Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Language/2011 March 28

= March 28 =

Cambodian/Khmer help
Hi! I'm trying to find the Cambodian/Khmer names of several districts.

Would someone mind checking these:
 * Seattle Public Schools: http://www.seattleschools.org/area/bfc-loc/localized-forms.dxml?listpath=/cambodian/
 * School District of Philadelphia: http://www.philasd.org/khmer/
 * Long Beach Unified School District: http://www.lbusd.k12.ca.us/Khmer/
 * Mobile County Public School System: http://www.mcpss.com/?PN=Pages&SubP=Level1Page&DivisionID=2182&PageID=3520

Thank you WhisperToMe (talk) 01:37, 28 March 2011 (UTC)
 * Somebody started articles on all four districts in Khmer WhisperToMe (talk) 23:30, 1 April 2011 (UTC)

Undersell the big shots
What does "undersell the big shots" mean? Context: "A Russian immigrant, she built the mart from a pawnshop into the largest furniture store in North America. Her strategy was to undersell the big shots, and she was a merciless negotiator.". Thanks 92.15.14.4 (talk) 21:03, 28 March 2011 (UTC)


 * Perhaps you'd like to check out undersell and big shot? Lexicografía (talk) 21:20, 28 March 2011 (UTC)
 * I was already aware of those meanings thanks, but they do not make any sense when put together in the phrase quoted. 92.15.14.4 (talk) 21:24, 28 March 2011 (UTC)
 * It means that she set lower prices in her store to draw customers away from the larger and more established furniture companies. Lesgles (talk) 21:30, 28 March 2011 (UTC)
 * I see, so by "big shot" is meant a large furniture chain, not a person. It's a long-winded way of just saying that she ran a discount furniture store. 92.29.126.172 (talk) 13:29, 29 March 2011 (UTC)
 * Slangy, but not long winded. Clarityfiend (talk) 01:48, 30 March 2011 (UTC)

"A Russian immigrant, she built the mart from a pawnshop into the largest discount furniture store in North America." No need now for the second sentence, as it is implied by 1) her running a discount store, 2) being the expected characteristics of a successful business person (I mean, you don't last long in business if you buy dear and sell cheap), and 3) probably being journalistic invention/imagination to pad things out. As I said, long winded. 92.15.1.33 (talk) 19:33, 30 March 2011 (UTC)
 * You've left out her strategy and skill, something a reader would not be able to reasonably infer. Clarityfiend (talk) 19:44, 2 April 2011 (UTC)
 * Untrue, please read the previous paragraph again. Perhaps you skipped the fourteenth word, or perhaps "discount store" is not a phrase used wherever you are. 92.15.9.102 (talk) 12:29, 3 April 2011 (UTC)