Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Miscellaneous/2014 June 11

= June 11 =

motivation
Is there a word for when a person loses all motivation to do anything ? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 183.219.69.167 (talk) 15:27, 11 June 2014 (UTC)


 * Apathy. Such a person might be described by the slang term slacker. (BTW, why not post this on the Language Desk ?) StuRat (talk) 15:29, 11 June 2014 (UTC)


 * It's part of the meaning of depression, though that encompasses more than just lack of motivation. --ColinFine (talk) 16:33, 11 June 2014 (UTC)

Lethargy? Lemon martini (talk) 22:11, 11 June 2014 (UTC)


 * Those are good for losing some or most motivation for many things, but only death gets all the ambition out. InedibleHulk (talk) 12:05, 12 June 2014 (UTC)

Notivation is the word we use in my office for when your will to do anything has gone. Zzubnik (talk) 10:15, 13 June 2014 (UTC)
 * Any relation to "not-ability"? - ¡Ouch! (hurt me / more pain) 06:52, 16 June 2014 (UTC)

Sewing mystery
I have a sewing mystery I can't explain. I have a quilted blanket (not a patchwork quilt), and part of the thread for the "quilting" has come out. The blanket consists of two pieces of fabric, some batting in between, and what looks like polyester thread quilting it all together at the interior. The mystery, then, is that a loop of thread seems to have come out without either it breaking or the fabric tearing. Here's a diagram:

_         _ -|-||-|-  <- FABRIC |       |     <- THREAD LOOP

The loose loop of thread is shown below with an intact stitch on each side. For simplicity, the quilted blanket is shown as if it were a single piece of material. Note that holes are still present where the thread had been. The only explanation I can come up with is that this loop was always there, and I just never noticed it, despite having used this blanket for years, and the holes existing and not seeming to have closed up any. Can anyone come up with a better explanation for what happened ? StuRat (talk) 15:28, 11 June 2014 (UTC)


 * In many/most sewing machines, each thread is only on one side, of the finished product, and the bobbin thread acts to "lock" the stitches in place. See e.g. here . See also lock stitch. SemanticMantis (talk) 17:11, 11 June 2014 (UTC)


 * I don't see a loose bobbin thread on the other side, though. The corresponding area to the loop seems to lack any thread. StuRat (talk) 17:22, 11 June 2014 (UTC)
 * Unless it was sewn by hand, it almost surely has two threads that make up the seam. Without seeing it in person or at least a photo it will be hard to diagnose further. My best bet is that the 'lock' got skipped somehow. One thing that you can do to test: pull on the loop. If it pulls freely and gets longer (popping out previously intact parts of the seam), then you have a broken lock stitch. If it pulls to a point but then resists and binds against the other parts of the seam, then you have a skipped stitch. Unfortunately if it's the former you might have to repair... SemanticMantis (talk) 13:58, 12 June 2014 (UTC)

OK, thanks all. StuRat (talk) 13:47, 16 June 2014 (UTC)

Farab (Otrar)
The map reference for Farab, more famously known as Otrar, places its location at Shymkent. The Wikipedia reference for Turkistan places Otrar some miles to the southeast of that city near the Syr Darya; this should be accurate. UNESCO can probably provide the correct map location of Otrar. http://unesco.kz/otrar/otrar_house/ — Preceding unsigned comment added by ElkeWylie (talk • contribs) 15:34, 11 June 2014 (UTC)


 * I'd put this discussion on the talk page for that article. However, it might be the case that two generations of the city, possibly with different names, were in slightly different places.  When a city is rebuilt, it is often moved a few miles, perhaps because the river has moved, so the issue always comes up as to whether it's still the same city or not. StuRat (talk) 15:39, 11 June 2014 (UTC)


 * I've emended the coordinates in the Otrar (Farab) article. Thanks for pointing out the contradiction. Deor (talk) 20:45, 11 June 2014 (UTC)