Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Language/2018 July 4

= July 4 =

Poodle
I recently had a bit of a makeover for a night out with my girlfriends, but my local shopkeeper Mr Khan said I was "tarted up like a ham-bone show-poodle". Please what does this mean and is it very rude? 86.187.167.56 (talk) 07:55, 4 July 2018 (UTC)


 * This is my guess. One meaning of hambone is a synonym for ham or bad actor. Bad actors are loosely associated with too much bad makeup. By itself, "tarted up" ("dress[ed] and ma[d]e (oneself) up in a provocative way" or "clothe[d], furnish[ed] or decorate[d] in a showy and, often, vulgar way") should already have told you that he wasn't being complimentary. Clarityfiend (talk) 09:03, 4 July 2018 (UTC)


 * So the way this Canadian parses it, he was saying you looked garish and/or vulgar. Possibly the British interpret it differently, but I doubt it. Clarityfiend (talk) 09:55, 4 July 2018 (UTC)


 * As Clarityfiend suggests, a "tart" in UK slang English is generally taken to mean a prostitute. I've always assumed the "ham-bone" refers to the "Continental cut" apparently favoured by most poodle owners who show their pets competitively - see Poodle – Description – Clips, insofar as the shaved legs with remaining pom-poms can resemble the typical cartoon ham-bone with a bone protruding from a lump of flesh? I guess, if this is correct, figurative speaking, a "home-bone show poodle" could then be taken to suggest "an overly preened and spoilt show pet, meticulously clipped for a beauty pageant", perhaps also with a highly-strung poodle temperament thrown in. Sorry to alarm you. Martinevans123 (talk) 13:07, 4 July 2018 (UTC)
 * HTTP anchors do not nest (Poodle), you need to use just the final destination (Poodle). Fixed already. --CiaPan (talk) 13:16, 4 July 2018 (UTC)
 * Many thanks and my apologies. For all I know, they might fly south for Winter. Martinevans123 (talk) 13:25, 4 July 2018 (UTC)


 * I am slightly disappointed no one had anything to say about that Mr Khan, that local shopkeeper, but I can understand why. In any case I know what I think of that guy, but I won't say it either, as that may go against some WP policy or other. Basemetal  15:15, 4 July 2018 (UTC)
 * You are all being trolled. --Viennese Waltz 15:22, 4 July 2018 (UTC)

Ancient Greece
When it doesn't begin a sentence or other phrase, is this properly "ancient Greece" or "Ancient Greece"? I've noticed that a lot of our categories have "Ancient", e.g. Category:Works about Ancient Greece (but Category:History books about ancient Greece), Category:Transport in Ancient Greece, Category:Military history of Ancient Greece, Category:Executed Ancient Greek people, etc. Conversely, Ancient Greece has only one appearance of "Ancient" where "ancient" would potentially be appropriate. Nyttend (talk) 12:46, 4 July 2018 (UTC)


 * for what it’s worth, the capitalized form will likely be increasingly common due to our new prescriptivist body: autocorrect. Per iOS, Ancient Greece and Ancient Rome are the proper forms. Temerarius (talk) 14:57, 4 July 2018 (UTC)

Is there or was there a disease so called in Greek "Hadroken/ Hadrokan/ Hydroken/ Hydrokan/ hedroken/ hadrokan"
I'm not sure if the right place to ask but I'll try: In the Talmud there is a word for a disease called "הדרוקן" (there are many options how to read it: Hadroken, Hadrokan, Hydroken, Hydrokan, hedroken, hadrokan). I tried to google them but I didn't find answer. Also it makes sense that it has to do something with water or liquid (hydro prefix), I'm not sure if it's not something more specific (congestion, edema? or maybe something else which should be solved when such word will be found in the ancient times).--2A02:ED0:6D6D:F300:14FF:7A4C:A0F5:D524 (talk) 13:21, 4 July 2018 (UTC)
 * This was also posted at the science desk. ←Baseball Bugs What's up, Doc? carrots→ 13:25, 4 July 2018 (UTC)


 * "HIDROKAN- a swelling and sickness of the stomach". See also INSIGHTS INTO THE DAILY DAF - BECHOROS 44 - 3) "HIDROKAN" AND "YERAKON". Also "According to Rabbi Simeon ben Gamaliel hidrokan (dropsy) is caused by keeping back the faeces. Sexual offences were punished with dropsy". The Miracles of Jesus (1965) edited by Craig Blomberg, p. 505. Alansplodge (talk) 16:45, 4 July 2018 (UTC)
 * Thank you for the answer. Maybe I didn't explain myself well, anyway this interpretation doesn't have any reference for any kind of language, while it should be in Greek or closed language they just interprete what it is. This הידרוקן doesn't seem to be an Hebrew or Aramic word, I'm looking for the etymology while these references refer to the interpretation without any reference to the origin of this word. --2A02:ED0:6D6D:F300:14FF:7A4C:A0F5:D524 (talk) 18:48, 4 July 2018 (UTC)

Cocilendrum
I’ve always wanted to find a mountweazel. I think I’ve found one. In my Latin-English dictionary: cocilendrum, -i n. “An imaginary magical seasoning.” This has to be fake, right? #nihilartikel #mountweazel #fictitious entry Temerarius (talk) 14:50, 4 July 2018 (UTC)
 * Are you saying it's a fake fake? ←Baseball Bugs What's up, Doc? carrots→ 15:50, 4 July 2018 (UTC)
 * No, this is a real word from Plautus--Lüboslóv Yęzýkin (talk) 15:53, 4 July 2018 (UTC)
 * ... and it's in the big Oxford Latin Dictionary (but not in the pocket edition).  Dbfirs  15:56, 4 July 2018 (UTC)


 * Color me shocked, I'll blame the poorly worded definition. Tell me then in your OLD, what does cocilendrum mean? Temerarius (talk) 16:50, 4 July 2018 (UTC)


 * I think Titus Maccius Plautus was just making up words in 191 BC, but they seem to have been accepted by makers of Latin dictionaries, or by P G W Glare, at least. Plautus's character was complaining about people who put seasoning into food and use herbs that even farm animals will not eat, thus shortening the life of those who eat them.  A translation of the passage containing the words is: " ... people who eat the dainties I season can live for even two hundred years each. Yes, when I put cocilendrum into the pans, or cepolendrum or maccis or saucaptis, the pans instantly bring themselves to a boil."   Db<i style="color: #4fc;">f</i><i style="color: #6f6;">i</i><i style="color: #4e4;">r</i><i style="color: #4a4">s</i>  19:08, 4 July 2018 (UTC)
 * Emily Gower suggests that "cocilendrum" comes from "cocus" (Latin for cook) and/or "kokkos" (Greek for berry) with a Greek suffix. The other imaginary (?) magical seasonings are suggested to have similar etymologies based on combinations of Greek and Latin culinary words. 2602:304:B041:C79:F4DD:FE11:F056:A42A (talk) 19:38, 5 July 2018 (UTC)


 * See Mountweazel if, like me, you'd never heard of it. Alansplodge (talk) 09:55, 5 July 2018 (UTC)