Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Language/2008 December 11

= December 11 =

Spanish translation
Is imputed tax, impuesto imputado? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 63.165.5.103 (talk) 00:33, 11 December 2008 (UTC)


 * Yes.--el Aprel (facta-facienda) 23:03, 11 December 2008 (UTC)


 * A published source for that, Aprel? I couldn't find one.– ⊥¡ɐɔıʇǝo N  oetica! T– 23:08, 11 December 2008 (UTC)


 * Yes, it is in altavista translation, but in the actual language or Spanish usage, I don't know. Julia Rossi (talk) 07:25, 12 December 2008 (UTC)


 * Forgive my ignorance: what is the precise definition of imputed tax? Is it somehow related to imputed income? Pallida  Mors  13:32, 12 December 2008 (UTC)
 * Russian Tax Code has an explanation. Not sure that is generally applicable, though.  I've come across it before, I thought it was somewhere in the EU, still looking. 76.97.245.5 (talk) 18:57, 12 December 2008 (UTC)
 * Couldn't find a coherent phrase but "imputed" seems to be translated as "base imponible imputada" with the "impuesto(s)" part somewhere else in the sentence. And then there was this translation  Maybe s.o. else has more luck here  The English equivalent came up with 367 matches .  Hope this helps. 76.97.245.5 (talk) 20:16, 12 December 2008 (UTC)


 * Not knowing what an "imputed tax" is, I looked up impute and imputar and the definitions indicated they were suitable translations. If you google http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q="impuesto+imputado"+OR+"impuestos+imputados"&btnG=Google+Search&aq=f&oq= "impuesto imputado," you only get 328 results, but the hits are coming from reputable sources like .org and .gov, not some shoddy forum that might contain questionable translations. In addition, the English "imputed tax" returns only 6,750 hits http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q="imputed+tax"+OR+"imputed+taxes"&btnG=Search, suggesting that these terms are probably uncommon but still correct. Sorry about the nowiki long hyperlinks. For some strange reason the formatting wasn't working properly --el Aprel (facta-facienda) 21:22, 12 December 2008 (UTC)

Difference between "buy" and "purchase"
What is the difference between "buying" something and "purchasing" it? Is it possible to buy a thing without purchasing it, or purchase it without buying it? If both words mean the same thing, then wouldn't only one word do? 207.210.129.9 (talk) 22:18, 11 December 2008 (UTC)


 * That's just a difference in register, as in so many other cases. There may be quite subtle shades of meaning beyond that in general use: though I can't immediately think of any. There will certainly be differences in, say, consumer-protection legislation, where precise meanings and differences are stipulated. Also, there are fixed expressions in which only one or the other will do: I won't buy into that argument! Note also that the nouns are more distinguishable. They are pretty much the same in That was a really smart buy [or purchase]!, but not in We are closing; please take your purchases to the checkout, and not in BHP's purchase of smaller companies.
 * – ⊥¡ɐɔıʇǝo N  oetica! T– 22:56, 11 December 2008 (UTC)


 * I would have thought you could buy something and purchase something else, both at the same register. :-) StuRat (talk) 06:08, 14 December 2008 (UTC)


 * Two words rarely mean exactly the same thing; language isn't math. I agree completely with Noetica that buy and purchase mean pretty much the same thing much of the time; the examples are good for showing that's not always the case when people use language (no one in the U.S. talks about the "Louisiana Buy").  "Purchase" might have a whisper of more formality (you buy a Chevy, but you purchase a Mercedes -- much like the one is "used" while the other is "previously owned").  "Buy" also has Anglo-Saxon origins, while "purchase" has French-Latin ones; the two are examples of many such pairs in English.  --- OtherDave (talk) 13:11, 12 December 2008 (UTC)
 * See U and non-U English. "Purchase" is non-U. Kittybrewster &#9742;  14:00, 13 December 2008 (UTC)
 * More Importantly in the example of the Louisiana Purchase, is that purchase is a noun in this context, reffering to something that has been purchased (or bought). To use buy in this context you wouldn't say 'Louisiana buy' but 'Louisiana land that was bought'. As the noun buy refers to the act of buying and not to the object bought, whereas purchase refers to the object. 92.2.174.186 (talk) 17:49, 13 December 2008 (UTC)
 * I think there is a thread on one of the desks discussing whether or not the Louisiana Purchase was a good buy. DuncanHill (talk) 13:46, 14 December 2008 (UTC)
 * Good buy and good luck! —Tamfang (talk) 00:12, 15 December 2008 (UTC)
 * Some people are employed as "buyers", and I don't think they're ever called "purchasers". --  JackofOz (talk) 20:43, 13 December 2008 (UTC)
 * Although there are people titled "Purchasing agent", and a business may have a "Purchasing department", which puts out "purchase orders" -- 128.104.112.113 (talk) 00:04, 14 December 2008 (UTC)
 * And then there's where you're trying to insert or remove a screw in a relatively inaccessible place in your car's engine. You have to get a good "purchase" on it to do the job, not a good "buy" on it.   -- JackofOz (talk) 20:47, 13 December 2008 (UTC)
 * The online Etymological Dictionary (accessed from dictionary.com) had this history for ''purchase:
 * Furthermore, according to the listings from dictionary.com, purchase has a particular legal meaning, and as pointed out by someone else, in legislation it would be better to say "purchase" rather than "buy", although interestingly enough, something can be "purchased" without money in terms of dictionary.com - although this meaning is now obsolete, it originally could have meant you acquired something by effort, or war - and this has been carried over to legal ussage.
 * Where I live, when a store is closing they say "Attention shoppers, this store is now closed. Please finalise your purchases and make your way to the exit". - it would be "lower-class" or rather uneducated to say "please finalise your buys and make your way to the exit".
 * Interestingly enough, there are 'buyers' in many companies that are responsible for the purchasing of stock. For example supermarket chains have 'buyers' - they make the decisions on which products are best to have on their shelves, for example the "cosmetics buyer" is the person responsible for which cosmetic products to stock, or more accurately, which cosmetic distributors to deal with. On the other hand you have 'purchase orders' not 'buying orders'.
 * In conclussion, 'buy' and 'purchase' mean the same thing generally but have their own particular meanings depending on context. Rfwoolf (talk) 13:49, 14 December 2008 (UTC)
 * In conclussion, 'buy' and 'purchase' mean the same thing generally but have their own particular meanings depending on context. Rfwoolf (talk) 13:49, 14 December 2008 (UTC)