Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Miscellaneous/2009 June 13

= June 13 =

American Bathrooms
Why do Americans have such a problem with toilets, WCs, Loos, etc.? They have no problem with s**t, a**e, etc. It seems most odd to be asked for directions to the "bathroom' in such places as railway stations.86.216.123.3 (talk) 10:27, 13 June 2009 (UTC)DT
 * I don't think Americans have a problem with naming that little room where we pass excrement. Just look at the terms you have used yourself. WC? water closet, Loo? what's that about then. These are merely different terms for the same room that an American would call a bathroom. Context also has a great deal to do with which term would be used. An American asking for the bathroom is clearly being polite when addressing a stranger. If he (possibly she) were enquiring of a friend or colleague then they may well use alternative terms like "the can" or "the john". In the same way an Englishman would not usually ask a stranger the whereabouts of the sh**house or the bog. Richard Avery (talk) 12:43, 13 June 2009 (UTC)

But the essence of a "bathroom" is that it should contain a bath!86.216.123.3 (talk) 12:59, 13 June 2009 (UTC)DT
 * Shouldnt the essence of a "water closet" be an actual closet? Alas, this isn't always the case Livewireo (talk) 13:25, 15 June 2009 (UTC)
 * Well, possibly. But language moves on. Nowadays we don't only dress in the toilet and more than washing goes on in the lavatory. My bathroom does not contain a bathroom, and in Spain (yes I know, we're widening the argument now) the vast majority of bathrooms (cuartos de baños) don't contain baths. Time to move over to the language desk? Richard Avery (talk) 13:41, 13 June 2009 (UTC)


 * Just be glad nobody has ever approached you int he subway to "see a man about a horse," or you would really be confused. :-) And, where I live in America, bathrooms without bathtubs are technically "half baths." So, they are looking for half baths, but the size of the "half bath" in a subway is bound to be much bigger than the bathroom *with* bath of 90% of Americans. So, given the size difference, you should understand why they can't call what's in a subway just a half bath.:-) Somebody or his brother (talk) 13:46, 13 June 2009 (UTC)


 * Communication has still occurred since you knew what they were looking for. Bathroom is more polite than many other options such as shithouse (to choose an extreme example).  We could ask where the "restroom" is too but then not really anyone besides bums (using the subway example again) goes into a restroom to actually rest.  We Americans also use the term toilet but less often possibly due to its perceived vulgarity (bathroom is a "nicer" word).  But then "toilet" would be imprecise as well if we just needed to wash our hands or use a urinal.  So really, it's just a quirk of language.  Give it another 10-15 years and we'll have people here asking why we say that phones "ring" since they rarely ever contain actual bells anymore. And there are probably kids in school right now who have never actually heard an old style telephone ring and have never even seen a rotary dial.  Now they just sort of warble and beep at you.  Er, the phones warble and beep, not the kids.  Dismas |(talk) 17:59, 13 June 2009 (UTC)
 * The Yank/Brit miscommunication on the word toilet seems to be in play here. Americans do use the term, but for something different.
 * In the UK, as I understand it, the toilet is the room. In the States, the toilet is the thing you sit on.  "Changing clothes in the toilet" is a very strange image &mdash; your socks would be wet afterwards. --Trovatore (talk) 19:30, 14 June 2009 (UTC)


 * Cecil Adams has done a couple of columns bemoaning the fact that there is no surviving English word for "Bathroom" which is not a euphemism. APL (talk) 21:53, 13 June 2009 (UTC)


 * Don't forget the military usage of head and latrine. On a side note, burning human waste is... an experience. ---— Gadget850 (Ed)  talk 12:39, 14 June 2009 (UTC)


 * Americans don't have latrines. Instead they have girl's powder rooms and comfort stations. Cuddlyable3 (talk) 18:29, 14 June 2009 (UTC)
 * Try to tell that to a Boy Scout. Dismas |(talk) 18:58, 14 June 2009 (UTC)
 * Scouts also have the biffy and kybo.
 * A priest is taking confessions. A vagrant enters the confession box and sits down but says nothing. After a while the priest knocks impatiently on the dividing wall. The vagrant says "It's no use asking me, there's no paper in here either". Cuddlyable3 (talk) 13:34, 15 June 2009 (UTC)


 * Call it a washroom, then. ~ A H  1 (TCU) 00:52, 19 June 2009 (UTC)

People from Laos
What are people from Laos called? —Preceding unsigned comment added by PVignolo (talk • contribs) 10:37, 13 June 2009 (UTC)
 * Laotians or Laos. Algebraist 11:22, 13 June 2009 (UTC)
 * See the infobox on the right hand side of the Laos article where it says "Demonym". Dismas |(talk) 12:48, 13 June 2009 (UTC)


 * Note that instead of/in addition to the demonym for the country, they may identify more strongly with their ethnic identity, especially if they are not an ethnic Lao. A person originally from Laos might prefer to be called Hmong, Yao, Dao, or Shan, especially if they disagree with the current socialist Laotian government. (e.g the Hmong who moved to the US after unsuccessfully fighting in the Laotian Civil War.) -- 128.104.112.114 (talk) —Preceding undated comment added 21:13, 13 June 2009 (UTC).

roketa engine repair
I have a four wheeler for my grandson and need to set the timing on it if anyone can help! I have been trying all ave. to no avail. It is a 110cc roketa engine. Can anyone please help me with this. Thank You.12:09, 13 June 2009 (UTC)~ —Preceding unsigned comment added by 69.249.75.220 (talk)
 * Seems as though nobody had answered you, so I will try a suggestion: Why not turn to a mechanic or repair shop in your area? Judging by your IP, this shouldn't be a problem where you live. Hope this helps. --Ouro (blah blah) 20:43, 13 June 2009 (UTC)
 * There are some basic maintenance and tuning instructions in this document from our friend Google. The complete workshop manual is $30 from this US storeif you can wait that long. - KoolerStill (talk) 06:48, 15 June 2009 (UTC)

New Article
A few days ago, I created my first article, Sunny Sohal. It was a decent-sized article, with 4 paragraphs. Now, when i see it, I find just one line, and a box saying "This article is a stub. Please help expand it." I don't know what to make of this. Can someone please help me? Rkr1991 (talk) 12:54, 13 June 2009 (UTC)
 * Your text was removed by R'n'B, as it was copied from http://www.sunnysohal.com in violation of copyright. Algebraist 13:53, 13 June 2009 (UTC)


 * Well, yes i did pick up information from that site, but that;s about the only site which gave any reliable information. That was all the information I could get, and i could do nothing except dress up the language a bit. How do i go about correcting it ? Rkr1991 (talk) 14:13, 13 June 2009 (UTC)
 * For starters you should find a better source than a random website which doesn't even say who wrote it, let alone where they got the information from. What makes you think it's reliable? (also, for future reference, this sort of question is better asked at WP:HD) Algebraist 14:19, 13 June 2009 (UTC)


 * I assumed it is reliable, as it is the guy's own homepage. Forgive me if I was wrong Rkr1991 (talk) 15:16, 13 June 2009 (UTC)
 * Is it? I can't see anything that says that it is, and there's a disclaimer at the bottom stating that it is not. Algebraist 15:54, 13 June 2009 (UTC)


 * You might try adding to it by using Template:Infobox Football biography. Dismas |(talk) 17:50, 13 June 2009 (UTC)
 * Infobox cricketer biography would be more appropriate. Algebraist 17:52, 13 June 2009 (UTC)


 * It's not a matter of reliable vs non-reliable evidence - you can't just copy text from somewhere else on the internet into Wikipedia - that's a breach of copyright...it's illegal...a very bad thing indeed! R'n'B did exactly the right thing - the offending text was removed - a link to a (possibly) relevent piece of information placed in the 'External references' section...what remains is indeed a stub and the stub-warning message applies.  I suggest you rewrite the text that was removed in your own words - using the www.sunnysohal.com link as a reference to back it up.  That should survive the editing process.  Better still, try to find other sources to back up and expand the article. SteveBaker (talk) 18:42, 13 June 2009 (UTC)


 * Finding another source would be best since the site claims at the bottom that it "... may not be accurate, complete or up-to-date." Dismas |(talk) 18:46, 13 June 2009 (UTC)

Two more points. You can find out yourself about who changed an article (at least, their Wikipedia username or the IP address they use) and why (or at least, what reason they gave, if any) by following the article's "History" link. That would be how Algebraist got the answer to your question.

And questions like this about Wikipedia are supposed to go to the Help desk, not the Reference desk.

--Anonymous, 21:07 UTC, June 13, 2009.

Heaps of stats and raw data on his profile at Cricinfo adn CricketArchive]]  YellowMonkey  ( cricket calendar poll! ) paid editing=POV 00:54, 16 June 2009 (UTC)

AC Adaptor for British Laptop to be used in S.Korea
What type of AC Adaptor should I need in order to use my British-bought laptop in South Korea? --KageTora - (영호 (影虎)) (talk) 15:29, 13 June 2009 (UTC)


 * Mains power systems shows the voltage and plug type (it seems to be the same kind you'd need for France), AC power plugs and sockets. A laptop will have a smart switching power supply, so you need only get a physical adapter (the kind they sell in supermarkets or B&Q). If you're going to be there a while, and your laptop power adapter has a removable cable, then it's probably easiest to get a mains<->C5 cable, in a Korean electrical store. 87.112.85.111 (talk) 18:24, 13 June 2009 (UTC)

Well, what I am actually worried about is the power supply needed. Korea operates on 110V, while the UK operates on 240V. --KageTora - (영호 (影虎)) (talk) 14:43, 14 June 2009 (UTC)


 * There will be a sticker on the tranformer block of your laptop which will show the range of input voltages; it is extremely unlikely that an OEM laptop adapter won't be able to handle 110v (only nasty cheapo third party ones might not). They know laptops move around the world, so they build them with smart switching supplies. 87.112.85.111 (talk) 15:28, 14 June 2009 (UTC)

Scientific descriptions for common items

 * ...fifteen tonnes of pressed wheat extractions treated with sucrose; ten thousand litres of cold bovine lactation; twenty-five tonnes of the baked wheat extraction containing grilled bovine flesh and trace ingredients, along with chopped and fried tubers and fried and corn-extract-coated rings of vegetables of the allium family; one tonne of crushed mustard seeds mixed with water and permitted additives; three tonnes of exploded corn kernels coated with lactic derivation; ten thousand litres of coloured water containing sucrose and trace elements; fifteen tonnes of prepared and fermented wheat extract in vegetable juice; one thousand tonnes of soured lactic acid flavoured with fruit extract.

As far as I can work out...that's Frosties with milk, burgers in a bun with chips (fries for Americans) and battered onion rings, mustard, popcorn, some kind of fruit juice or equivalent, and fruit-flavoured yoghurt. Can anyone work out; what's the wheat extract in vegetable juice, and what's the lactic derivation that coats the popcorn? Vimescarrot (talk) 21:55, 13 June 2009 (UTC)
 * I agree with all the above, but feel I should add that those are ridiculous scales of foodstuffs. Prokhorovka (talk) 22:15, 13 June 2009 (UTC)
 * It's for an army of one hundred thousand ScreeWee. Vimescarrot (talk) 22:18, 13 June 2009 (UTC)
 * How sad is it that I recognised the quote straight away? That second-to-last one always puzzled me; the fermented wheat extract in vegetable juice keeps bringing me back to alcoholic drinks, which is unlikely. You don't say, but the coloured water is probably cola or similar sugary soft drink (not fruit juice). 80.41.126.158 (talk) 00:24, 14 June 2009 (UTC)


 * Oooo, "prepared and fermented wheat extract" = Monosodium glutamate? I'd wondered about Marmite, but I don't think it can reasonably be described as containing vegetable juice. We could be looking at some artificially flavoured juice or sauce? If we were looking at ketchup or brown sauce I'd expect other ingredients to feature prominently, such as vinegar. 80.41.126.158 (talk) 00:39, 14 June 2009 (UTC)


 * Lactic acid derivation is butter, yes? Fermented wheat extract in vegetable juice something like a Bloody Mary, right? --98.217.14.211 (talk) 22:42, 13 June 2009 (UTC)
 * Butter sounds right. (I'm not a popcorn person.) It wouldn't be a Bloody Mary in the context of the book; it's a foodstuff typically consumed by a twelve-year-old. Vimescarrot (talk) 22:53, 13 June 2009 (UTC)


 * Wheat Frosties (corn)? Wheatabix (contains malted baley), Shredded wheat  or Frosted Mini-Wheats (contain high fructose corn syrup and gelatin)  more likely. coloured water containing sucrose and trace elements could be Kool-Aid or Coke if they allow for carbonated water. prepared and fermented wheat extract might be Sourdough but that wouldn't match "in vegetable juice" which might be  V8 (beverage), Ketchup or Gazpacho. Some Asian recipes also use fermented wheat flour. Salmorejo might fit the bill, but that's not common.71.236.26.74 (talk) 01:12, 14 June 2009 (UTC)


 * Vegemite? 152.16.59.190 (talk) 03:39, 14 June 2009 (UTC)


 * For all others who don't know right off where the reference is from: The novel is by Terry Pratchett and is called Only You Can Save Mankind. That, and the text in the novel narrows the foods down to something a 12 year old eats in Britain. In the book the breakfast cereal (fantasy brand), the burgers, fries and onion rings, and banana yoghurt are identified. (I thought the British called fries chips?)71.236.26.74 (talk) 08:34, 14 June 2009 (UTC)
 * We do. Vimescarrot (talk) 13:08, 14 June 2009 (UTC)

Okay, the ten thousand litres of coloured water containing sucrose and trace elements was the fruit juice I mentioned. The lactic derivation was evidently butter; the prepared and fermented wheat extract in vegetable juice sounds like some kind of sauce, and judging by the replies it could be any one of a number of them... Vimescarrot (talk) 13:08, 14 June 2009 (UTC)


 * I would think that the coloured water referred to Kool-Aid or similar. ---— Gadget850 (Ed)  talk 15:24, 14 June 2009 (UTC)


 * I can't help but notice that that's a massive amount of fruit yogurt, even in comparison to the other foodstuffs. Is that part of the quotation accurate?  John M Baker (talk) 21:09, 14 June 2009 (UTC)
 * Interesting. The quote is accurate. How much does 10,000 litres of milk weigh? Seems strange that liquid (?) yoghurt would be measured in weight rather than volume. Vimescarrot (talk) 22:24, 14 June 2009 (UTC)
 * Yoghurt can be the set-in-the-tub semi-solid variety, often called "Greek style", which is indeed sold by weight.
 * Soya sauce is extracted from the soya bean, and is fermented with the addition of wheat flour. But it would rarely be used on burgers. Tomato ketchup would be, but is not fermented. Black or HP sauce may be fermented and include tamarind juice.- KoolerStill (talk) 02:12, 15 June 2009 (UTC)
 * On second thoughts, looking at the quantities, it could be Bonox made up into a warm drink. The lactic thing would not be yoghurt, it would be junket, a custard-like sweet dish. - KoolerStill (talk) 02:25, 15 June 2009 (UTC)
 * Ten thousand liters of milk would weigh about 10.3 metric tons. So, about 100 times as much yogurt/junket as there is milk.  I suppose the real answer is that Pterry meant to write "litres," wrote "tonnes" instead, and never noticed the mistake.
 * Those aliens just like yoghurt. These guys e.g. sell it in 500g tubs, so that would make 2 million of those to wash down the tonne of mustard. It is a bit off in comparisson to the "colored water" 68.208.122.33 (talk) 04:26, 17 June 2009 (UTC)
 * Has anyone figures out what the "prepared and fermented wheat extract in vegetable juice" is yet? John M Baker (talk) 17:08, 16 June 2009 (UTC)
 * I guess we won't know for certain unless someone asks him. Vimescarrot (talk) 11:59, 17 June 2009 (UTC)