Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Language/2007 April 19

= April 19 =

three geologic terms
Dear Wikipedians:

Does any one know how to translate the following three Chinese geology terms into English?

江滩 洲滩 湖滩

Thanks a lot!

69.158.187.199 00:05, 19 April 2007 (UTC)

how to make your handwriting look like it's not your's
How do I to make my handwriting look like it's not mine, so it looks like another person wrote it? All the search engines and even a ChaCha guide can't find anything. SakotGrimshine 00:11, 19 April 2007 (UTC)


 * Unless you're an extremely skillful forger, I'd say it's virtually impossible. But IANAG (= I am not a graphologist).  JackofOz 00:25, 19 April 2007 (UTC)
 * Use your other hand. Sure, it will look horrible at first but with practice you can train your other hand to be able to write.  Dismas |(talk) 00:27, 19 April 2007 (UTC)


 * I've tried with my other hand before and it looks just like my write hand, only with a stronger style of the imperfections in how I write. Anyone know any websites with information? SakotGrimshine 00:39, 19 April 2007 (UTC)


 * Writing with your non-dominant hand may disguise your identity, but it will not resemble another person's writing, unless, perhaps, they are also writing with their non-dominant hand. -- JackofOz 06:00, 19 April 2007 (UTC)
 * It's a limited form of physical acting, really, well a bit like the Meisner technique anyway. It takes practise and imagination. You need to get into that groove and frame of mind of the person (whether fictional or real) whose writing you wish to emulate. You wont fool CSI's graphologists of course, and perfect imitation of an existing person's handwriting is almost impossible, but developing a few other handwriting wrists isn't too difficult, if you practise. ---Sluzzelin talk  08:00, 19 April 2007 (UTC)
 * Do you just want to make it look different from your own, and not to copy someone elses writing? If so, identify any quirks you have that may identify you, like a fancy f or an I without a dot etc. Then change them. Write more or less forcefully, in a different pen or pencil, in a different direction, in a different size, and, for extra effect, write slower to feally form your letters or really really fast so it looks messy. Either way it will look different. Also check any repeated spelling mistakes you make and maybe add some new ones to your secret identity writing! Think outside the box 11:52, 19 April 2007 (UTC)


 * Hmmm ... TOTBs advice sounds pretty good, a little too good for comfort? ... *heehee* ... nevertheless, you might also try any of the above while either intoxicated or under the influence of Schizophrenia. HTH. dr.ef.tymac 16:25, 19 April 2007 (UTC)
 * Also, you can try writing in all capitals, try purposely slanting letters slightly to the left and right, or, as said above, specifically changing personal quirks you recognize, but it is probably impossible to do foolproof-ly. zafiroblue05 | Talk 18:24, 19 April 2007 (UTC)


 * Write it out one way. Then turn it over. Copy it upside down. Should look pretty different. --24.147.86.187 01:32, 21 April 2007 (UTC)

Icosahedrocentrism
Is this the correct way to form the word meaning "a focus on or bias toward the icosahedron" or would it be icosahedracentrism or icosahedronocentrism? Also, could a focus on or bias toward the Windows operating system be called fenestrocentrism? Neon Merlin  05:36, 19 April 2007 (UTC)


 * For the 2nd question, I would go with Windows-centrism, to differentiate from being biased towards physical windows. StuRat 06:37, 19 April 2007 (UTC)
 * Either way, I'd go with parathyrocentrism, since a Greek rather than a Latin root should be used with -centrism. —Angr 08:55, 19 April 2007 (UTC)
 * For the 1st question, the combining form would be the first one you suggest, icosahedro-. Wareh 18:01, 19 April 2007 (UTC)

upper crust British slang from the late 19th century
Can anyone point me to a lexicon of this description? You know the thing - jolly good show - toodlepip - that kind of thing.

Any suggestions would be spiffing.

Adambrowne666 11:50, 19 April 2007 (UTC)


 * Here is a dictionary of lower class Victorian Slang. That was easy to find.  This article and this article suggests resources for period writing, but do not have an online link to a dictionary.  I did come across a mention that the ability to effortlessly use upper class slang was an indicatin that you belonged.  Perhaps such dictionaries were suppressed for this reason?-Czmtzc 16:08, 19 April 2007 (UTC)
 * You might also take a look at U and non-U English. —Angr 16:47, 19 April 2007 (UTC)

What about Mitford's writings on "U" and "Non U" language use? Bielle 16:48, 19 April 2007 (UTC)

Thanks, but I was hoping for something online Adambrowne666 10:03, 20 April 2007 (UTC)


 * You have to be careful, though: a lot of online resources are based on modern British or even American stereotypes of how the U spoke back then. "Toodle-pip", in particular, seems to have been popular in post-World War I times, not in Victorian times, and the only English persons I've ever heard say "toodle-pip" have been working-class.


 * One good place to learn about slang of the time is in fiction written at about that time by people in that society. If you could find something at Project Gutenberg written by a Briton in the late 19th century you could extrapolate from that. Characters may use less slang in fiction than real people did but they wouldn't use incorrect slang, or they'd have been laughed out of the bookstores. -- Charlene 03:43, 23 April 2007 (UTC)

Compatriot
As we use compatriots to mean people from the same country, what word would be used to designate speakers of the same language. I am looking for a word beginning with co- if possible. I feel that colinguists would have a different meaning, and  cogots  coglots just sounds funny. Cheers! ScouseMouse - スカウサーUK! 15:02, 19 April 2007 (UTC)


 * I don't think that there is an accepted term, but you could use "colingual" or "homoglot", both of which are near-neologisms that do, however, appear if you google them. (Beware that "colingual" also has a meaning in dentistry, I think referring to the side of a tooth facing the tongue.)  Marco polo 15:20, 19 April 2007 (UTC)


 * Cheers, but I was thinking more of a noun, not an adjective, rather like "fellow English speaker", and so on. ScouseMouse - スカウサーUK! 17:32, 19 April 2007 (UTC)
 * I don't know either, but you're not the first person to wonder this online. I do like the suggested neologism of "homoglot", though. —Angr 17:44, 19 April 2007 (UTC)


 * For phrases like "fellow English speaker" we have Anglophone. When I lived in Québec, you heard that word, along with francophone quite a bit. However, I cannot think of a more generalized term that isn't language specific, nor do I think the usage of -phone words are that prevalent for other language than the ones listed.-Andrew c 18:13, 19 April 2007 (UTC)


 * Why not just say 'fellow English speaker' it doesn't take that long?137.138.46.155 07:31, 20 April 2007 (UTC)


 * Actually, I came up with the question because I'd been reading an article about a company in Belgium banning all workers (esp. foreign) from speaking any language other than Dutch, as speakers of the same languages tend to group together in cliques in much the same way as people in a group of English speakers from various countries tend to form cliques with their compatriots. ScouseMouse - スカウサーUK! 17:00, 20 April 2007 (UTC)

Loïc Leferme
What kind of name is "Loïc "? Breton? Corvus cornix 16:58, 19 April 2007 (UTC)
 * Well, he was from Nord; could it be a frenchified version of the Flemish equivalent of Dutch Lodewijk "Louis"? —Angr 17:24, 19 April 2007 (UTC)
 * According to this page (which also gives popularity statistics), it is often asserted that this is a Breton version of Ludwig, etc. And here is a discussion board where the name is warmly embraced and given to children by people favoring Breton names. Wareh 18:09, 19 April 2007 (UTC)
 * French Wikipedia says it's the Provençal version of Louis (the "standard" Occitan variety being Loís, the Breton variety being Loeiz). The page points out that Loïc's Bretonic sound as well its closeness to Loïg, the Armorican (Breton) version of William, fooled even Breton speakers. I didn't see any sources or references on that page, however. ---Sluzzelin  talk  18:22, 19 April 2007 (UTC)
 * Thanks, Sluzzelin. Corvus cornix 19:02, 19 April 2007 (UTC)

Word "Ideas"
What is the translated word for Ideas in Thanks, --Doug talk 21:05, 19 April 2007 (UTC)
 * Greek:
 * Italian:
 * Latin:


 * Greek: ἰδέα, from eidon: I saw (from the article idea) − Twas Now ( talk • contribs • e-mail ) 22:06, 19 April 2007 (UTC)
 * And the plural of that is ἰδέαι. The word was borrowed into Latin and Italian too; I'm going to guess ideae for Latin and idee (three syllables) for Italian. —Angr 22:17, 19 April 2007 (UTC)
 * Of the three languages, only in Italian does idea mean "idea." Although Classical Greek ἰδέα is the ultimate source of our word, it would translate English "idea" only in the case of the Platonic Ideas.  English "idea" has many senses; fairly broad terms include Greek doxa (plural doxai) and noēma (pl. noēmata), Latin sententia (pl. sententiae) and notio (pl. notiones).  (Follow the links for full dictionary entries describing these words' meanings.)  Wareh 23:36, 19 April 2007 (UTC)

Thanks! --Doug talk 11:57, 20 April 2007 (UTC)

Chinese
Hello everyone!

I am a new Wikipedian and I am 17 years old. I am located in NJ, United States. For some time now I have been looking to learn Mandarin Chinese, but when it came down to what tools I should buy, I couldn't decide. I have decided on the series "New Practical Chinese Reader", but there are so many aspects of the series. Would you recommend buying the whole set (Textbook, Textbook CDs, Workbook, Workbook CDs, and DVD), or just a select number of these materials? Thanks a lot for the advice!

Corinth85 21:45, 19 April 2007 (UTC)


 * Well, for what it's worth, Leeds University, UK (apparently the best Chinese department outside China, we were told) uses that very same series, and all we had was the set of books and the tapes of the textbooks. We didn't use the Workbooks and DVDs weren't invented in those days. Good luck with the course! ScouseMouse - スカウサーUK! 21:59, 19 April 2007 (UTC)


 * This was asked last month as well. See Reference desk/Archives/Language/2007 March 3 for the discussion. jnestorius(talk) 22:26, 19 April 2007 (UTC)

Try having a look www.chinesepod.com ! Duomillia 04:26, 20 April 2007 (UTC)