Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Language/2008 January 16

= January 16 =

Latin
what does the word gravity mean in latin? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 69.225.116.147 (talk) 01:59, 16 January 2008 (UTC)
 * The Latin word for the physical force of gravitation seems to be vis gravitatis. The Latin word gravitas can mean weight, burden, pregnancy, fatigue (gravitas corporis), ghastliness, severeness, solemnity, dignified seriousness, substance or depth of personality (see gravitas used in English} and so on. It is derived from the adjective gravis meaning weighty, burdensome and so forth. ---Sluzzelin talk  02:26, 16 January 2008 (UTC)
 * Another meaning is relevance: Latin Wikipedia's Relevance is called Vicipaedia:Gravitas. ---Sluzzelin  talk  02:57, 16 January 2008 (UTC)
 * Since this was before Newton, did they even have a word for gravity in the physics sense? -- Falconus p t   c 04:03, 16 January 2008 (UTC)
 * Yes. Just because you don't have a theory of universal gravitation doesn't mean you haven't noticed that some things tend to move downwards. Aristotle explained it in terms of the inner 'heaviness' (=gravitas in Latin) of some bodies. Algebraist 06:24, 16 January 2008 (UTC)

Basic JC-1 H2 Economics help needed
I just started taking JC-1 H2 Economics and some concepts confuse me. Could a friendly Wikipedian with Economics background help clarify my doubts?

According to my notes and lecturers, there are four types of resources: land, labour, capital (physical capital and human capital) and entrepreneurship. Isn't entrepreneurship a type of human capital? Isn't money a resource (and what type of resource is it)?

A free good is defined as a good that does not incur an opportunity cost because supply is plentiful relative to demand. Air is an example. So if demand for a free good increases greatly (e.g. due to air pollution), will the free good become an economic good?

Lastly, are issues affecting a single industry considered microeconomics or macroeconomics? I know microeconomics is about individual (people/business) decisions and macroeconomics is about the effects of these decisions on the economy as a whole. But my lecturer gave "Taiwan's local airlines hit hard by bullet train" as an example of microeconomics.

Thanks a lot!! —Preceding unsigned comment added by 165.21.155.16 (talk) 04:16, 16 January 2008 (UTC)


 * This is the Language reference desk. We don't have an Economics reference desk, but maybe the people at the Science reference desk or the Mathematics reference desk can help you. —Angr If you've written a quality article... 05:20, 16 January 2008 (UTC)


 * I would sugges that the Humanities reference desk is the place to go. --PalaceGuard008 (Talk) 05:59, 16 January 2008 (UTC)

Last name first
Is it "Madison, James Sr." or "Madison Sr., James"? Clarityfiend (talk) 05:54, 16 January 2008 (UTC)
 * I would say the first, but with an additional comma between James and Sr. --Richardrj talkemail 10:23, 16 January 2008 (UTC)
 * Thanks. Clarityfiend (talk) 06:55, 17 January 2008 (UTC)

-ing
When you add "-ing" to a word ending with an "i", does the result have two consecutive "i"s? --67.185.172.158 (talk) 08:30, 16 January 2008 (UTC)
 * Yes: 'ski' -> 'skiing' for example. AndrewWTaylor (talk) 08:43, 16 January 2008 (UTC)
 * You can write "ski-ing" if you wish. --Richardrj talkemail 09:07, 16 January 2008 (UTC)
 * It would be appreciated if you did write ski-ing. Thank you. DuncanHill (talk) 14:12, 16 January 2008 (UTC)
 * Not in the United States. I don't remember ever having seen "ski-ing" before. I had to google to believe it. (My favorite is "shanghaiing".) --Milkbreath (talk) 14:20, 16 January 2008 (UTC)
 * I'm even partial to "he ski-ed down the mountain". Oh, and the full-stop goes outside the quotation marks. Two nations divided by a common language. :) DuncanHill (talk) 14:26, 16 January 2008 (UTC)
 * "Ski-ed" and "skied" can mean different things, of course, so in this case the hyphen is definitely a good idea to remove the ambiguity. --Richardrj talkemail 15:16, 16 January 2008 (UTC)
 * Except that that's not how the word is spelled. At least, not in North America.  In other places, spell at your own risk. :-) --Anonymous, 23:48 UTC, January 16, 2008.
 * "Ski-ed"? Write that in no country of the Free World. You will be incarcerated and interrogated using techniques outlawed under the Geneva Conventions. We live comfortably with such unlikely ambiguities as skied.
 * –&thinsp; Noetica ♬♩&thinsp;Talk 00:04, 17 January 2008 (UTC)
 * "The Lodge is offering ski-ed services for newcomers." =P H YENASTE 23:52, 18 January 2008 (UTC)
 * Taxiing is the other common example.--Shantavira|feed me 13:24, 18 January 2008 (UTC)


 * I think we can all wipe our fevered brows and utter a collective "phew", thankful that "Hawaii" can't be used as a verb. :)  --  JackofOz (talk) 00:51, 19 January 2008 (UTC)
 * This is English; if you can't figure out how to use a word as a verb, you aren't trying hard enough. My friends are going hawaiiing next summer.--Prosfilaes (talk) 01:01, 19 January 2008 (UTC)
 * But are they from Rossshire or Invernessshire? (The articles that those links redirect to don't mention it, but those spellings actually have seen some use.) --Anonymous, 02:11 UTC, January 19, 2008.
 * Ever spelled that way in 18th century printing? There's a running question on the Long S talk page about how three s's in a row would be typeset. Given that two s's were sometimes ſs and sometimes ſſ, I doubt there was any standard here, but it'd be nice to see an actual example.--Prosfilaes (talk) 02:24, 19 January 2008 (UTC)

Sanctity
Is this sentence correct? If 'sanctity' is not an appropriate word, then what is? These bacteria may pose a threat to ... the sanctity of the experiments performed within the same laboratory. I can't say 'sterility' because said experiments may involve other micro-organisms, so you don't want them sterile, just free of contamination. Seans Potato Business 10:08, 16 January 2008 (UTC)
 * 'Sanctity' is wrong, because it has connotations of holiness. How about 'hygiene'? --Richardrj talkemail 10:26, 16 January 2008 (UTC)
 * I would use either 'integrity' or 'sterility', depending on whether I wanted to emphasize experimental validity or physical cleanliness. I wouldn't use 'hygiene', because that would refer to its effect on human health. An experiment may be contaminated, but still be perfectly hygienic. Or it may be experimentally sound, but rather unhygienic (if it involves a diseased carcass, for instance). Lantzytalk 12:18, 16 January 2008 (UTC)
 * I think integrity is just the word I wanted. Thanks, both. Seans Potato Business 14:41, 16 January 2008 (UTC)

Etc.
If a sentence ends with etc., is not appropriate to have two full-stops; one for the abbreviation, and one for the end of sentence? Seans Potato Business 10:24, 16 January 2008 (UTC)
 * No, you just need the one. I would precede the 'etc.' with a comma, though. --Richardrj talkemail 10:27, 16 January 2008 (UTC)
 * For complete accuracy: no, you must have only one. Where a quote mark intervenes, however, the full stops would no longer be adjacent, and you must have both: ...beans, etc.". but the second is still omitted, as a matter of convention: ...beans, etc." Where etc. comes at the end of a question, you have the full stop for the abbreviation and also the question mark: ...beans, etc.? Similarly for an exclamation: ...beans, etc.!
 * –&thinsp; Noetica ♬♩&thinsp;Talk 23:56, 16 January 2008 (UTC)
 * Whether or not there exists a variety of English where two periods are appropriate in the following sentence, it's certainly not standard in American English.
 * "Oh, all the usual things," she said, "like corn, beans, etc.".
 * Tesseran (talk) 03:56, 17 January 2008 (UTC)
 * Even in places where "logical" punctuation is used, a period before closing quote normally subsumes one outside, so it's still "like corn, beans, etc." --Anon, 05:40 UTC, January 17, 2008.
 * A thousand apologies. I have fixed my error above. I don't know what came over me! I correct this sort of thing all the time. I think I was tired.
 * –&thinsp; Noetica ♬♩&thinsp;Talk 08:54, 17 January 2008 (UTC)
 * But etc. is an abbreviation and deserves a full stop... --Seans Potato Business 16:22, 17 January 2008 (UTC)
 * Yes, but it doesn't need two. The Oxford MoS (UK standard) requires it to be preceded by a comma if it follows more than one listed item; the point can be followed by a comma (or other punctuation appropriate to context), "but not by a seconf full point, to avoid double punctuation." Gwinva (talk) 19:55, 17 January 2008 (UTC)
 * That's right. New Hart's Rules (the latest incarnation of that Oxford manual) and all other guides agree: abbreviations that end in a full stop are never followed immediately by another full stop: and not even with a quotation mark intervening. With a bracket (parenthesis) intervening? That's different:
 * "... pedants (like Noetica, Gwinva, et al.)."
 * –&thinsp; Noetica ♬♩&thinsp;Talk 22:58, 17 January 2008 (UTC)
 * –&thinsp; Noetica ♬♩&thinsp;Talk 22:58, 17 January 2008 (UTC)

Translation from German into English
I would be very grateful if a user could please translate the following few lines from German into English. Thank you. Ich hatte ihn trauen sollen. Sein Vater und sein Schwiegervater Naschauer waren deshalb, waehrend ich noch in der Leopoldstadt wohnte, bei mir gewesen. Aber der ploetzliche Tod meines Schwagers in Magdeburg noetigte mich, dorthin zu reisen, um an dem Leichenbegaengnisse teilzunehmen, und so war ich ausser Stande, die mir angetragene Trauung Dr. Herzls zu vollziehen. Simonschaim (talk) 14:09, 16 January 2008 (UTC)


 * The German has a couple of typos and errors, if you wish, I can give you the corrected version. Here's my translation: I should have trusted him performed his wedding ceremony. His father and his father-in-law Naschauer had been with me for this reason, while I still lived in Leopoldstadt. But the sudden death of my brother-in-law in Magdeburg compelled me to travel there in order to attend the obsequies, and thus I was incapable of performing Dr. Herzl's wedding ceremony as requested. ---Sluzzelin talk  14:31, 16 January 2008 (UTC)
 * Ha ha. One typo less in the German text, my mistake. I took ihn for a typo of ihm. Jemandem trauen (dative) means to trust someone, while jemanden trauen (accusative) means to marry someone (in the sense of performing a wedding ceremony, as a Rabbi in this context). ---Sluzzelin talk  15:00, 16 January 2008 (UTC)
 * Two minor nitpicks:
 * I suppose "hatte" in the first sentence is not a typo for "hätte" but a plusquamperfekt; I'd render the first sentence as "I was to perform his wedding ceremony".
 * I wouldn't translate "bei mir gewesen" as "been with me" (it's the literal translation, but I think the meaning is a little off); I think "His father and...Naschauer had visited me" or "had come to me" is closer to the German text.
 * --Ferkelparade &pi; 15:10, 16 January 2008 (UTC)
 * Yes, I agree on both counts, Ferkelparade. The first one I simply didn't notice. As for the second point, I first had "at my place", but didn't like it and changed it. Thank you for pointing it out. Now we're left with zero typos and my presumptuousness. ---Sluzzelin talk  15:15, 16 January 2008 (UTC)


 * I have no idea if this helps: Leopoldstadt is the 2nd district of Vienna, then, as now, a centre of the local  Viennese Jewish community.  Dr Herzl presumably is a reference to Theodor Herzl.
 * I assume that Simon is aware of these facts.
 * The above posters seem to be correct in the points referring to the translation. I agree that "Ich hatte ihn trauen sollen" fits better with the rest then "Ich hätte ihm trauen sollen".  Shalom from Wien --Cookatoo.ergo.ZooM (talk) 18:26, 16 January 2008 (UTC)

Thank you. Simonschaim (talk) 08:27, 17 January 2008 (UTC)