Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Language/2021 April 4

= April 4 =

Words beginning with any
"Anyplace" is colloquial for "anywhere". However, the other words use their noun form after any; we say anyone or anybody not anywho; we say anything not anywhat; we say anytime not anywhen; we usually say anyway but sometimes anyhow. Why this inconsistency?? Georgia guy (talk) 00:16, 4 April 2021 (UTC)
 * Why not? English doesn't like to be consistent. --184.147.181.129 (talk) 05:30, 4 April 2021 (UTC)
 * There is the colloquial "anywhich" (as in 'anywhich way') just to disprove the uniqueness. MapReader (talk) 07:32, 4 April 2021 (UTC)
 * Here it is reported that the NED had entries for anywhen, anywhat, anywhence and anywhither, but not, apparently, for anywhich. There is the idiom any which way, which however is written as three separate words. --Lambiam 08:16, 4 April 2021 (UTC)
 * See also anywhen, anywho and anywhat. If you're from the North of England, anyroad. Alansplodge (talk) 22:20, 4 April 2021 (UTC)
 * It seems awkward if you are called Anyone. --Lambiam 23:31, 4 April 2021 (UTC)
 * Didn't she live in a pretty how town? --Trovatore (talk) 04:38, 6 April 2021 (UTC)

Poets manqué
I recently came across the phrase "poets manqué". Am I right in thinking that the plural should be "poets manqués" (in the manner of e.g. causes célèbres)?--Shantavira|feed me 11:52, 4 April 2021 (UTC)


 * Your suggestion creates a hybrid that's neither English nor French. AnonMoos (talk) 12:15, 4 April 2021 (UTC)
 * To expand on AnonMoss, the problem is that the expression "poets manqué" combines an English noun with a French adjective. In English, adjectives are not pluralized, but they are in French. So there is no obviously correct way to write the expression. "Causes célèbres" is different in that it's a fully French expression and can thus follow the rules of French grammar. Xuxl (talk) 13:36, 4 April 2021 (UTC)
 * A quick Google Books search finds numerous uses of the exact phrase "poets manqué", including Philosophy of Language: A Contemporary Introduction, as well as articles from the Times Educational Supplement, The New York Times Book Review and the Australian Book Review. Alansplodge (talk) 14:06, 4 April 2021 (UTC)
 * Yeah, I can easily imagine using a phrase like "poet manqué" to get across the idea of a poet who was missed or overlooked. It does no harm to throw in the odd French word into one's spoken or written English now and then. And to answer the OP, yes, if I was talking about more than one poet, I would write "poets manqués". --Viennese Waltz 19:11, 4 April 2021 (UTC)
 * If Cheetah the chimp wrote poetry, he'd be a poet monké. :) --   Jack of Oz   [pleasantries]  21:00, 4 April 2021 (UTC)
 * Our Manqué article suggests a failed poet rather than an overlooked one. In French, a garçon manqué is a tomboy. Alansplodge (talk) 21:45, 4 April 2021 (UTC)
 * Indeed, I was about to write that if I saw someone characterized as a "poet manqué", I'd assume their lack of success was due to a lack of talent. --Lambiam 23:25, 4 April 2021 (UTC)
 * My interpretation of "an X manqué" has always been that the person could have been a good X, but circumstances or life choices led to them pursuing another course, so that the potential good X is lost to us. I have never encountered it where the meaning seemed to me to imply adverse criticism. Perhaps I have been mistaken. {The poster formerly known as 87.81.230.195} 2.219.35.136 (talk) 00:48, 5 April 2021 (UTC)

Thank you all for your input.--Shantavira|feed me 07:16, 5 April 2021 (UTC)


 * The old word for a failed poet was a "poetaster" (do not try to pronounce it like "Poe taster"!) [[Image:SFriendly.gif|20px]] We actually have a Wikipedia article Poetaster... AnonMoos (talk) 08:16, 5 April 2021 (UTC)

Help with Japanese ship name please
Can anyone with a grasp of Japanese transliteration help with a query at Wikipedia talk:WikiProject Ships please? Alansplodge (talk) 14:51, 4 April 2021 (UTC)


 * Thanks, Lambiam, seems to be resolved now. Alansplodge (talk) 18:28, 5 April 2021 (UTC)