Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Language/2012 January 30

= January 30 =

meaning of expression "fur and wode"
What is the meaning of "fur and wode?" — Preceding unsigned comment added by 69.39.122.103 (talk) 14:26, 30 January 2012 (UTC)
 * I'm guessing that's a typo for "fur and woad" such as might be worn by ancient Britons. -- Orange Mike &#x007C;  Talk  14:28, 30 January 2012 (UTC)
 * Alternatively, wode could be an archaic spelling of wood, as in In this lond of arabia felix the chefest wode that thei have toward the stret of the red see be palmares (In Yemen, the most common tree is the Palm tree).
 * Can you provide a sentence which uses the expression? We might then be able to deduce the meaning. As it is, "fur and wode" brings up no Google hits. - Cucumber Mike (talk) 14:57, 30 January 2012 (UTC)
 * (Multiple ECs) "Wode" is an archaic or Middle English spelling of "wood" (preserved, for example, in names such as that of P. G. Wodehouse), so (more guessing here) "fur and wood" might, for example, refer to someone's rights to gather wood (or cut down trees, wear high heels ) and trap or kill animals in a particular locality (compare the similar rights listed in the article Common land). Against that, the spelling of "fur" contemporary with "wode" would have been "furre", so "furre and wode" would be more likely.
 * Assuming "wood" was intended, "fur" used to have some different applications in carpentry: a "fur" was once a synonym for a box, and to "fur" some structure was to build it up to the correct thickness with strips of wood, but I'm straining to think of a plausible use of the term "fur and wood" even in such circumstances.
 * It would help greatly if we could be given the context of the usage in question; i.e. the sentence or paragraph containing it and a description of the work in which it occurs. {The poster formerly known as 87.81.230.195} 90.197.66.38 (talk) 15:25, 30 January 2012 (UTC)

I agree with Orange Mike that it probably refers to the supposed ancient fashion for "fur and woad", which does get a (very) few Google hits. (Whether they were ever actually worn together we don't really know. I mean wouldn't they clash? ;-)--Shantavira|feed me 17:09, 30 January 2012 (UTC)


 * Could it be an attempt at rendering "far and wide" in some accent? (I was thinking the West Country, but that'd be more like fur and woide.) 128.232.241.211 (talk) 21:21, 30 January 2012 (UTC)

Trawsfynydd
How do you pronounce Trawsfynydd? AlmostReadytoFly (talk) 15:13, 30 January 2012 (UTC)
 * Until you get a better answer, you could try and have a look at Welsh orthography. --Colapeninsula (talk) 15:28, 30 January 2012 (UTC)
 * I'll have a stab at it (sorry I can't do IPA). I would go for traws-VUN-ith. "Traws" would rhyme with "course" (a hard "s", no "z" sound in Welsh) and the "th" at the end is soft, like "scythe" but with a short "i", like "pin". Emphasis is on the second syllable. Please bear in mind that this is my Cockney Welsh and a native speaker might have some corrections to make. Not sure about the "Traws" element of the name but "fynydd" is a soft consonant mutation of "mynydd" - a mountain. Alansplodge (talk) 17:42, 30 January 2012 (UTC)
 * I think that the IPA is /traus'vɪnəð/. If I am correct, the first syllable is pronounced "trows" (with a rolled 'r') to rhyme with English house. The second syllable rhymes with English sin, and the third syllable is the English word the pronounced in reverse. Marco polo (talk) 18:17, 30 January 2012 (UTC)
 * On reflection, you're probably right about the first syllable (I forgot about the rolled "r", I'm rubbish at those). The middle syllable is definitely a "u" sound, like "bun". Our article for Mynydd Isa gives mənɪð and Mynydd Llandygai gives mənɨð. Fynydd is the same word as mynydd. Alansplodge (talk) 18:27, 30 January 2012 (UTC)
 * A footnote on our Welsh orthography page says: "The vowel letter y indicates /ə/ in unstressed monosyllabic words (e.g. y "the", fy "my") or non-final syllables (regardless of whether these are stressed or not), but /ɨ̞, ɨː/ (N) or /ɪ, iː/ (S) in word-final syllables (again, regardless of stress)." (N) and (S) refers to North or South Welsh pronunciation - Trawsfynydd is in the North. Alansplodge (talk) 18:50, 30 January 2012 (UTC)
 * The IPA is in Southern Welsh;  in Northern Welsh. I've added the Northern Welsh pronun to the article. The first syllable rhymes with "house", the second syllable approximately with "bun" (more like an American pronunciation of "bun" than an RP one), the third syllable with "with" (if you pronounce "with" with a voiced th sound). Angr (talk) 19:03, 30 January 2012 (UTC)
 * I'll have to find me an American and make him say "bun" ;-) Thanks Angr. Alansplodge (talk) 21:10, 30 January 2012 (UTC)
 * I hear that British oddity whenever they play this song: "...In Penny Lane, the bahbuh shaves anothuh coostumuh..." ←Baseball Bugs What's up, Doc? carrots→ 14:56, 31 January 2012 (UTC)
 * Make that "Liverpudlian oddity", Bugs. We don't all sound the same :-) . {The poster formerly known as 87.81.230.195} 90.193.78.57 (talk) 19:19, 31 January 2012 (UTC)
 * ... though the vowel shift from "cust" (yes, like a short "oo") to "cast" (short "a" that southerners use in "customer", not "ae") hasn't happened yet in most of northern England or Scotland. This only makes sense if you're familiar with northern & southern English vowels.    D b f i r s   23:47, 31 January 2012 (UTC)
 * ... (later) ... sorry, I've found the IPA now, I mean the vowel shift from "ʉ" to "ʊ" to "a" for the "u" in "customer".   D b f i r s   00:05, 1 February 2012 (UTC)

Thanks for your help. AlmostReadytoFly (talk) 09:29, 1 February 2012 (UTC)

Flames, shoes and brakes
Dear all I have to write an oral (prepared speech) about one the following topics: flames, shoes and brakes. The oral has to be an argumental oral (I have to convince my listeners of something). I simply can't think of a good argument - giving normal information speech would be easy. Here is one of my ideas: "Flames, hero or destroyer?" Can someone maybe help me to expand this idea or give another suggestion? Also keep in mind, I live in South Africa and the speech is actually Afrikaans!) Thank you!41.15.176.193 (talk) 18:41, 30 January 2012 (UTC)


 * Some ideas: There are some ecosystems that seem to require regular burning to work: Chapparel. There's also the way that fire allowed people to cook food; and some recent scientific evidence indicates that cooking food allows people to extract more nutrition from it (higher caloric content), which may have been one of the factors that allowed humans to become the predominant species on the planet.  Then there's the whole arson/wildfires/burn victims thing.  Just some things to go on.  -- Jayron  32  18:52, 30 January 2012 (UTC)


 * There is Control of fire by early humans and articles linked to that. Here's a Scientific American article about "Cooking Up Bigger Brains" by Richard Wrangham, author of Catching Fire: How Cooking Made Us Human. BrainyBabe (talk) 16:39, 31 January 2012 (UTC)


 * My first thought was of a half remembered silent movie where Charles Chaplin/Harold Lloyd/Stan Laurel/... slows his runaway wagon with his feet against the wagon wheels. It ends with him jumping into a bucket and standing amid a cloud of steam.  Astronaut (talk) 16:29, 1 February 2012 (UTC)


 * And don't forget the flames inside the internal combustion engine or the earlier steam engine. StuRat (talk) 04:20, 3 February 2012 (UTC)

Dear [I don't know your first name]?
How would I start a letter to someone I don't know the name of, when I would have written "Dear [first name]" if I had known it? "Dear Sir or Madam" sounds too formal and "Hi!" sounds too informal. Jacob Lundberg (talk) 21:24, 30 January 2012 (UTC)


 * Is it just their first name you don't know? If so "Dear Mr. X" or "Dear Ms. X" is your best choice (or another title if you know they have one). If you don't know their name, then clearly you don't know them, so a bit of formality is appropriate. I don't see a problem with "Dear Sir or Madam" (or just "Dear Sir" or "Dear Madam" if you know which one they are). Another option is to try and find out their name. Of course, if you want something like "Hi!" but a little more formal, there is always "Hello". That's quite common in an email, but I would think it strange to start a letter like that. It might help if you gave us a bit of context - it's the context that determines what level of formality is required. --Tango (talk) 21:37, 30 January 2012 (UTC)


 * Thanks! I'm talking about an email to a person or entity I don't know the first or last name of. Let's say I'm emailing technical support or a student union. If "Hello" is more formal than "Hi!" perhaps that could be a solution. Jacob Lundberg (talk) 21:41, 30 January 2012 (UTC)
 * There's always "To whom it may concern:", but that may be too formal for an e-mail. Angr (talk) 21:42, 30 January 2012 (UTC)
 * I'd probably use a functional title, such as "Dear Tech Support" or "Dear Student Union Officers" or the like. -- Orange Mike &#x007C;  Talk  21:53, 30 January 2012 (UTC)
 * I think "Hello" would be reasonable for that sort of email. A functional title, as Orange Mike suggests, would also work. --Tango (talk) 22:02, 30 January 2012 (UTC)


 * There's no harm in being "too" formal when writing to a stranger. They will likely convey to you how they want to be addressed, just as you would subtly do for them by how you sign your e-mail. Better to be too formal than too casual. They will let you know how casual they want to be. ←Baseball Bugs What's up, Doc? carrots→ 01:56, 31 January 2012 (UTC)


 * As it's an email, you could use "Good morning" or "Good afternoon" as a salutation. --TammyMoet (talk) 12:11, 31 January 2012 (UTC)


 * "To whom I do not know...". :-) StuRat (talk) 04:16, 3 February 2012 (UTC)