Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Language/2010 May 31

= May 31 =

Russian edition of Bandura's Social Foundations of Thought and Action - seeking Pub Info
Hello, One of the key books by eminent psychologist Albert Bandura - the most highly cited living psychologist in the world - is his Social Foundations of Thought and Action: A Social Cognitive Theory, published in 1986 in English (ISBN 9780138156145, Google Book). Bandura's CV (HERE) says that it has been published in Russian. But internet searches via Google book and Worldcat have not turned up the publication info (i.e., year, Russian title & publisher, ISBN, number of pages). Is there any Russian speaker who could somehow obtain this info? (perhaps by asking on Russian Wikipedia, for those who may have access to Russian libraries that are not online, or...???)? FYI, I am preparing an article about the book; also, I've already found the Spanish and Chinese translations mentioned on his CV, so the CV seems reliable, and it says a Russian edition exists. Many thanks -- Health Researcher (talk) 00:35, 31 May 2010 (UTC)


 * Helped by my basic Russian, I can tell you that the title is [probably] Альберт, Бандура: "Социальные основы мышления и поведения". However, google search gives a bunch of practically identical Russian hits, all of them being the same biography. The term "Рефераты" means "student's papers", so that partially explains such repetitiveness. However, I also cannot locate publisher and ISBN. The alternative title I found is "Социальные основы мысли и действия", but still no actual hits about the Russian edition. No such user (talk) 04:24, 31 May 2010 (UTC)


 * ...and, I can easily find the bibliographic information about the other two translations (Theory of Social Learning -- http://www.zipsites.ru/psy/psylib/info.php?p=2762) and Adolescent Aggression - http://www.libex.ru/detail/book284583.html). But no sign whatsoever about the Social Foundations -- I'm inclined to believe that there is an error in the CV. No such user (talk) 05:42, 31 May 2010 (UTC)

Where did they come from ?
A few months ago I watched the MacGyver episode, in which he and his grandfather Harry were trapped at the Phoenix Foundation building by a lady assassin and members of a US terrorist cell which had hired her. Mac refers to the iron bar put under a doorknob to wedge it against the floor, so it could not open in the direction of the side of the door the bar was on, a New York Lock. But upon looking this up today finally in Wikipedia, there is no reference to it. Is that what it is called, or is there another expression, and if it is called a New York lock, how so ? This also brings to mind the expression " Now wait a New York minute " I see it is a song and a movie, but where is it a saying, and what exactly does it mean ? Thank You. The Russian. 202.36.179.66 (talk) 02:11, 31 May 2010 (UTC)
 * A "New York minute" is a couple seconds. The phrase is a joke about the fast pace of life in New York City. (According to Wiktionary and Urban Dictionary, the original joke was that it's the amount of time between when a traffic light in NYC turns green and when the guy behind you starts honking his horn.)
 * I've never heard about a "New York lock" before, though. r ʨ anaɢ (talk) 02:23, 31 May 2010 (UTC)
 * I can't find any reference to it online other than in relation to this episode. Perhaps the phrase was invented for the episode.  New York used to have a bad reputation for crime in those days and you would see references to people with multiple locks on their doors.  --Anonymous, 04:53 UTC, May 31, 2010.


 * I don't know whether MacGyver was just making up that term to be funny, but it's probably an allusion to the image of jamming a high-backed chair beneath a doorknob so that attackers cannot get in even if they pick the lock. At the time, New York City had some of the worst crime rates in the United States. Paul Davidson (talk) 06:13, 31 May 2010 (UTC)


 * I have seen such a device in a TV show - possibly a 70s or 80s cop show, or maybe in Pi (film). It was a metal bar wedged against an apartment door, and held in place by suitable metal fitting on the floor and door, in order to deter efforts to break in.  Whether or not it was specifically in New York, I have no idea.  Astronaut (talk) 11:02, 31 May 2010 (UTC)


 * This would seem to be a probably updated approximation of what is being spoken of. And here. These updated versions seem to contain alarms. The basic version probably does not. Bus stop (talk) 12:03, 31 May 2010 (UTC)


 * Quite why I remember it I don't know, but such a device appears in the Whoopi Goldberg movie Burglar (film), the same year as that MacGyver episode. Perhaps a particular news story was the prompt to write this element in both of them.  meltBanana  12:32, 31 May 2010 (UTC)

Thank You all so much - that clears it up. I assumed MacGyver - or at least his scriptwriters - had used a real term for the lock, but the Whoopi reference makes sense. I do recall an episode of Happy Days when a burglar or robber was caught in the Cunninghams' house, and locked in a closet by Fonzie I believe, by wedging a chair underneath the doorknob - but no mention is made of what technique that was called. We can assume the closet opened outwards. I don't know if doing that always works. What struck me about that, was it was the exact time the pizza arrived, and the crook in the closet had the cheek to ask for some, for why should he starve on his quest to rob others ? And they slid a slice under the door. To me, although I was young at the time I saw it, it seemed wrong to reward villainy. I guess that is up to one's own discretion, as that could heap coals of fire on the burglar's conscience - if he has one. The New York Minute bit sounds right, too. The one thing I do not understand, is why people beep in traffic when they can plainly see there is no way to move - but that is another thing. The Russian.202.36.179.66 (talk) 01:57, 2 June 2010 (UTC)

Hire French staff for a fake restaurant
For a French project, we have to create a French cafe somewhere in France and hire real people for our fake restaurant. We have to somehow find these people and their resumes to include in the project. Where can I find French staff? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 66.30.201.110 (talk) 14:04, 31 May 2010 (UTC)
 * These "employees" can't be fellow classmates? Falconus p t   c 15:43, 31 May 2010 (UTC)
 * It does seem a bit cruel to incite people to apply for a job that doesn't actually exist. It might even constitute fraud. +Angr 16:04, 31 May 2010 (UTC)
 * Put an advert in local French newspapers? --  KägeTorä - (影虎)  ( TALK )  15:48, 31 May 2010 (UTC)


 * You might want to check that you've understood the project. I suspect the resumes and characters are supposed to be made up by people in your class. 86.164.69.239 (talk) 16:36, 31 May 2010 (UTC)


 * The sure (if not the easiest) route :P No such user (talk) 17:22, 31 May 2010 (UTC)

Omnis est
Hello. In how many ways can you translate "omnis est" (as is, or when it's at the end of a sentence)? Thanks in advance... 200.118.156.9 (talk) 15:56, 31 May 2010 (UTC)


 * I count two: "is all" or "all is." More of the context would be helpful.--el Aprel (facta-facienda) 19:20, 31 May 2010 (UTC)


 * It could be "everything" or "everyone", too. Maybe it means "that's all", as in "the end." Adam Bishop (talk) 19:26, 31 May 2010 (UTC)

Thank you for your help. :) 200.118.156.9 (talk) 20:13, 31 May 2010 (UTC)


 * Should one be translating Loony Tunes dialogue into Latin, it might serve to render "Th-th-th that's all, folks!". (I'm surprised Baseball Bugs didn't get here with this first.) 87.81.230.195 (talk) 21:22, 31 May 2010 (UTC)

Whistling and humming
Is there a single word that describes the sound of whistling and humming simultaneously? Matt Deres (talk) 16:41, 31 May 2010 (UTC)
 * How can you whistle and hum simultaneously? +Angr 17:20, 31 May 2010 (UTC)
 * "Put your lips together and blow", I guess. :-) My vocal cords vibrate while my lips/tongue make the whistling sound. I can do it from either approach - whistling and then vibrating my vocal cords (as in the act of humming) or humming first and shaping my lips/tongue into position to whistle. Or I can just do it. While I admit I haven't heard anyone else do it, it's not like I've been surveying people about it; I figured if I could do it, a gazillion other folks could do it and that there was a name for it. Matt Deres (talk) 18:34, 31 May 2010 (UTC)
 * Okay, I guess you have a different definition of "humming" than me. To me, "humming" is making the /m/ sound to different pitches. But I think your vocal folds must be vibrating even during normal whistling, because you can whistle different pitches (you can whistle a tune) and for that, your vocal folds have to vibrate. You can't make different notes on voiceless sounds. +Angr 18:43, 31 May 2010 (UTC)


 * Sure you can -- just move your tongue. No need to bring the vocal cords into it.  Whistling and humming simultaneously seems very unnatural to me, as the vocal cord vibrations disturb the stationary lips needed to whistle, although I can make myself do it (very badly).


 * For another talent involving two sounds made simultaneously, see Tuvan throat singing and related articles.
 * --Anonymous, 19:30 UTC, May 31, 2010.


 * What? Of course you can. The body of air vibrates. It's being a kind of flute.213.122.54.56 (talk) 22:21, 31 May 2010 (UTC)


 * I find that if I start vibrating my vocal cords the rate of air flow decreases and the whistling stops. --Tango (talk) 21:04, 31 May 2010 (UTC)
 * I find I tend to involuntarily match the note I'm singing, which makes harmonies entertainingly difficult to do. 213.122.54.56 (talk) 22:16, 31 May 2010 (UTC)


 * See the disambiguations of throat singing. -- Wavelength (talk) 12:49, 1 June 2010 (UTC)


 * Everybody knows that we hum through our nose. ~ A H  1 (TCU) 23:43, 3 June 2010 (UTC)

Boonie hat
Who or what was the "boonie" from which the boonie hat got its name? --173.49.15.136 (talk) 16:42, 31 May 2010 (UTC)
 * This page suggests that it comes from the term "boonies", which according to our article was commonly used by U.S. soldiers to refer to the rural areas of Vietnam. Deor (talk) 18:29, 31 May 2010 (UTC)
 * Thanks. --173.49.15.136 (talk) 03:33, 1 June 2010 (UTC)

Waste grain
May I ask about "waste grain" as follows:


 * 1) What does it mean?
 * 2) What is its part of speech?
 * 3) Can you give any example of its usage?

I find no information about "waste grain." Thank you so much for your contribution.

119.46.60.226 (talk) 17:22, 31 May 2010 (UTC)


 * It may assist us if you give the source and context of the phrase (where you heard about it). Without further context, I would guess that "waste grain" is grain (such as corn, wheat or rice) that is waste (surplus or discarded). In this context, it would be a noun phrase. An example sentence of this meaning might be "After grinding the day's flour, the miller swept the waste grain from the floor and fed it to the pigs." -- 174.24.200.38 (talk) 20:17, 31 May 2010 (UTC)

"Alexander" in Old Persian
The other day I was watching the Oliver Stone film Alexander (yeah yeah, I know, I like it alright?), and decided to try to transcribe and translate the Old Persian cuneiform that's part of the multi-orthographical opening title sequence to see whether it meant anything significant. Turns out it does, it says "Chshayathiya vazarka, Chshayathiya dahyunam, Chshayathiya chshayathiyanam, A-La-Cha-Na-Da-Ra", "Great King, King of [all] Lands, King of Kings, Alexander". The traditional list of titles for Persian kings. But the "A-La-Cha-Na-Da-Ra" part looked weird. I'd never seen it before so I didn't know where to drop the vowels, but moreso it didn't look like the most likely name for Alexander. It seemed to me that if they were to write "Alexandros" in OP wouldn't it be something more like Alakshandaya, or something? They certainly didn't have trouble with those kinds of consonant clusters in names such as Chshayarsha. BUT, I'd never heard of an OP version of Alexander's name before. So I was wondering whether there is one attested, and if so whether it is Alachandara (or somesuch)? Cevlakohn (talk) 17:37, 31 May 2010 (UTC) Arda Wiraz Namag


 * "Alexander the Great: Historical Sources in Translation" by Waldemar Heckel and J.C. Yardley (Blackwell, 2004) might have this info. There is a review online, which may be by some random person, but assuming that they correctly quote the relevant section of the book, it says "the correct rendering of Alexandros would have been A-lek-sa-an-dar-ru-su, but until now, no tablet has been discovered that uses this Greek name. Instead, after some first attempts to render the conqueror's name, the Babylonian scribes settled upon A-lek-sa-an-dar." Unfortunately that book is not on Google Books so I can't see what it really says. Apparently there are no literary references to him until hundreds of years later; the Book of Arda Viraf mentions him (under what name I don't know), and the Shahnameh calls him "Sikander", but that won't help with the Old Persian. Adam Bishop (talk) 19:22, 31 May 2010 (UTC)


 * "Assyrian and Babylonian Chronicles, vol. V: Texts from Cuneiform Sources" by A.K. Grayson also seems to mention Alexander (but I can't view it on Google either). Adam Bishop (talk) 19:30, 31 May 2010 (UTC)


 * In general, people will often adapt a term to the structure of their own language, such as the Arabic-sounding "al-Iskandariyya" for Alexandria, and "Canary Islands" for what technically should have been called "Dog Islands". ←Baseball Bugs What's up, Doc? carrots→ 11:19, 1 June 2010 (UTC)


 * Well, obviously. But we're trying to figure out what that term was. Adam Bishop (talk) 12:29, 1 June 2010 (UTC)


 * I'm not sure that Alexander's name would ever have been rendered in Old Persian. According to our article Old Persian language, the language had evolved into "pre-Middle Persian" by the time of Artaxerxes III, who predated Alexander. According to Old Persian cuneiform, corrupted forms of written Old Persian were used "down to Artaxerxes III", implying that his successors—Alexander's contemporaries—used later forms of the language and perhaps a different script.  By the time of Alexander's conquest, Aramaic had come to be as important or more important than Persian as an administrative language and lingua franca in the Persian Empire.  After doing some web research, I have the impression that there are no surviving Achaemenid references to Alexander, and that the earliest references in Persian to Alexander are likely to be in the Arda Viraf.  So we may not be able to know for sure what Alexander's Persian opponents called him.  According to the 1911 Encyclopaedia Britannica, the Arda Viraf refers to Alexander as "Iskander".  This text certainly post-dates Alexander.  The (probably Aramaic-speaking) scribes of Babylon cited by Adam Bishop above apparently used the form "A-lek-sa-an-dar."  According to our article on Middle Persian, all of these vowels and consonants occurred in Middle Persian, so his name could originally have been similar in post-Old/pre-Middle Persian, or something like "Aleksander".  There is no reason to suppose that the Persians would have based their form of his name on the nominative case of his Attic Greek name.  It would have made as much sense to use the stem, Aleksander.  (Over time, the first syllable seems to have been dropped, and the "ks" cluster must have been difficult for Persian-speakers, resulting in the form "Iskander".)  Marco polo (talk) 14:47, 1 June 2010 (UTC)


 * Actually, taking another look at our article Middle Persian, I see that they have transliterated a reference to Alexander in a (perhaps older?) version of the Arda Viraf as "Aleksandar". This is probably as close as we can get to the form used by Persians contemporary with Alexander.  Marco polo (talk) 14:52, 1 June 2010 (UTC)


 * Just a detail: the Pahlavi script is a consonantary, so the only thing that the Arda Viraf actually "spells out" is ʼlksndr (I also looked at the archived version of the page cited in our article). Just what vowels there were may perhaps have been inferred from a Pazand version of the text, if one is available, but these are often more recent and rather inaccurate representations of the pronunciation originally intended. Still, Aleksandar certainly does seem plausible.--91.148.159.4 (talk) 20:52, 1 June 2010 (UTC)

Japanese
ふしぎなカード

しょこたんのトロピウス　プレゼント いつも　サンデ－を　みてくれて まりがとう. たいせつに　そだてるんだお ポケサンカンパニ－　らいらいお！！！

しょうこ

もらったひづげ 	２００７／０２／０２

--75.25.103.109 (talk) 17:54, 31 May 2010 (UTC)

Shokotan's Tropius. It'a gift for you. Thank you for watching Pokémon Sunday every time. Please take good care of him. Good morning from Poke Sun Company!!! Shoko Received on Feb.2,2007 Oda Mari (talk) 19:27, 31 May 2010 (UTC)
 * Yep, it's Japanese all right. +Angr 18:06, 31 May 2010 (UTC)
 * I need it translated. I thought it was obvious what I meant, but I guess not. --75.25.103.109 (talk) 18:09, 31 May 2010 (UTC)
 * Mysterious card.
 * What's the tan mean in Shokotan? Isn't her name just Shoko? --75.25.103.109 (talk) 21:35, 31 May 2010 (UTC)
 * Did you read the last sentence of the lead of Shoko Nakagawa? Deor (talk) 21:56, 31 May 2010 (UTC)


 * See also Japanese honorifics. Deor (talk) 22:21, 31 May 2010 (UTC)

"Approve" and "Of"
Is it always necessary to use "approve" together with "of"; as in the sentence "When the court approves of the motion, it shall...", can we just say "When the court approves the motion, it shall...", or, in a passive voice form, do we have to say "When the motion is approved of, the court shall..."?

With thankfulness.

119.46.60.226 (talk) 19:29, 31 May 2010 (UTC)


 * The two usages have different meanings. "Approve" means something like "permit" or "verify" or "ratify", and has a more official sense. "Approve of" means "support", or "be ok with", and is more informal (like, "my mom approves of me dating that guy"). It would be strange to say "when the court approves of the motion". r ʨ anaɢ (talk) 19:32, 31 May 2010 (UTC)
 * According to Motion (legal) and all the courtroom dramas on TV, judges either grant or deny motions; they don't "approve" them. Deor (talk) 21:34, 31 May 2010 (UTC)
 * There are instances where "approved" is not used with "of", as in "The new proposal has been approved". ~ A H  1 (TCU) 23:40, 3 June 2010 (UTC)

origin of a proverb
"better remain silent and be thought a fool than open mouth and remove all possible doubt" from whom? —Preceding unsigned comment added by Ashbiomechanic (talk • contribs) 20:05, 31 May 2010 (UTC)
 * See http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/English_proverbs#B. -- Wavelength (talk) 20:12, 31 May 2010 (UTC)
 * According to this, it's actually a bit of both: Lincoln was paraphrasing Proverbs 17:28, or actually improving on it. And I'm talking Abraham Lincoln, not any city. :) ←Baseball Bugs What's up, Doc? carrots→ 23:23, 31 May 2010 (UTC)
 * In what respect did he improve on it? -- Wavelength (talk) 12:50, 1 June 2010 (UTC)
 * By rendering it in readable English. ←Baseball Bugs What's up, Doc? carrots→ 13:16, 1 June 2010 (UTC)
 * Readable English is a matter of translation, not of revision of meaning. The Bible proverb said that a fool staying silent would be considered wise. (http://multilingualbible.com/proverbs/17-28.htm) -- Wavelength (talk) 13:24, 1 June 2010 (UTC)
 * Lincoln's version is catchier, which is probably why it gets quoted all the time rather than the Proverb. I don't doubt that it reads better in the original Hebrew. Different Abraham. :) ←Baseball Bugs What's up, Doc? carrots→ 16:56, 1 June 2010 (UTC)

Word for stooping illness
Begins with C. Any ideas please? Kittybrewster  &#9742;  20:24, 31 May 2010 (UTC)
 * Could you clarify what you mean by "stooping illness"? Kyphosis comes to mind, but I'm not sure what exactly you're referring to. Deor (talk) 21:30, 31 May 2010 (UTC)
 * Scoliosis has a c near the beginning. Is this for a crossword puzzle (given that it's not on the science desk)? Giving us the number of letters might help. Our category listing for infectious diseases is here and our category for syndromes is here. Maybe looking through the "C" sections (heh) will give you some ideas. Matt Deres (talk) 23:11, 31 May 2010 (UTC)
 * A crossword might want a simple word such as "curvature". Gwinva (talk) 23:28, 31 May 2010 (UTC)
 * I'm a nurse. Once I did homecare for an old guy with pretty severe kyphosis.  He told me his doctor had asked him, "Find much money?", which he did not think was very funny. :-)  Well, not much help I guess... Gandydancer (talk) 23:54, 31 May 2010 (UTC)
 * Curing? (Sorry, read "stopping illness", not "stooping illness"...) Gabbe (talk) 08:24, 1 June 2010 (UTC)
 * Sir William Richard Gowers Parkinson Disease sketch 1886.jpg. I don't think it is one of these. I think it is the stooping associated with some forms of Parkinson's. Kittybrewster  &#9742;  17:16, 1 June 2010 (UTC)
 * Then the word you're looking for is probably camptocormia. Deor (talk) 17:32, 1 June 2010 (UTC)
 * That's it. Thank you. Kittybrewster  &#9742;  19:42, 1 June 2010 (UTC)