Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Miscellaneous/2014 December 24

= December 24 =

Housing in Dominica
Could anyone shed some light on housing in Dominica? Say, a person from another country has recently taken Dominican citizenship. Where will he settle permanently in Dominica? Are there flats available for purchase or rent? What is the housing system in Dominica for new immigrants? --IEditEncyclopedia (talk) 02:48, 24 December 2014 (UTC)


 * Dominica sells citizenship for a little over us$100,000.000. Contact their consulate, asuming you can call NYC at Consulate of Dominica]. μηδείς (talk) 04:22, 29 December 2014 (UTC)

Pacifiers/Dummys
Why is it that children using pacifiers/dummies are getting older and older? It is normal to see children aged 4+ using pacifiers nowadays. Is this an increasing trend or just lazy parenting on the increase? --Azzotons (talk) 14:57, 24 December 2014 (UTC)


 * Do you have any stats on that, or is it anecdotal? Also, what would be an appropriate age for children turning to more "grown-up" pacifiers such as chewing gum, suckers, or cigarettes? ←Baseball Bugs What's up, Doc? carrots→ 15:21, 24 December 2014 (UTC)


 * I wouldn't say it was a trend, but I would say some kids do indeed use them, well into about age 5. There are children that use nappies (diapers) until around age 7. One kid I was working with at some ridiculously badly run language centre in Japan couldn't wipe his own arse, and I was asked to do it, while he was screaming for mummy to come and do it for him (I refused, of course, as it was not in my contract). KägeTorä - (影虎) (Chin Wag) 17:11, 24 December 2014 (UTC)


 * "Clean your own backyard, you little freak !" - Yes, Dear. StuRat (talk) 23:10, 24 December 2014 (UTC)


 * Are the children danincing to techno and swinging glow sticks? μηδείς (talk) 01:43, 25 December 2014 (UTC)


 * In recent years I have definitely noticed an upswing in parents who have natural births, home-school and breast-feed their children, practice baby-wearing and co-sleeping, do lots of organic gardening and don't believe in spanking. Allowing a child to decide when he is finished with pacifiers instead of forcing him to stop when the parent thinks he should naturally fits into these new parenting styles. Also, why is it that pacifiers and breast-feeding seem to be two parenting choices that other people insist on voicing their opinions on?146.235.130.59 (talk) 15:49, 26 December 2014 (UTC)

Puzzle solution
What is the solution to this puzzle? There are six pieces of double-sided wood which need to be arranged into a light of dark square. Th4n3r (talk) 17:47, 24 December 2014 (UTC)
 * Not sure if this link will work but here's what appears to be the solution: http://www.puzzlemaster.ca/solutions.php?dl=b894a09c4827bf6d0fade2d93afe02c1  ~Helicopter  Llama~  22:38, 24 December 2014 (UTC)

Melchior!
This week's Economist has an article about the Biblical Magi, with this sentence:

"So they were called Melchior, Balthazar and Gaspar (or Caspar), names that never really caught on, except in northern Europe in the high Middle Ages and in posher parts of west London in the late 20th century (“Melchior, give me that phone at once”)."

The parenthesis puzzles me. Is it simply meant to suggest what kind of parent would call a child Melchior, or is it a line from a well-known sitcom or something? —Tamfang (talk) 20:21, 24 December 2014 (UTC)
 * The former is correct.  It's a ridiculous statement unless it's backed up with facts about the number of children christened Melchior in that time and place, which I bet they haven't got. --Viennese Waltz 21:10, 24 December 2014 (UTC)
 * Yes, they are mocking the stereotype of upwardly-mobile, upper-middle-class parents who would choose such a name.   D b f i r s   21:28, 24 December 2014 (UTC)
 * Rare enough, but there is Caspar Weinberger of the Reagan Administration. μηδείς (talk) 01:40, 25 December 2014 (UTC)
 * As for the other names, perhaps not surprising but Balthazar and  Baltazar manage to appear in England and Wales some times although neither appear in Ireland 1997-2013 and Scotland 2013. (Didn't see any Baltasar/Balthasar.) Caspar is actually relatively common compared to what we've been looking at so far. For example, there are some in Ireland and in Scotland (same details as before). And England and Wales has up to 63 in some years, with an apparent upward trend . Gaspar even managed to appear in England and Wales once in 2006  and I also saw one in Scotland 2013. Nil Einne (talk) 04:52, 26 December 2014 (UTC)
 * Interesting site. Note that the name Jasper, another form of Caspar/Gaspar, is much commoner and with a still more marked rising trend.   Personally I only associate it with the villains in 19th century melodramas ("Unhand that maiden, Sir Jasper"), but I'm way behind the curve. --Antiquary (talk) 11:45, 26 December 2014 (UTC)
 * I associate Caspar with Casper (which according to our article it's another variant), and so Casper the Friendly Ghost so not so much with villians. For some reason I forgot to search for this but it is more common than Caspar albeit not as common as Jasper and shows whats arguably and even more marked trend. I wonder if this has more to do with the character although it has existed for a long time so perhaps more indirectly. Also as for Balthazar, the numbers are small enough that it may not actually be that different fron Melchior. While not related to the UK, or London per se, if you compared Balthazar (given name) and Melchior it doesn't seem that different. I was probably influence by the fact I had heard of Balthazar Getty, as well as as well as the fact I'm fairly sure I've heard of the name from fiction, probably computer games but I don't recognise Melchior that well but both obviously do appear so I don't know if there's a clear trend (although for some reason I do associate Balthazar with villians). Nil Einne (talk) 12:37, 26 December 2014 (UTC)
 * Balthazar is the middle name of the main character in The Neverending Story. Rmhermen (talk) 13:59, 26 December 2014 (UTC)
 * To me Jasper conjures only this: "And the next thing you know your son is playing for money in a pinch back suit and listening to some big out-of-town jasper here to talk about horse race gamblin'." — I assume that French Gaspard is another variant. —Tamfang (talk) 21:56, 26 December 2014 (UTC)


 * Note that I don't think such people would necessarily baptise their children, but may still give that name. In terms of stats, it does seem unsupported. doesn't have the name for between 1996 and 2013 in England and Wales although doesn't include names only given to one or two babies in a year so there may be an average of 1 or 2 each year and it just never managed to reach 3. For a perhaps similarly unusual biblical name, it does include Melchizedek for a few years but I don't know if you can say there's a clear trend in that short period, there are a few more recently but the numbers are small enough that it could be random chance (and perhaps higher number of total births). I'm not seeing either name in Scotland 2013 (think actual period is sometime 2013-2014)  although there were 3 "A" which I presume is a part of a non hyponated, non combined compound given name. (Speaking of compound names, there is also a Aaronarthur and Aaronjames.) Same for 1997-2013 Ireland although I (and others ) did notice a Ziggy and a Princess-rozara. Nil Einne (talk) 04:32, 26 December 2014 (UTC)