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November 27 Information

A question about the images on the page on heraldic attitude

What is that thing between the legs of the lion? Not-bot ( talk) 07:50, 27 November 2017 (UTC) reply

Pizzle is the technical term. Tevildo ( talk) 08:18, 27 November 2017 (UTC) reply
There is a convention that all heraldic beasts are male (apart from the pelican). Wymspen ( talk) 11:34, 27 November 2017 (UTC) reply
A wingless, crested griffin from Knossos ( μηδείς ( talk) 16:43, 30 November 2017 (UTC)) reply
And the (winged) griffin; a "male griffin" is wingless, nobody knows why, and I don't know if it's even attested. — Tamfang ( talk) 07:41, 28 November 2017 (UTC) reply
..." though this hypothesis has been strongly contested" per our article. Alansplodge ( talk) 18:11, 30 November 2017 (UTC) reply
Alan, the source for that claim in that article is a post at blogspot. The Greeks and certainly other oriental cultures were long acquainted with both the British Isles and Hyperborea (assumed to be China, beyond the Dzungarian Pass. The Minoan civilization was not Greek, but preceded the Mycenaean civilization. And ceratopsians were not limited to Mongolia, although due to geological factors (rock strata) their fossils are more common there. Triceratops was found in North America, for example. In any case, fossils (or their rumours) of beaked four-limbed beasts were known to (if not understood by) the ancients. μηδείς ( talk) 20:46, 2 December 2017 (UTC) reply

What happens when a poet laureate dies?

For example, when Peggy Vining died (I know it may be controversial to ask a question related to that), does she still remain the poet laureate of Arkansas for a bit afterwards until a new laureate is chosen, does a vice/acting poet laureate takes her spot, or is there a brief "interregnum", or does something else happen, or is a new laureate chosen right away and no editors have added that to Wikipedia yet? -- MrHumanPersonGuy ( talk) 12:40, 27 November 2017 (UTC) reply

For Arkansas, it appears to be up to the Governor. See [1] and [2]. Nanonic ( talk) 13:01, 27 November 2017 (UTC) reply
Old poets never die!2606:A000:4C0C:E200:5BE:8B3:6285:3518 ( talk) 19:47, 27 November 2017 (UTC) reply

Some particle analogous to kingons may be involved. Henry Flower 12:46, 28 November 2017 (UTC) reply
Just to carry this discussion along this tangent, this is why relativity of simultaneity matters, and why information cannot travel faster than the speed of light. If the information did travel instanteously, then there would exist some frames of reference where the kingon particle (or queon) arrives before it left. That breaks causality. I know we're just being goofy, but if we're also trying to consistently goofy, it bears following the train of thought till it reaches the station. -- Jayron 32 14:52, 28 November 2017 (UTC) reply
Regulars in rec.heraldry and related newsgroups, back in the day, included a monarchist named Louis (er, I can't now recall his surname; only that it is common among American Jews); possibly a troll, but quite polite about it, and a good participant otherwise. I said that if the heir to a throne were off at another star when the king died, and the news of the king's death reached that star after the heir died, then whether or not the heir should be counted as a king depends on the frame of reference; and Louis said that proves that relativity is bunk. — Tamfang ( talk) 19:05, 2 January 2020 (UTC) reply
Louis Epstein maybe? — Tamfang ( talk) 02:50, 18 May 2023 (UTC) reply
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Humanities desk
< November 26 << Oct | November | Dec >> November 28 >
Welcome to the Wikipedia Humanities Reference Desk Archives
The page you are currently viewing is an archive page. While you can leave answers for any questions shown below, please ask new questions on one of the current reference desk pages.


November 27 Information

A question about the images on the page on heraldic attitude

What is that thing between the legs of the lion? Not-bot ( talk) 07:50, 27 November 2017 (UTC) reply

Pizzle is the technical term. Tevildo ( talk) 08:18, 27 November 2017 (UTC) reply
There is a convention that all heraldic beasts are male (apart from the pelican). Wymspen ( talk) 11:34, 27 November 2017 (UTC) reply
A wingless, crested griffin from Knossos ( μηδείς ( talk) 16:43, 30 November 2017 (UTC)) reply
And the (winged) griffin; a "male griffin" is wingless, nobody knows why, and I don't know if it's even attested. — Tamfang ( talk) 07:41, 28 November 2017 (UTC) reply
..." though this hypothesis has been strongly contested" per our article. Alansplodge ( talk) 18:11, 30 November 2017 (UTC) reply
Alan, the source for that claim in that article is a post at blogspot. The Greeks and certainly other oriental cultures were long acquainted with both the British Isles and Hyperborea (assumed to be China, beyond the Dzungarian Pass. The Minoan civilization was not Greek, but preceded the Mycenaean civilization. And ceratopsians were not limited to Mongolia, although due to geological factors (rock strata) their fossils are more common there. Triceratops was found in North America, for example. In any case, fossils (or their rumours) of beaked four-limbed beasts were known to (if not understood by) the ancients. μηδείς ( talk) 20:46, 2 December 2017 (UTC) reply

What happens when a poet laureate dies?

For example, when Peggy Vining died (I know it may be controversial to ask a question related to that), does she still remain the poet laureate of Arkansas for a bit afterwards until a new laureate is chosen, does a vice/acting poet laureate takes her spot, or is there a brief "interregnum", or does something else happen, or is a new laureate chosen right away and no editors have added that to Wikipedia yet? -- MrHumanPersonGuy ( talk) 12:40, 27 November 2017 (UTC) reply

For Arkansas, it appears to be up to the Governor. See [1] and [2]. Nanonic ( talk) 13:01, 27 November 2017 (UTC) reply
Old poets never die!2606:A000:4C0C:E200:5BE:8B3:6285:3518 ( talk) 19:47, 27 November 2017 (UTC) reply

Some particle analogous to kingons may be involved. Henry Flower 12:46, 28 November 2017 (UTC) reply
Just to carry this discussion along this tangent, this is why relativity of simultaneity matters, and why information cannot travel faster than the speed of light. If the information did travel instanteously, then there would exist some frames of reference where the kingon particle (or queon) arrives before it left. That breaks causality. I know we're just being goofy, but if we're also trying to consistently goofy, it bears following the train of thought till it reaches the station. -- Jayron 32 14:52, 28 November 2017 (UTC) reply
Regulars in rec.heraldry and related newsgroups, back in the day, included a monarchist named Louis (er, I can't now recall his surname; only that it is common among American Jews); possibly a troll, but quite polite about it, and a good participant otherwise. I said that if the heir to a throne were off at another star when the king died, and the news of the king's death reached that star after the heir died, then whether or not the heir should be counted as a king depends on the frame of reference; and Louis said that proves that relativity is bunk. — Tamfang ( talk) 19:05, 2 January 2020 (UTC) reply
Louis Epstein maybe? — Tamfang ( talk) 02:50, 18 May 2023 (UTC) reply

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