Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Language/2008 June 4

= June 4 =

Poss ess
There's a trend towards using apostrophe "s" in plural words on websites and in personal writing (example: workshop's, weekend's, car's). Looks odd, but does it mean something more than a typo? Given it might be getting past spellcheck, it's a kind of style-creep, so does this mean it's becoming acceptable? Just curious, Julia Rossi (talk) 00:57, 4 June 2008 (UTC)
 * Your write too bee consurned. Its juzt plane lazinuss. Peeple knead to lurn propr grammer. --Nricardo (talk) 01:34, 4 June 2008 (UTC)
 * There's a name for tho'se: Greengrocer's apostrophe --tcsetattr (talk / contribs) 02:42, 4 June 2008 (UTC)
 * Yup, what Nricardo wrote. Oddly enough, it takes more work to put in the incorrect apostrophe than it does to leave it out, so I don't know if "lazy" would be the correct word...silly grammar-challenged people. ··· 日本穣 ? · Talk to Nihonjoe 02:44, 4 June 2008 (UTC)


 * No, such misuse of the apostrophe is not acceptable. Astronaut (talk) 02:46, 4 June 2008 (UTC)
 * My "Yup" was more of an agreement with Nricardo. ··· 日本穣 ? · Talk to Nihonjoe 04:10, 4 June 2008 (UTC)


 * Ye's! that's it: the creeping anarchi'stic Greengrocers' apostrophe's it i's, and a's Nricardo and Nihonjoe, no-ones bothering to check because they don't even know -- thank's all Julia Rossi (talk) 03:48, 4 June 2008 (UTC)


 * You might enjoy this cartoon. I also liked the exclamation I read somewhere "an apostrophe doesn't mean 'look out! here comes an s!!'". -- LarryMac  | Talk  14:48, 4 June 2008 (UTC)


 * Confusing the issue is that it was standard until quite recently to use apostrophes to pluralize things not considered as normal words. The example "VCR's" in the cartoon would be correct by that standard.  Now that style is mostly confined to plurals of single characters (e.g. there are two capital N's in this sentence) or other cases where confusion might result (we bought two model 3's, one 3r, one 3s, and two 3t's). But some people still adhere to the older style.  See Apostrophe, although I don't think that section gives a complete picture.  --Anonymous, 20:39 UTC, June 4, 2008.


 * It's also an example of hypercorrection. Indeterminate (talk) 22:32, 5 June 2008 (UTC)

ORIGIONAL SCRIPTURES OF INDIA
WHERE THE ORIGIONAL COPIES OF THE SCRIPTURES OF INDIAN ORIGIN (VEDAS,etc)ARE PLACED ? 59.95.192.222 (talk) 04:44, 4 June 2008 (UTC)MAYUR


 * I'm not sure what you mean by "original copies", which is surely a contradiction. I suggest you read our article on the Vedas which will tell you that "The Vedas are arguably the oldest sacred texts that are still used. Most Indologists agree that an oral tradition existed long before a literary tradition gradually sets in from about the 2nd century BCE. Due to the ephemeral nature of the manuscript material (birch bark or palm leaves), surviving manuscripts rarely surpass an age of a few hundred years. The oldest surviving manuscripts of the Rigveda are dated to the 11th century CE.[citation needed]. The Benares Sanskrit University has a manuscript of the mid-14th century....."--Shantavira|feed me 06:14, 4 June 2008 (UTC)

Please interpret this sentence
The following is a quote from Water of Life (a treatise on urine therapy) by John W. Armstrong. If this treatment is carried out, the old will disappear, in the case of otherwise healthy individuals in about twelve hours or less. Doubtless the reader would say “but this is quite contrary to the old adage” ‘feed a cold and starve a fever’. Yet was that the original adage? I have heard it said that such is merely a perversion of the original saying which is “if you feed a cold you will have to starve a fever”.

What does the author mean by what he claims to be the original version of the adage? In other words, what does “if you feed a cold you will have to starve a fever” mean? —Preceding unsigned comment added by Elixira (talk • contribs) 14:23, 4 June 2008 (UTC)
 * It means that feeding a cold may make it worse, i.e. it may escalate into a fever. --Richardrj talkemail 14:25, 4 June 2008 (UTC)


 * Or more specifically -- the original saying means that if you have a cold, you should eat, whereas if you have a fever, you should fast. Therefore, the "original" version means that if you eat when you have a cold, you will get a fever. (I'm clarifying this because the meaning of the phrase "feeding a cold" may not be obvious to the original poster. Also, as a point if interest, this New Scientist article suggest that the idea of eating when you have a cold and fasting when you have a fever may have some basis in reality.) -- Captain Disdain (talk) 20:14, 4 June 2008 (UTC)


 * As Captain Disdain rightly guessed I never guessed the eating involved. By 'feeding a cold' I understood, merely allowing a cold to take its course (without trying remedies). Still, I am not clear if the author really had food in mind. Any more light? Elixira (talk) 04:13, 5 June 2008 (UTC)


 * See also this article from the New Scientist. --Lambiam 08:34, 5 June 2008 (UTC)

Meaning
What does "debris pipe" mean? Thanks.68.148.164.166 (talk) 20:59, 4 June 2008 (UTC)
 * Can you provide a context? —Angr 21:25, 4 June 2008 (UTC)
 * It could have a couple meanings I can think of:
 * pipe that has become debris
 * a pipe used to hold or transport debris.

Depending on context, there may be other meanings. ··· 日本穣 ? · Talk to Nihonjoe 01:13, 5 June 2008 (UTC)


 * Searching Google images for "debris pipe" suggests that it's a sediment trap, but I'm not conifident enough to create a redirect.--Shantavira|feed me 06:06, 5 June 2008 (UTC)
 * A rubbish or rubble chute? Both red links, but WP references in: rubbish chute and rubble chute.  See also (googled), . Gwinva (talk) 07:02, 5 June 2008 (UTC)


 * Anything like a "grease trap"? Intercepts solids and grease before it enters oops, they enter the sewer sysem. Julia Rossi (talk) 08:47, 6 June 2008 (UTC)


 * Do you mean the stewer sysem, Julia? --Cookatoo.ergo.ZooM (talk) 22:02, 6 June 2008 (UTC)
 * hank you Cookaoo, for a loan, 'ere seems oo be a shorage of t's bu' no shorage of T's laely. ; ) Julia Rossi (talk) 07:46, 7 June 2008 (UTC)

Skuta
What exactly is what the Slovenes call "skuta" (pusti sveži sir)? Is there an English equivalent for that thing? I can't figure out what kind of dairy product it is. Hús ö  nd  23:49, 4 June 2008 (UTC)
 * As far as I can see from the Slovene Wikipedia, this is a mountain!? Can you throw us a link as to what dairy product is involved? Fribbler (talk) 00:24, 5 June 2008 (UTC)
 * Actually, the disambiguation page for "Skuta" at the Slovenian Wikipedia provides both the mountain and a red link for the main (?) meaning of that word.  Hús  ö  nd  00:57, 5 June 2008 (UTC)
 * Aye, I seen that too. Just wonder what the main meaning is! The OP mentioned "sir", which rings bells in my head as being the word for cheese in several slavic languages (often as ser) but I still need more info. Fribbler (talk) 01:02, 5 June 2008 (UTC)
 * "Sir" is the only of those words I know the meaning. I have no clue about the others, but "pusti sveži sir" is written next to "skuta" on this can of skuta that I bought in the market today (believing that "skuta" was just a brand of normal cream cheese). Hús  ö  nd  01:18, 5 June 2008 (UTC)
 * Ah, I'd reckon the name of a well-known mountain was appended to create a notion of purity. Fribbler (talk) 01:23, 5 June 2008 (UTC)


 * In Croatian skuta means quark (curd cheese). I bet it is the same in Slovenian. --Lambiam 08:27, 5 June 2008 (UTC)


 * Heh heh. James Joyce knew a thing or two about words, and I wonder if he wasn't aware of this substance when he supposedly coined "quark" in FW.  --  JackofOz (talk) 20:46, 5 June 2008 (UTC)