Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Language/2013 September 5

= September 5 =

duck for apples
What kind of game is "duck for apples" in the following passage? Heather had come to help. She thought she would be useful in  setting up the games and was very perplexed when there seemed to be no games to set up. No ducking for apples like at  Hallowe'en.--Maeve Binchy, Circle of Friends, p.418.122.19.123.34 (talk) 08:38, 5 September 2013 (UTC)dengen


 * See Apple bobbing. Clarityfiend (talk) 08:47, 5 September 2013 (UTC)


 * ...in which the apples bob on the surface of the water, and the player's head ducks below the surface of the water. -- Deborahjay (talk) 11:02, 5 September 2013 (UTC)


 * Our article says that in Scotland it's called ducking or "dooking" (the Scots have rather odd vowels). However, it would be understood by a native of London, and I'd be hard pressed to tell you whether "ducking" or "bobbing" was preferred down here. Alansplodge (talk) 12:45, 5 September 2013 (UTC)


 * Always ducking (or "duck-apple") here in northern England, but "bobbing" seems to get more common as you travel south.   D b f i r s   13:40, 5 September 2013 (UTC)


 * In America one just reaches in and takes one. We call it "grabbing for apples". μηδείς (talk) 21:11, 5 September 2013 (UTC)
 * That would be the Indiana Jones solution. ←Baseball Bugs What's up, Doc? carrots→ 00:24, 6 September 2013 (UTC)
 * (The Indiana Jones Solution) μηδείς (talk) 17:46, 8 September 2013 (UTC)
 * Precisely. There's a story behind how they arrived at doing that scene, but that's a bit off the rails. Less violently, but no less "taking the easiest approach", is Bob Uecker's time-honored advice for how to catch a knuckleball pitch: "Wait till it stops rolling, and pick it up." ←Baseball Bugs What's up, Doc? carrots→ 00:10, 9 September 2013 (UTC)


 * In Canada, it's bobbing for apples. Unless it's a really fancy party, in which case it's roberting. Clarityfiend (talk) 01:01, 6 September 2013 (UTC)

When I was a kid we always called it either bobbing or dunking for apples (because you dunk your head in the water). That gets some hits on google but not a whole lot. Duoduoduo (talk) 17:34, 6 September 2013 (UTC)

What's the Spanish for
we have several peaches left? It could be Nos quedan varios melocotón?  Miss Bono  [zootalk]  20:29, 5 September 2013 (UTC)


 * Yes, or todavía tenemos unos melocotones. Is there wider context you are looking at where a more subtle distinction would be important? μηδείς (talk) 21:07, 5 September 2013 (UTC)


 * No entendí la pregunta Medeis.  Miss Bono  [zootalk]  12:27, 6 September 2013 (UTC)


 * Is this just curiosity about that phrase alone, or was it part of a wider thing being translated? μηδείς (talk) 18:55, 6 September 2013 (UTC)


 * Just curiosity. A friend of mine who is studying English, asked me and I wasn't sure so I asked here :)  Miss Bono  [zootalk]  18:56, 6 September 2013 (UTC)


 * This may be of little help,but we have an article on Yes! We Have No Bananas.
 * In a Marxist dialectic this may be the logical oppposite to "We have several peaches left", assuming some binary peaches vs bananas universe. I believe the Marxist desk is just a bit to the left from those peaches.  --Cookatoo.ergo.ZooM (talk) 19:18, 6 September 2013 (UTC)