Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Language/2007 March 15

= March 15 =

As straight as a die (or dye)
I have heard this expression used in a complimentary sense meaning honest and reliable. What die or dye are they comparing a person to, there seem so many possibilities? Incidentally, is there a list of common similes on Wikipedia? I could not find one. Thank you —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 172.211.153.199 (talk) 07:45, 15 March 2007 (UTC).
 * It refers to this kind of die. I guess it means that a die is reliable in that it can't be misused - you get an even 1/6 chance and that's it . Oops - I just discovered there are at least two other meanings of 'die' that the simile could refer to - a device used for shaping metal, and a cutting tool that is fitted into a diestock and used for cutting screw threads on screws or bolts or pipes or rods.  So now, I'm confused too. --Richardrj talkemail 08:07, 15 March 2007 (UTC)
 * This page suggests it's the engineering kind of die. --Richardrj talkemail 08:29, 15 March 2007 (UTC)
 * I always believed it was the engineering kind. Don't know why though. Capuchin 11:36, 15 March 2007 (UTC)
 * I've always taken it to be about the type of die that metal is extruded through. Metal extruded through such a die is of a constant dependable form, inferring the same qualities on a person. - X201 11:46, 15 March 2007 (UTC)
 * The OED thinks it refers to the small, cubic spotty, gambling dices. The earliest cite for "straight as a die" is 1877 but "smooth as" and "true as" go back much further with "smooth as" from 1530. This is considerably older than the mechanical uses of the word although the word die to mean any small cube is older.  meltBanana  15:02, 15 March 2007 (UTC)

Source of the Arabic phrase "لا مؤثر في الوجود إلا الله"
Hey all. I asked this first at the Humanities desk (since it seemed, strictly, less purely linguistics- than religion-related), but no response yet.

I'm doing some study on a poem in which it would behoove me to find out the source of the following Arabic phrase: لا مؤثر في الوجود إلا الله. The meaning is basically "none but Allah has dominion over creation", and it is used primarily in reference to tawhid, or the unity of God in Islam ... however, I'm curious about the source of the phrase. Does anyone happen to know? Is it from the Qur'an, from the hadith, from somewhere else? I haven't been able to find an exact-word Arabic Qur'an or hadith search online, and googling the exact phrase didn't help much either (largely because I don't actually know Arabic). Any help on this would be greatly appreciated. Cheers. —Saposcat 08:40, 15 March 2007 (UTC)


 * I thought I knew this one. I wanted to say Qur'an 39.6, which talks about creation and ends with لَا إِلَهَ إِلَّا هُوَ, but it's not the exact phrase you're looking for. So, that's stumped me. I'll mull it over, and see if I can think of it. — Gareth Hughes 10:49, 15 March 2007 (UTC)

Rule Britannia
For translation into de:. As azure means sky-blue, does "main" mean ocean, sky or continent? Thnx -- Cherubino 21:12, 15 March 2007 (UTC)
 * Arose from out the azure main
 * I'm pretty sure that main means the open sea here (as in "the bounding main"). ---Sluzzelin talk  21:18, 15 March 2007 (UTC)
 * It's poetic English and short for main sea, which means the same as high sea or open sea. — Gareth Hughes 23:01, 15 March 2007 (UTC)

Starting and Ending Dates of a Century
I would like to know the actual start date and ending date of a century. For instance, did the 21st century start on January 1, 1901 and end on Dec. 31st, 2000? Can you site a reference?72.10.96.164 21:51, 15 March 2007 (UTC)


 * Using the 20th century as an example, the century began on January 1, 1901 and ended on December 31, 2000. More precisely, it began the instant the time was 12:00 a.m. on January 1, 1901 and ended the infinitesimal moment before the time was 12:00 a.m. on January 1, 2001. − Twas Now ( talk • contribs • e-mail ) 22:50, 15 March 2007 (UTC)


 * There's no such thing as 12:00 a.m. You mean 12 midnight. --Auximines 09:22, 17 March 2007 (UTC)


 * I'm pretty sure there is such a thing as 12:00 a.m. --Ptcamn 21:36, 18 March 2007 (UTC)


 * In the States at least, 12:00 a.m. is known as midnight and 12:00 p.m. is known as noon. Dismas |(talk) 00:03, 19 March 2007 (UTC)


 * This is the most common convention today, but it is not universal. Not even in the US. "12:00 a.m." and "12:00 p.m." are usages best avoided. -- Anon, March 18, 8:30 p.m... er, March 19, 00:30 (UTC).


 * See Century. --Anon, March 15, 2007, 23:16 (UTC).


 * no 12am is midnight and 12pm is noon because really as soon as the infinitesimalist instant happens its the next day, midnight is considered to be on the next day/morning/amT ALK•Q R C2006•¢ʘñ†®¡ß§ 11:37, 20 March 2007 (UTC)