Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Miscellaneous/2012 December 23

= December 23 =

1000+ : 0 ?
Has any Wikipedia Reference Desk user answered a thousand or more questions ever and asked themselves zero questions ever? 67.163.109.173 (talk) 18:02, 23 December 2012 (UTC)


 * We don't keep dossiers on individual refdesk questioners and answerers. Well, I don't, anyway.
 * Also, not all responses to a question qualify as an "answer". Some threads have 20 or more people involved, and there's a long palaver, then the OP says "That's all nice but nobody has answered my question".  In other cases, an answer is given by one editor, then others come along and provide more detail.  They have all contributed to the answer.  So, there is far from a one-to-one relationship between questions asked and answers given.  --   Jack of Oz   [Talk]  19:01, 23 December 2012 (UTC)
 * Another, more interesting pair of questions, would be, how many user accounts asking questions are sock puppets, and how many user accounts are created solely for the purpose of asking questions. μηδείς (talk) 20:46, 23 December 2012 (UTC)
 * I'm more intrigued by people who are all answers and no questions. Specifically, whether it's because they neither need nor want information beyond what they themselves have the power to obtain on their own, they don't have any more questions, or something else. 67.163.109.173 (talk) 01:17, 26 December 2012 (UTC)
 * I prefer to do the research to answer my own questions, but if I'm looking over the page and see something I can help with, I answer.--Wehwalt (talk) 01:29, 26 December 2012 (UTC)

Hebrew gematria
The Hebrew gematria article states that the gematria (Mispar gadol) value for the Hebrew word for "one" adds up to thirteen.

Is there any number which adds up to itself / leads to itself by this method? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 75.35.96.229 (talk) 20:29, 23 December 2012 (UTC)
 * Among the one- and two-word designators for numbers which are seen here, none add up to their value. I suspect that if it exists, it's over 400  (probably by a good margin) as most Hebrew numbers, expressed as words, contain either a resh (200), shin (300) or tav (400). Echad (the masculine Hebrew word for "one") is an exception to that and does equal 13, but the feminine form, achat, adds up to 409 as it contains a tav. Mea, "one hundred", adds up to 46, so there is some hope, though I think it unlikely as matayim, two hundred, adds up to 491. As to "leads to itself", anyone who has read The Chosen knows that gematria is limited only by the imagination of the person doing it, so I'm sure a way could be found.--Wehwalt (talk) 09:47, 24 December 2012 (UTC)

Fixing a zipper
I have a jacket that has a zipper as its main fastener (according to our article, it is an open-ended coil zipper). It pulls from bottom to top like most jacket zippers. The teeth won't close, however — I think there is a slight deformation of the bottom three teeth on the zipper's right side, and it stops it from meshing at all, so the zipper pull doesn't actually close the teeth (though it can still slide up them some ways). (I have sometimes been able to carefully coax it to mesh, but it isn't very easy.) (The teeth are nylon, the pull is metal.)

I've been Googling around for how to fix zippers, and most of them seem to be for non-jacket-like setups (e.g. setups where you don't actually have to have it fully open to be functional), or are for issues where a single tooth is missing somewhere mid-zip.

Is there any way to fix something like what I've surprised, or must I replace the whole zipper? (The problem is, I think, a manufacturing defect — the jacket zipper has never worked, though I've had it for years, intending to fix it.) I was contemplating just cutting off the offending bottom teeth with the idea that perhaps without them, the zipper will magically decide to mesh the other teeth, but this seems based more on optimism than any knowledge about these things. --Mr.98 (talk) 21:47, 23 December 2012 (UTC)


 * What you've "surprised" ? StuRat (talk) 22:42, 23 December 2012 (UTC)


 * I'm doubtful it can be fixed without replacing the zipper. I would have returned it immediately. Metal zippers work better, but are icy cold on a jacket. Also, if a jacket has buttons/snaps/hooks/Velcro in addition to the zipper, then you can still use it without zipping. I actually avoid using the zipper on my coat in favor of those other fasteners, unless it's really cold, since those other fasteners aren't as likely to get stuck. StuRat (talk) 22:46, 23 December 2012 (UTC)


 * Depending on where you are, there could be a shop that does repair work to zippers and shoes and such stuff as that. ←Baseball Bugs What's up, Doc? carrots→ 23:12, 23 December 2012 (UTC)
 * Agreed Bugs, my local dry cleaners have either repaired or replaced my hubby's leather jacket zip, for which I am eternally grateful cos we can't afford to replace the jacket! --TammyMoet (talk) 09:02, 24 December 2012 (UTC)
 * Agree with Tammy, your local dry cleaners is your best shot. I would NOT cut off the bottom part of the zipper, let them take care of it.  Over the years, I have found various dry cleaners very good at emergency repair, alterations, resewing buttons and zippers, etc.--Wehwalt (talk) 09:53, 24 December 2012 (UTC)