and still is, extremely, I would even say extraordinarily, unusual for a pub to serve a whole bottle of spirits. I can't say I have ever seen it. At the time spirits would have been dispensed from optics, 1/6th of a gill in England, 1/5th in Scotland. One wouldn't normally ask for "a whisky" either, you'd either ask for a Scotch or ask for a specific whisky by name (There's an old Scottish saying, "there is no such thing as a large whisky in England). A "large one" would be a double (i.e. two measures). Respectable pubs would be unlikely to dispense a treble unless they knew you. DuncanHill (talk) 23:57, 27 March 2023 (UTC)


 * Thanks all. The story uses the spelling "color" in a few places, so I guess the author was American and thinking a little too hopefully about UK drinking customs.  It actually didn't describe the ordering of the bottle, so idk what kind of whiskey was requested.  The story began with the fight breaking out when the character already had the bottle (so he uses it as a weapon).  I'm reminded of the wisdom that instead of a frontal lobotomy, I'd rather have a bottle in front of me. 2601:648:8200:990:0:0:0:C255 (talk) 00:18, 28 March 2023 (UTC)
 * In fact I just checked the story again and the guy doesn't actually throw the bottle, but rather, he smashes it into the face of one of his opponents. He is questioned by the police afterwards, who ask how he defended himself.  He missed the chance to say (referring to joke above), "I performed a frontal lobotomy using the bottle in front of me".  Oh well.  2601:648:8200:990:0:0:0:C255 (talk) 00:37, 28 March 2023 (UTC)
 * That at least is a thing that sometimes happens less-salubrious British pubs. The Wikipedia article Glassing refers, although usually called "bottling" in British English. Alansplodge (talk) 12:22, 28 March 2023 (UTC)
 * Heh, attacking someone with a bottle is a staple of bar fight scenes in movies, but I didn't realize that the practice had a name. TIL.  2601:648:8200:990:0:0:0:C255 (talk) 22:09, 28 March 2023 (UTC)


 * Just as a side note, the practice may have been unknown in 1970s era Britain, but it is known in the U.S., where it is called Bottle service. -- Jayron 32 11:56, 28 March 2023 (UTC)
 * It's something of a trope in various styles of fiction that the protagonist order a drink of whiskey and ask the bartender to "leave the bottle". They're not necessarily buying the whole bottle; they're going to serve themselves to save the bartender the trouble and then pay for the amount consumed. At least, that's my understanding of it; a good bit of fiction set in bars is strangely unrealistic and I've never seen it done in real life. Fictional barkeeps also get asked for "a beer" rather than a specific brand, so some suspension of disbelief may be required. Matt Deres (talk) 13:32, 29 March 2023 (UTC)
 * I was just thinking the other day if I should ask here if Americans really do just ask for "a beer". Draught or bottle? Off the shelf or from the fridge? Pint, half, or nip? Bitter, mild, old, pale, stout, porter, lager lager lager lager, IPA, brown? Schmiddick or Harpic, bottled draught or keg? Off the shelf or from the fridge? DuncanHill (talk) 14:24, 29 March 2023 (UTC)
 * Literally never happens. You ask the waitstaff or barkeep what beers they have on tap (or in bottles/cans) and then choose the brand you want.  No one ever just asks for "a beer".  I have, at times of my life, been enough of a regular at a bar that a waitress would bring me and my friends pitchers of our favorite beer without asking for it, but that was a based on a long-standing relationship.  We would just walk in and sit down, and pitchers of Yuengling lager and plates of nachos would just keep appearing until we were satiated.  We generally tipped very well, which I'm sure helped.  But no, no one ever orders "a beer" at a bar or pub any more than you would sit at a restaurant and order "food".  That's silly.  -- Jayron 32 14:28, 29 March 2023 (UTC)
 * I've never seen anyone ask for something as vague as "a beer". I have seen people ask for something slightly more specific, like "an ale", or "a pint of bitter" (or in one case "half a pint of your weakest lager"). Iapetus (talk) 10:17, 31 March 2023 (UTC)
 * In my misspent youth, there was a pub in the City of London where my workmates and I only had to ask for "the usual". Alansplodge (talk) 15:03, 29 March 2023 (UTC)


 * Another possibility. The story mentions the guy getting enough money together to "pay for a decent bottle of whiskey at the pub".  Merriam-Webster describes a "setup" ( defn. 3b, missing from Wiktionary, lol) as "glass, ice, and mixer served to patrons who supply their own liquor" (I had heard this term before, and it bubbled up from my hazy memory).  Would a typical pub offer something like that?  Fwiw there is a big US restaurant chain (Applebees?  Not sure) where they leave a gallon jug of cheap red wine and some crayons on the table, and you are supposed to mark the paper tablecloth with how many glasses you pour.  The idea of doing that with a bottle of liquor seemed weird though.  "Suspension of disbelief" seems like the right approach. 2601:648:8200:990:0:0:0:C255 (talk) 22:28, 29 March 2023 (UTC)
 * No pub would allow you to consume drinks brought in from elsewhere. Some will let you bring in fish and chips or a pie or the like to eat if they don't themselves do food (I rather think this is becoming very rare). You used to (perhaps still do) get restaurants without licences which would allow you to bring in your own wine or beer, charging you corkage. But pubs, no. DuncanHill (talk) 01:17, 30 March 2023 (UTC)
 * Back in the 1970s, some country pubs had an "off licence" which allowed the purchase of alcohol to be consumed away from the pub, but it had to be at a separate point of sale to the bar inside the pub, generally a sort of hatch which could only be accessed from outside. So in that case, buying a whole bottle of whisky at a pub was possible, but drinking any of it inside would have been breaking the law and risking the landlord's licence. Alansplodge (talk) 09:50, 30 March 2023 (UTC)
 * In some countries, you don't need to order a drink to bring in street food, because it's impolite to eat while walking. You just sit down, eat your food, and leave. (These tend to be places where they trust you take away your food without paying for it; you just send a kid back with your plates, cutlery and money when you're done eating.) Of course, there's a good chance you'll order something to drink while at the pub, but I've brought in my own food and (non-alcoholic) drink from a street stall and no-one objected. Probably not in the UK, though! — kwami (talk) 01:41, 30 March 2023 (UTC)