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

= November 22 =

GI
What do the letters G and I stand for in this sentence? ---Ironically enough, what with the TV and radio access brought with GIs, and with the periodicals very readily available, Koreans should have a unique oppurtunity to acquire English. Thank you in advance. 203.228.255.210 (talk) 13:16, 22 November 2013 (UTC)
 * Most probably G.I. (military), referring to the English-language media that serve the U.S. military personnel in Korea. Deor (talk) 14:13, 22 November 2013 (UTC)


 * In the general sense (and as used in your sentence above), it refers to military personnel (soldiers, etc.). Specifically, the "G. I." stands for "government issue".  Military personnel are employed by the federal government (at least in the USA, this is the case).  Joseph A. Spadaro (talk) 21:10, 22 November 2013 (UTC)
 * Stephen Fry says it stands for 'General Ignorance'....  KägeTorä - (影虎)  ( TALK )  11:35, 23 November 2013 (UTC)
 * If an enemy was invading, who would you be more likely to rely upon for defense? GI's? Or Stephen Fry? ←Baseball Bugs What's up, Doc? carrots→ 13:50, 23 November 2013 (UTC)
 * Stephen Fry, of course, because at least he won't steal our women.... :)  KägeTorä - (影虎)  ( TALK )  14:19, 23 November 2013 (UTC)
 * It's clearly "general ignorance" for a soldier to fight for the right of a comedian to trash that soldier. ←Baseball Bugs What's up, Doc? carrots→ 15:33, 23 November 2013 (UTC)
 * If soldiers ever stopped to think about the orders they're given, the invasion never would have happened in the first place. Aɴɢʀ (talk) 21:36, 24 November 2013 (UTC)

In any case, it's presumably referring to American Forces Network... AnonMoos (talk) 20:24, 23 November 2013 (UTC)

Hard hat diver
What is a "hard hat diver"? I never heard the term before today. Thanks. Joseph A. Spadaro (talk) 21:07, 22 November 2013 (UTC)


 * Try google. μηδείς (talk) 21:19, 22 November 2013 (UTC)


 * Thanks. Did that.  Hence, my question here.   Joseph A. Spadaro (talk) 21:27, 22 November 2013 (UTC)
 * Standard diving dress is the article you want. Deor (talk) 21:38, 22 November 2013 (UTC)


 * (ec)"hard hat diving" leads to a bunch of references, including at least two Wikipedia articles. ←Baseball Bugs What's up, Doc? carrots→ 21:39, 22 November 2013 (UTC)

Follow up
Thanks for the responses above. What type of organization would hire a hard hat diver? Who would employ such a person? Where would one find employment as a hard hat diver? The reason I ask is: I overheard someone stating to another person "I am a hard hat diver", when asked about his job/occupation. Any thoughts? Thanks. Joseph A. Spadaro (talk) 22:31, 23 November 2013 (UTC)
 * You might want to read: How To Get A Job As A Commercial Hardhat Diver. --Pp.paul.4 (talk) 22:20, 24 November 2013 (UTC)


 * Wow! Very interesting.  Thanks for the link.  Who knew?!?!?!?!?   Joseph A. Spadaro (talk) 02:09, 25 November 2013 (UTC)

Question about Japanese
What is the Japanese text on the sign in this picture: File:Kumamoto City Ikeda E school.jpg? How would it be translated? I want to add the info as an annotation to the image.

Thank you WhisperToMe (talk) 21:57, 22 November 2013 (UTC)


 * So far... (HMOG, this took me an hour!) --Shirt58 (talk) 04:17, 23 November 2013 (UTC)
 * 第44回 創意工夫育成功労 学校
 * Daiyonjūyonkai sōikōfuikuseikōrō gakkō
 * "44th Ingenuity Training Merit School" - The school was one of those awarded the 44th Annual Ingenuity Training Merit award. I think. The award is mentioned on the Japanese version of Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology.


 * 【文部科学大臣表彰】
 * Monbukagakudaijin hyōshō
 * "Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology citation"


 * 平成13年度 熊本市立池田小学校
 * Heiseijūsannendo Kumamotoshiritsu Ikedashōgakkō
 * "2002 Kumamoto City-run Ikeda Elementary School" - if it was in English, the order would be "Ikeda Elementary School, Kumamoto City, 2002", I guess.
 * (That was easy, even for me.)
 * The small print in the sign is the various organisations involved with running the school. (Given that 池田 is Ikeda, pretty obvious what "池田小PTA" means. ) Do you want those too? --Shirt58 (talk) 04:54, 23 November 2013 (UTC)
 * Yes please. Thank you so much for finding these! I added the translations as an image annotation. The second part I rendered as "Kumamoto City Ikeda Elementary School" WhisperToMe (talk) 06:57, 23 November 2013 (UTC)
 * The official translation of 創意工夫育成功労学校(賞) is (The Prize) to Schools for Nurturing Creativity. See the bottom of this page. It seems mext does not have en pages on the prize. The various organization names are donator of the signboard. Oda Mari (talk) 07:32, 23 November 2013 (UTC)
 * Thank you! WhisperToMe (talk) 08:37, 23 November 2013 (UTC)
 * I forgot to add "Disclaimer: be aware that シャート五十八 is about as competent in the Japanese language as an edible tunicate is competent in Classical Philology; please wait until the real linguists turn up before relying on anything he writes."--Shirt58 (talk) 11:10, 23 November 2013 (UTC)