Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Miscellaneous/2017 October 24

= October 24 =

Cardinal directions
I was reading the Wikipedia entry on the above topic and was wondering how the direction "northeast by north" was different from the direction "north-northeast". 67.239.109.183 (talk) 16:16, 24 October 2017 (UTC)
 * If you look at the illustration. You'll see that NE by N is at 33¾° and NNE is slightly closer to north at 22½°
 * NE by N is halfway between NNE and NE.
 * Seems like it's a lot easier these days to just specify the bearing you mean by number of degrees. :ApLundell (talk) 16:26, 24 October 2017 (UTC)

Suits
How do you tell whether a suit is appropriate for any particular function? --178.208.193.171 (talk) 20:43, 24 October 2017 (UTC)


 * Ask the organisers of the function to be sure, but our article Formal wear might give some guidance.   D b f i r s   21:04, 24 October 2017 (UTC)


 * Sorry I didn't mean a function function. But like a particular purpose. Say I want a casual suit to wear out during the day, how do I know if a particular suit won't make me look overdressed or something? --178.208.193.171 (talk) 21:21, 24 October 2017 (UTC)




 * Any suit would be overdressed in many situations. In the US, there are fewer and fewer places and companies left that require wearing a suit each day.  Suits are still worn to special occasions, though, like weddings, funerals, etc.  If you can tell us where you are, what company you work for, and any other pertinent details, we may be able to help.  Some general rules:


 * 1) Most casual is a suit jacket. That is, just the jacket, not a matching pants/jacket set.  Wear it with pants that look like they would go with a suit though, not jeans (jeans are sometimes worn with a suit jacket, but not to events that say "suit required").  Wear a dress shirt with it, like the one shown.  A tie is optional, in this case (making it look a bit more formal).  Use colors in the same family though.  For example, a beige suit jacket, with dark brown pants, a brown tie, and a white shirt: .  If you were to add a tie, maybe brown would work here.


 * 2) A suit is the next step up. The jacket matches the pants, and they are sold together.  Also wear a dress shirt here, and a tie, but probably not cuff links.  Also match colors here.


 * 3) A tuxedo is rarely worn these days, reserved for the groomsmen at a formal wedding, for example, or rather fancy parties (black tie or white tie events). Here the dress shirt and tie (often a bow tie) are required, and maybe cuff links.  Some go further, adding a cummerbund, dickey, etc.  In weddings, they normally pre-select the clothing for the bridal party, so you don't need to choose your own. StuRat (talk) 21:48, 24 October 2017 (UTC)


 * Ask the salesperson for guidance (unless you're buying online). It's in their interests that you be happy with your purchase.  --   Jack of Oz   [pleasantries]  21:54, 24 October 2017 (UTC)


 * I'd argue it's in their interest to sell you the most expensive items they can, if on commission: "Never ask the barber if you need a haircut, as the answer will always be yes". StuRat (talk) 22:00, 24 October 2017 (UTC)


 * And yet you think it's ok for them to accept advice from anonymous jerks on the internet. Interesting. --   Jack of Oz   [pleasantries]  04:18, 25 October 2017 (UTC)


 * At least they don't have any profit motive to give bad advice. StuRat (talk) 05:34, 25 October 2017 (UTC)


 * We are not a substitute for actually doing any original research required, or as a free source of ideas.
 * To sort-of quote Allan Sherman, "Free advice costs nothing and it's worth the price." ←Baseball Bugs What's up, Doc? carrots→ 01:52, 25 October 2017 (UTC)


 * ,, I'm curious to know in what way this question has anything to do with Wikipedia, and why we encourage such questions and feed them. Kudpung กุดผึ้ง (talk) 00:47, 28 October 2017 (UTC)


 * We have articles on the various items of clothing I mentioned, and I provided links to them, so the OP can read up on them. Thus we are connecting them to the relevant Wikipedia articles, an essential function of the Ref Desk. StuRat (talk) 00:55, 28 October 2017 (UTC)


 * Like this, ?: I'd argue it's in their interest to sell you the most expensive items they can, if on commission: "Never ask the barber if you need a haircut, as the answer will always be yes" . Then you wonder why the community is trying to close this desk down and mentions you in particular. Kudpung กุดผึ้ง (talk) 04:56, 29 October 2017 (UTC)


 * I was directly addressing the reliability of a source, in this case the source of information being a salesperson at a clothing store, having a direct conflict of interest with the customer, in that they want the customer to spend as much as possible, if on commission, and the customer wants to spend as little as possible. Thus, a salesman on commission is never a reliable source for information for the customer.  This is the same reason why we discourage people who work at a company from editing the Wikipedia article about them, they would tend to oversell their company and products.  (Inserting a funny adage helps keep working on the Ref Desk from becoming the humorless drudgery you seem to want.) StuRat (talk) 15:34, 29 October 2017 (UTC)


 * Yet you consider yourself at liberty to attack an editor in front of the OP. ←Baseball Bugs What's up, Doc? carrots→ 05:02, 29 October 2017 (UTC)
 * @BBugs, That was not even a tangential PA by any means. Winged Blades of Godric On leave 06:33, 29 October 2017 (UTC)
 * If someone has an issue with a user, they should either take it up on the user's talk page or keep their trap shut - as agreed upon at the talk page, months ago. ←Baseball Bugs What's up, Doc? carrots→ 07:35, 29 October 2017 (UTC)


 * This question has nothing to do with improving Wikipedia. It is a classic WP:NOTAWEBHOST case and violates the idea we are not a forum. I’ve just closed several threads, one started by StuRat, that are equally inappropriate. Legacypac (talk) 09:21, 29 October 2017 (UTC)


 * You've made a fundamental mistake in thinking the purpose of the Ref Desk is SOLELY to improve Wikipedia articles. It does have that purpose, among others, including connecting people to references both inside and outside Wikipedia, and providing useful answers to them. StuRat (talk) 15:38, 29 October 2017 (UTC)

This was archived by Legacypac, and I am closing it again without removing any material added after that closure. μηδείς (talk) 20:46, 29 October 2017 (UTC)