Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Language/2007 January 13

= January 13 =

Dork?
Why does everyone think that a dork is a whale's phallus? It most certainly is not!  bibliomaniac 1  5  01:43, 13 January 2007 (UTC)
 * Um, everyone doesn't? --jpgordon&#8711;&#8710;&#8711;&#8710; 02:32, 13 January 2007 (UTC)
 * Perhaps because that's what the Urban dictionary entry tells them it is. Dismas|(talk) 10:25, 13 January 2007 (UTC)
 * Ah, but whales' phalli are mighty handy things, at least according to Herman Melville. A quick googling to remind me of the chapter number turns up Chapter 95: The Cassock, of which he spends the entirety detailing how to convert a sperm whale's "tool" into a rather handy apron. Kind of vindicates the perennial tittering of schoolboys at the title of the book, hmm? :) GeeJo (t)⁄(c) &bull; 13:02, 13 January 2007 (UTC)    (Jeez, "vindicates the perennial tittering"? Lack of sleep seems to throw my vocabulary towards the sesquipedalian end of the spectrum.) GeeJo (t)⁄(c) &bull; 13:49, 13 January 2007 (UTC)
 * Hmph. Me, I learned that the definition of "dork" is "someone who farts in the bathtub and bites and the bubbles". But that doesn't seem encyclopedic. (Nor its companion definition of a "wurp" as "someone who sniffs bicycle seats.") (Hm. I learned these in jr high. Perhaps they were not entirely serious.) --jpgordon&#8711;&#8710;&#8711;&#8710; 15:28, 13 January 2007 (UTC)

According to the Oxford English Dictionary, the word "dork" originally meant "penis." No mention of whales, though. -- Mwalcoff 23:59, 13 January 2007 (UTC)
 * Hi, can I ask you which version you used? I couldn't find it in my 1971 compact editions or my 1987 supplement. --Kjoonlee 08:48, 14 January 2007 (UTC)
 * It's in OED2 and the online version, first date 1964. Somepeople maintain electronic reference works may replace paper sources someday. meltBanana 16:29, 14 January 2007 (UTC)
 * For what it's worth, the same etymology is given by the Online Etymology Dictionary, which suggests it arose as an alternation of dick. The American Heritage Dictionary, however, suggests "dork" may come from an alternation of dirk, a kind of Scottish dagger, and doesn't mention it as originally having meant "penis" (I believe the OED, though). --Miskwito 21:28, 14 January 2007 (UTC)
 * It's worth quoting the OED's two citations in this sense, which both predate the earliest citation (1972) for the sense "a foolish or stupid person": 1964 Amer. Speech XXXIX. 118 The word dick itself serves as a model for two variants which are probably Midwestern, dirk and dork, also meaning ‘penis’. 1969 P. ROTH Portnoy's Complaint 194 The glorious acrobatics she can perform while dangling from the end of my dork. Wareh 17:25, 15 January 2007 (UTC)

Grammar question
Hi there,

I've recently started copy-editing some articles and am unsure of the following. I would appreciate any input you could provide.

Regarding the "fairy tale Snow White" part of the following sentences, which would you say is preferable (if any)?


 * "Snow White: Fairest of Them All" is a made-for-television film based on the popular fairy tale "Snow White."
 * "Snow White: Fairest of Them All" is a made-for-television film based on the popular fairy tale, "Snow White."
 * "Snow White: Fairest of Them All" is a made-for-television film based on the popular fairy tale called "Snow White."

Thanks! --Xhantar (Talk) 09:14, 13 January 2007 (UTC)


 * The first. The comma in the second is unlicensed by the phrase structure of the sentence and the third is awkward and unconcise.  --Diderot 09:34, 13 January 2007 (UTC)


 * Thank you. --Xhantar (Talk) 09:44, 13 January 2007 (UTC)


 * I agree with Diderot. Marco polo 20:15, 13 January 2007 (UTC)


 * I also agree, but also the full stop should be after the closing quote:
 * "Snow White: Fairest of Them All" is a made-for-television film based on the popular fairy tale "Snow White".
 * --Auximines 21:32, 13 January 2007 (UTC)

Unless you're American, in which case the period goes inside the quotation marks. -- Mwalcoff 23:56, 13 January 2007 (UTC)
 * I never understood you Americans. Why put a dot inside quotation marks when it's meant to be part of the sentence rather than the quotation? It makes no grammatical sense. - Mgm|(talk) 13:07, 16 January 2007 (UTC)
 * The best is to use this:
 * Snow White: Fairest of Them All is a made-for-television film based on the popular fairy tale Snow White.
 * See Manual of Style (titles). --Lambiam Talk  21:55, 13 January 2007 (UTC)

Payment order given to bank
What "for account of" at the end of a payment order made to a bank means? —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 80.105.64.246 (talk) 13:08, 13 January 2007 (UTC).


 * I assume it means precisely what it says. The money order is for the (bank) account of the person named.--Shantavira 13:52, 13 January 2007 (UTC)
 * It's not necessarily clear. --Nelson Ricardo 17:15, 13 January 2007 (UTC)


 * Does it say something like "Charges will be for account of the remitting bank"? In that case it means "paid by": the charges will be paid by the remitting bank. If that does not fit, can you give the context how this is used? --Lambiam Talk  22:06, 13 January 2007 (UTC)

Publicly Held Corporation
''Question moved to the Miscellaneous reference desk. --Lambiam Talk 10:11, 14 January 2007 (UTC)''