Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Language/2013 June 22

= June 22 =

greek
why ω disappears from gen, sg αἴθονος (αἴθων, ωνος,)?--82.81.118.156 (talk) 06:52, 22 June 2013 (UTC)


 * In the third declension, usually the true stem appears in the oblique cases, while the nominative singular shows modifications, due to the original stem-final consonant being placed in word-final position (and often being deleted), due to an "s" consonant being added directly to the end of the stem, or due to other modifications (such as lengthenings). (Of course, in a complicated form like θριξ / τριχος it's possible that neither the nominative nor the oblique shows the true form of the underlying stem.) If αιθων has both the genitives αιθωνος and αιθονος (the latter not listed in my dictionary), it's presumably due to a mixture of stem-types (both a stem with basic short o and a stem with long o would give αιθων in the nominative singular)...AnonMoos (talk) 07:45, 22 June 2013 (UTC)

Does anyone know spanish? Google translate sucks because it's translated sentences don't make sense.
How exactly do I write this sentence be in english: A fines dé 1954 Hollywood había renunciado a las 3 D, mientras proseguían en la URSS las demostraciones del Stereo-Kino Ivanov, atracción limitada a algunas grandes ciudades? Please do NOT use google translate. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 98.234.170.206 (talk) 07:31, 22 June 2013 (UTC)


 * Google Translate comes pretty close, it seems. Just a tweak or two so it reads better or gives you some options on saying it: "In late / By the end of 1954, Hollywood had renounced / given up on 3-D, while pursuing / continuing in the USSR demonstrations / showings of the Stereo-Kino Ivanov, [the / an] attraction limited to a few large cities." That term Stereo-Kino would be the Russian way (стерео кино) to say "stereo film" (as in stereography for 3-D photographs). The Ivanov refers to a Russian filmmaker. And it looks like you asked this question elsewhere, on a site I won't link to due to pop-up ads, but it was near the top of the list when I googled 'Stereo-Kino Ivanov'. Did you get any usable answers there? ←Baseball Bugs What's up, Doc? carrots→ 10:14, 22 June 2013 (UTC)
 * By the end of 1954 Hollywood had given up on 3D film, while in the USSR showings continued of the Ivanov Stereo-Kino, in a few large cities only. Itsmejudith (talk) 21:53, 22 June 2013 (UTC)


 * I'd say abandoned rather than renounced. —Tamfang (talk) 19:37, 25 June 2013 (UTC)

English language
I would like to ask a few questions:

A. In a song a singer tries to express that he wishes to shout up to the sky and let the wind take his voice and carry it away. Which one of the following better describe that:

1. "Let the wind take away my voice"

2. "Let the wind carry my voice away"


 * I prefer No. 2. No. 1 is more about losing one's voice due to e.g. laryngitis from overexposure to wind.  --   Jack of Oz   [Talk]  09:23, 22 June 2013 (UTC)
 * I could see "Let the wind take my voice" working as well. Though it kind of implies the wind is taking it somewhere in particular, just leaving it unstated as to where, in a way "carry my voice away" doesn't.  Lsfreak (talk) 10:08, 22 June 2013 (UTC)

B. Does this makes sense:

"Believe me, it outraged me more if I did not keep my word"

Is the use of the word "outrage" correct here?


 * No. It could be "... it would outrage me more if I did not keep my word", or "... it outraged me more that I did not keep my word".  --   Jack of Oz   [Talk]  09:23, 22 June 2013 (UTC)


 * I disagree. It makes sense, but just not the sense that was likely meant.  It states that if the person did not keep his word, then something outraged him more.   That makes fine sense, but just would not generally be said because the condition is more than likely uninteresting because the status of the antecedent and consequent would more than likely be known by the speaker, and so whether or not he was outraged, or whether or not he kept his word, could be asserted forthrightly rather than merely given hypothetically. Imagine a similar statement in a simple argument:  "If person X did not keep his word, then event A outraged person X more.  Person X did not keep his word.  Therefore, event A outraged person X more."  Makes sense to me. -- Atethnekos (Discussion, Contributions) 03:03, 23 June 2013 (UTC)

C. Would a native english speaker say something like this:

"Didn’t give I enough smile?"


 * No. It would be more like "Didn't I smile enough?".  --   Jack of Oz   [Talk]  09:23, 22 June 2013 (UTC)
 * For the record, the correct form would be "Didn't I give enough smiles?", but I'd completely agree with JackofOz on "Didn't I smile enough?" Lsfreak (talk) 10:08, 22 June 2013 (UTC)

This question is a about an ended realtionship where one of the participants is trying to find our where he erred. How would a native english speaker phrase this question? That's all.
 * "What did I do wrong?" would be the most natural way of saying it, but there are plenty of alternatives. "There was something true, and noble, and beautiful between us - what happened?"  "You spent it." Tevildo (talk) 19:39, 22 June 2013 (UTC)

193.224.66.230 (talk) 08:37, 22 June 2013 (UTC)

Sourcing a quote
I'd like to find a proper source (or, failing that, a proper debunking) of a quote I've seen a few times out on the web: "Every man has his secret sorrows which the world knows not; and often times we call a man cold when he is only sad." It's attributed to Henry Wadsworth Longfellow here and here and elsewhere. I also think I've seen a longer version, though it still ended at "only sad" (or maybe it had been changed to "merely sad". Wikiquote doesn't seem to have anything and I wasn't able to dig anything up through Wikisource, though that's a bit trickier. Any help? Matt Deres (talk) 19:22, 22 June 2013 (UTC)
 * It's spoken by a character (the protagonist Flemming) in Hyperion. Card Zero  (talk) 20:45, 22 June 2013 (UTC)
 * Excellent! Thank you! How were you able to find it? I tried Googling, but never seemed to hit anything. Matt Deres (talk) 22:50, 22 June 2013 (UTC)
 * I reasoned that the quote probably comes from a book of his which is popular and is therefore on Gutenberg, so I could go there and do a quick full-text search of everything I found. Then I got lazy and just went to Wikiquote and followed the first link and found it. By the way, this guy Longfellow is a giant target for parody. The couplet I shot an arrow into the air, It fell to earth, I knew not where begs to be completed with the hilarious consequences of this ill-thought-out action. The Village Blacksmith describes his physical appearance in great detail, and is ripe for variation. I'm fairly sure I once heard a complete version of The Song of Hiawatha with a single entendre in every line, and then there's She stood on the bridge at midnight. Her lips were all a-quiver. She gave a cough, her leg fell off, And floated down the river.  Card Zero  (talk) 02:35, 23 June 2013 (UTC)