Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Language/2016 February 13

= February 13 =

Question asked at WP:RPP
Just notifying people here that there's been a relevant question asked at WP:RPP about the name Jessica by an IP user. The link is here. Joseph2302 (talk) 11:14, 13 February 2016 (UTC)
 * Posted below. Tevildo (talk) 11:49, 13 February 2016 (UTC)

Origin of the given name "jessica"
Hi. Re. the name "Jessica", the wikipedia article Jessica_(given_name) says in the first paragraph that it comes from a Hebrew word meaning 'foresighted'. However, in the side-box of the article, it says it means 'wealthy'.

Googling a little gives me similar mixed results.

Thanks in anticipation of any answers :-) 81.108.18.234 (talk) 04:45, 13 February 2016 (UTC)


 * Sorry it was impossible for you to ask here directly. It is highly disruptive for both the main and the talk page to be semi-protected. Anyway, Chambers 20th Century Dictionary, 1983 ed. says "Jessica is "apparently Hebrew", and "perhaps" means "Yah is looking". DuncanHill (talk) 12:12, 13 February 2016 (UTC)
 * See also Iscah – the German article gives JHWH recognizes, JHWH looks (at) as alternate possible meanings. Rgds ✦  hugarheimur 13:37, 13 February 2016 (UTC)


 * The names "Jesse" and "Jessica" appear to be related. As to the protection from trolls being "highly disruptive", there is nothing stopping you from creating a registered user ID. ←Baseball Bugs What's up, Doc? carrots→ 17:17, 13 February 2016 (UTC)


 * Just as a side note, check this out. Or, more directly, this. Matt Deres (talk) 18:51, 13 February 2016 (UTC)


 * "Jessica" is a Hebrew given name originally, and means "Yah is looking (at us)" or easily "Yah sees/ watches (us)". More details: from Late Latin Jesca, from Greek Ieskha, from Hebrew Yiskah, name of a daughter of Haran (Gen. xi:29). (cf. here, and for 18 variations of the name see here). Hamid Hassani (talk) 13:41, 17 February 2016 (UTC)

Catch someone's attention
In English, if you don't know the name of someone, what alternatives do you have to catch his, her or their attention? I suppose you can't use "hey, you, listen" in any country towards any person. --Llaanngg (talk) 21:50, 13 February 2016 (UTC)


 * Commonly, one would say "Excuse me" to someone to get their attention (adding "sir" or "ma'am" if you want to be extra-polite). In a busy area with a lot of people, you might have to specify something unique about them, like "Excuse me, sir/ma'am, in the yellow jacket". clpo13(talk) 21:52, 13 February 2016 (UTC)
 * In an English speaking country outside of America (of which there are many) we would say 'madam' or 'miss'. KägeTorä - (影虎)  ( もしもし！ ) 15:19, 18 February 2016 (UTC)


 * Then there's "Psssst !", used to get attention from somebody without disturbing the rest of the room. For example, when trying to get an usher's attention at a movie theater to ask him where the bathrooms are. StuRat (talk) 01:09, 14 February 2016 (UTC)


 * Is "Pssst" a part of the English langauge? Maybe it's a universal sound.Llaanngg (talk) 02:20, 14 February 2016 (UTC)


 * psst is in the Shorter Oxford English Dictionary (6th edition) as both an interjection "attracting attention ..." and noun "an utterance of 'pssst!'". Mitch Ames (talk) 06:28, 14 February 2016 (UTC)


 * My late mother used to utter a high-pitched, two-tone "Oo-oo!" and wave and smile at the person whose attention she was trying to attract. This person would no doubt think "Whoever is this mad woman making funny noises and waving at me?". --TammyMoet (talk) 13:46, 14 February 2016 (UTC)


 * Sounds like a variation on "you-hoo". StuRat (talk) 17:44, 14 February 2016 (UTC)


 * If you're in Australia you could say "Cooee!" — SMUconlaw (talk) 15:07, 14 February 2016 (UTC)
 * Would probably sound a bit odd unless you are in the bush. "Mate!" is probably more versatile if you are not a mile of desert away from the person you are trying to signal. --PalaceGuard008 (Talk) 11:05, 15 February 2016 (UTC)
 * And if you don't mind being rude, there's "Oi!" — SMUconlaw (talk) 15:15, 14 February 2016 (UTC)
 * "Oi" is the most effective. (O.R.)  D b f i r s   17:33, 14 February 2016 (UTC)
 * In the days before it meant "hello", we used to say "Hey!". Alansplodge (talk) 22:29, 15 February 2016 (UTC)

Retarded meaning delayed
How often do people use the word 'retarded' meaning 'delayed'? According to this is an acceptable use, but saying 'John is retarded' sounds kind of 'mentally retarded'.--Llaanngg (talk) 21:53, 13 February 2016 (UTC)


 * It actually means "slowed", and fell out of favor in reference to humans, because it was being used to ridicule the mentally challenged. ←Baseball Bugs What's up, Doc? carrots→ 22:53, 13 February 2016 (UTC)
 * Retarded in that sense was itself an euphemism, until it became the standard term and then a pejorative, and another euphemism was required. —Tamfang (talk) 06:44, 14 February 2016 (UTC)
 * See euphemism treadmill (could probably be an article on its own, rather than a section like that). Matt Deres (talk) 13:28, 14 February 2016 (UTC)


 * In addition, you'll sometimes see "retards growth" or something similar, as in this link. clpo13(talk) 22:56, 13 February 2016 (UTC)


 * I meant Clpo13's sense. I want to know how common it is used meaning 'it's late' (2nd meaning in the linked dictionary).t In the sense of lacking intelligence, I wouldn't use 'mentally challenged' instead of it, prefering 'mentally disabled' instead.--Llaanngg (talk) 22:59, 13 February 2016 (UTC)


 * Slowing the growth of something is equivalent to delaying or stopping it from reaching maturity. ←Baseball Bugs What's up, Doc? carrots→ 23:04, 13 February 2016 (UTC)


 * I don't think it's very common in everyday speech due to the negative connotation. I don't think you'd hear someone say, "The fire at the office retarded our plans for remodeling," though it's a correct use of the word. They'd likely use "delayed" instead. And it almost certainly wouldn't be used in the sense that someone is running late, since the word might be taken the wrong way. clpo13(talk) 23:05, 13 February 2016 (UTC)


 * If someone's running late, the term would be the related word "tardy". ←Baseball Bugs What's up, Doc? carrots→ 23:10, 13 February 2016 (UTC)


 * And if someone is running late for a second time, would he be re-tardy?Llaanngg (talk) 23:29, 13 February 2016 (UTC)


 * "Fire retardant" is another form of the word still in common use. StuRat (talk) 01:05, 14 February 2016 (UTC)


 * It's used fairly commonly in science to mean "delayed" -- we have articles about retarded potential, retarded time, retarded position, pressure-retarded osmosis, and even retarded ejaculation. Mnudelman (talk) 01:44, 14 February 2016 (UTC)


 * Some cars used to come with a lever to advance or retard the ignition. DuncanHill (talk) 12:45, 14 February 2016 (UTC)


 * See ritardando.—Wavelength (talk) 13:37, 14 February 2016 (UTC)
 * It means 'delayed' when it is the past of verb 'retard'; as an adjective it means something else. Peter Grey (talk) 01:54, 15 February 2016 (UTC)
 * You are more likely to see it as jargon in a technical or scientific context, where it is required to mean some specific kind of slowing, rather than in everyday speech, for the reasons given above. See Retardation for relevant jargon in various fields. --PalaceGuard008 (Talk) 10:50, 15 February 2016 (UTC)