Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Miscellaneous/2017 February 1

= February 1 =

Wikileaks conspiracy theory
On the other hand, if it is not true that wikileaks said anything like that, was there a pseudo-wikileaks site that was making the claim? Although I am very sure that Hillary Clinton has not been involved with child molestation, I would like to know where it is coming from. The latest story I've heard, afriend told me yesterday that he'd seen it on wikileaks and he believed it, was that the gunman at the PingPong restaurandt was staged to make the child molestion ring appear ridiculous. Thanks.144.35.45.56 (talk) 04:26, 1 February 2017 (UTC)


 * Note, I changed your title to something less inflammatory. This is related to pizzagate. It's a completely unfounded conspiracy theory. Wikileaks published the emails, but total nutjobs on the internet read them as... well, read the article I guess. Someguy1221 (talk) 04:28, 1 February 2017 (UTC)
 * Well, is there some phishing site claiming to be wikileaks?144.35.45.56 (talk) 05:11, 1 February 2017 (UTC)
 * Probably. The actual, totally real Wikileaks, published the emails. A random racist asshole on Twitter was the person making the claim. The claim then started being spread (both seriously and for luls/clickbait) by a variety of websites. Your post is the first suggestion I've ever heard of a "fake wikileaks" being involved. Though there are conspiracy theorists out there claiming that the storming of PingPong was a falseflag op. Someguy1221 (talk) 05:18, 1 February 2017 (UTC)
 * Oh, sorry, I missed what you were asking. If there is a fake wikileaks pushing the false-flag conspiracy theory about the shooting. This site discusses the false-flag conspiracy theory further down. It's been pushed at a lot of websites, but Wikileaks is not listed as one of them. I looked at Wikileaks actual website, and they don't carry anything about Pizzagate at all. They don't publish that often, so it's not hard to search. If your friend saw this on a website that called itself wikileaks, that website is fake. Someguy1221 (talk) 05:24, 1 February 2017 (UTC)
 * The answer to the question in the original section title is simple: "no". &#40;&#40;&#40;The Quixotic Potato&#41;&#41;&#41; (talk) 05:20, 1 February 2017 (UTC)
 * Stories like these are put out as clickbait - the scumbag who made it up will get 0.01¢ or whatever per nitwit who clicks their mouse on the link and goes to the website. Dmcq (talk) 11:28, 1 February 2017 (UTC)

Best term for printed out piece of paper handed over to a customer
What's probably the best generic term to describe a small piece of paper that is printed out on a device in a shop and handed over to a customer - like possibly a receipt, a bus ticket, a prepaid card, a voucher... ? --KnightMove (talk) 15:30, 1 February 2017 (UTC)
 * Chit --Viennese Waltz 15:39, 1 February 2017 (UTC)
 * Synonyms for ticket noun, authorization on paper, include:
 * admission card certificate check coupon document license paper passport permit receipt record sticker voucher badge board chit credential docket invite key label marker note notice pass passage password slip stub tab tag token Blooteuth (talk) 16:39, 1 February 2017 (UTC)


 * In which dialect of English? -- Jayron 32 17:45, 1 February 2017 (UTC)
 * I would like to use it in an article... I'm not "pure" in my usage of English an mix BrE and AmE according to verying influences. --KnightMove (talk) 18:15, 1 February 2017 (UTC)
 * I've never heard it used in American English, but theoretically you could use it in an article, provided you link to its definition. ←Baseball Bugs What's up, Doc? carrots→ 18:51, 1 February 2017 (UTC)
 * Wiktionary also give scrip, but a bit archaic perhaps. Alansplodge (talk) 19:20, 1 February 2017 (UTC)
 * Scrip would confuse people. Where anyone would recognize it would be as a form of quasi-currency first.  That usage would come first in people's minds.  See Scrip.  Chit, which is better known in BrEng, may be the only option, as there is no single equivalent word in AmEng.  Receipt is possible, but if you wanted to have a single word that means both "receipt" and "voucher" in AmEng, there simply isn't one.  -- Jayron 32 19:24, 1 February 2017 (UTC)


 * If it is for an article such as this one Draft:paysafecard (which you have contributed to). The print-out is a receipt (which the payee should keep as proof of payment). Does this answer your question?--Aspro (talk) 20:13, 1 February 2017 (UTC)
 * Just pulled out of my pocket a pre-payment receipt and that says on one line Receipt Number. Just have a look at the printout that you're  writing about and see if it has the same line.--Aspro (talk) 20:28, 1 February 2017 (UTC)


 * I'd say "slip" or "note" covers anything. Slips can even be empty and meaningless, so long as they're small and paper. Notes cannot. InedibleHulk (talk) 20:21, 1 February 2017 (UTC)
 * No, I think you're making that up. If I purchased something and the attendant asked me if I wanted the "slip" or the "note", I'd have to ask him/her to explain what they're talking about.  I agree with those above who say there is no accepted term in English that covers all these different types of item.  There's never been a need for one, and words without a purpose do not enter the general lexicon.  --   Jack of Oz   [pleasantries]  21:12, 1 February 2017 (UTC)
 * I think the request for a general term means one that could be used in the way I'm using "slip of paper here": "What was that slip of paper the clerk gave you?" or "The receipt is printed on a slip of paper." It doesn't have to be something you'd use if meant a receipt or some other specific thing. --76.71.6.254 (talk) 21:59, 1 February 2017 (UTC)


 * Christopher Morley seemed well-lettered. Unless he's mistaken, the back of a printed slip can double as a scribbled note. InedibleHulk (talk) 22:01, 1 February 2017 (UTC)
 * The people who make the printers sometimes use the phrase "POS Printout" when they don't want to say "receipt". That's pretty jargon-y, though, and open to confusion since POS can also mean "piece of shit". ApLundell (talk) 22:46, 1 February 2017 (UTC)
 * Or the well-lettered Peter Olrog Schjøtt. InedibleHulk (talk) 23:22, 1 February 2017 (UTC)


 * Is there something wrong with the word "printout"? Matt Deres (talk) 01:04, 2 February 2017 (UTC)
 * What about "docket"? In Brit Eng and some other Eng variations it can mean sales receipt, or order form containing delivery instructions. Akld guy (talk) 08:27, 2 February 2017 (UTC)
 * IP 76.71.6.254 has it. "Slip of paper" is generic. Anything else depends on what it is for. It could be a receipt, a bill, a ticket, a fortune, a flyer, or whatever. It's like asking what the best generic term for a piece of wood is. It could be anything from a toothpick to a log. Meters (talk) 09:11, 2 February 2017 (UTC)
 * "Slip of paper" does not indicate that the paper went through a printer, which was part of the question. "Printout" is the answer; it's what the OP wants, with little to no ambiguity. Matt Deres (talk) 15:24, 2 February 2017 (UTC)
 * Fibremedia download? Wymspen (talk) 10:48, 2 February 2017 (UTC)

Thank you all so far for the contributions. As a non-native English speaker I don't have a good feeling for the range of meanings a term might have. I try to keep the words as close as possible to the definitions used in Wikipedia and Wiktionary. My problems with words used by me and/or suggestes here so far: Maybe I'm just overthinking it - would you say that at least one of the problems I see is basically none? --KnightMove (talk) 16:58, 2 February 2017 (UTC) I've always been a fan of chit for all sorts of types of little bits of semi-official and official bits of paper. When I was younger, it was more commonly used - and for wider purposes than Wiktionary gives (and far wider than our article chit). --Dweller (talk) Become old fashioned! 10:45, 3 February 2017 (UTC)
 * printout is a redirect to hard copy. While the pieces of paper I'm talking about are certainly hard copies of the information stored in the device used, I think most people will link the term "hard copy" to information that was already available for them or a third party before (usually on screen). This is not the case here.
 * voucher: This is the term used by the company itself (as concluded correctly by Aspro, my question is about Draft:paysafecard). But this omits the information that the piece of paper is printed out at the POS (it might also be a pre-printed card, as it used to be in the very beginning - which is still reflected in the brand name, and therefore I want to use a clear, unmistakable term).
 * receipt: Well, a paysafecard not just an "acknowledgment that a specified article or payment has been received.", and has a specific value.
 * 'Printout' redirects to 'hard copy' because this is an encyclopedia and not a dictionary; there's not enough of a difference in meanings to keep multiple articles on them, but they are not the same thing. 'Hard copy' does indeed imply that there must be some other copy (i.e. soft copy), but 'printout' does not. If you want to get technical, anything made by a computer must have a soft copy of some kind because the computer needs some kind of model to create the printer output, but I would use 'hard copy' only if there was a readable 'soft copy'; printouts don't (to me) have that distinction: the ticket made by a parking meter may or may not have originated from a readable soft copy, but would always qualify as a 'printout'. And, there is no such thing as over-complicating something this important. :-) Matt Deres (talk) 17:11, 2 February 2017 (UTC)
 * , I am willing to accept that "chit" may be a perfectly acceptable term in the UK and perhaps other Commonwealth countries. However, it is an obscure word in the United States, and is not in every day use. My guess is that most native American English speakers would have a hard time defining it. Cullen328   Let's discuss it  07:47, 6 February 2017 (UTC)
 * While I won't use it in case of my specific problem (I'm satisfied with the answer of Matt Deres), I want to 'defend' the term - I have seen it in American use before: In the game RoboRally, they use the term damage chit. But there, a chit is not a scrip of paper, but rather a token comparable to a jeton. --KnightMove (talk) 11:24, 6 February 2017 (UTC)