Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Language/2009 July 25

= July 25 =

Archaic expletives.
Hallo all, I've been looking for archaic expletives and insults for a short story and poem I'm writing; I've been browsing the web for a while, but can't seem to find anything other than words that are still used today with relatively mild effect. If anyone could point me in the right direction, I'd appreciate it, since I'd like something not still in use. Thanks, · AndonicO  Engage. 00:16, 25 July 2009 (UTC)


 * Gadzooks, here are a few you might like. --  JackofOz (talk) 00:29, 25 July 2009 (UTC)
 * Brilliant, I see several I could use in there, thanks! · AndonicO  Engage. 00:32, 25 July 2009 (UTC)


 * I like doggone which, I think, is an old euphemism for goddamn. 195.35.160.133 (talk) 12:36, 25 July 2009 (UTC) Martin.


 * Take care not to be accused of gadzookery, though. Tonywalton Talk 12:52, 25 July 2009 (UTC)

Transliteration of names
Hello! What are these names transliterated in Japanese and in traditional Chinese letters:
 * Tokunaga Shigeyasu
 * Domdey Martin ( pronounce "-ey" as in English "eye" )

Doc Taxon (talk) 14:53, 25 July 2009 (UTC)


 * The first appears to be a Japanese name, thus probably has kanji (Japanese Chinese characters) associated with it. There are various possibilities for what those kanji might be.  徳長 is a common way of writing Tokunaga.  There are even more possibilities for Shigeyasu.  茂安 is one of them.


 * As for Domdey Martin, I'm not sure about your pronunciation guide. In katakana, which are usually used for transliterating foreign names in Japanese, it would be either ドムダイ (if it's "Dom-dye") or　ドムディー　(if it's pronounced "Dom-dee"), and Martin is マーテン.  As for a Chinese character version, it doesn't seem like a name that readily adapts to kanji.  I'd stick with the katakana for that one.  Exploding Boy (talk) 16:15, 25 July 2009 (UTC)


 * If you mean Tokunaga who was a paleontologist/geologist and a professor at Waseda University, it should be 徳永 重康. And who is Domdey Martin? Oda Mari (talk) 16:55, 25 July 2009 (UTC)


 * Because there are more possiblities to write Tokunaga Shigeyasu in Japanese/Chinese characters, how do I know the writing, if I only know the name by hearsay? So the Japanese population has the same problems to write dictation of some Japanese names, or not? How do they handle it? Doc Taxon (talk) 17:28, 25 July 2009 (UTC)


 * If there are various possibilities for a particular name, and you don't know the specific characters used to write it, then you need to ask someone who knows how that person's name is written. If that's impossible, sometimes people use katakana instead, ie: トクナガ　シゲヤス.  Exploding Boy (talk) 17:36, 25 July 2009 (UTC)
 * If you are looking to translate Domdey Martin into Chinese (as opposed to Chinese characters used in Japanese) - Martin is usually 馬丁. Domdey is a little unusual - something like 多姆代, perhaps. --PalaceGuard008 (Talk) 03:16, 26 July 2009 (UTC)