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Can I have all the possible definitions of "fishes"? More specifically, i suppose, can 'fishes' be used as a noun?
Thank you! 216.165.25.53 ( talk) 02:49, 24 April 2009 (UTC)
I am stuck on the following translations and any assistance would be much appreciated:
a) "In this picture there are four children" - would it be "En ce tableau il y a quatre enfants" or "Dans ce tableau il y a quatre enfants" or "Ce tableau il y a quatre enfants"? I am mainly unsure of what French preposition should take the place of "In" in the given context.
b) "Three of the children are picking up pebbles on the shore of the lake" - would it be "Les trois des enfants ramassent des cailloux au bord du lac"?. Mainly I am unsure of:
i) The use of the definite article for "Three of the children"
ii) The translation of "on the shore of the lake". In English, we could write "by the shore of the lake" also, so are the two translations the same (with "by" or "on")?
c) "The master is relating the story of the generals to the pupils" - would it be "Le maîte raconte l'histoire des généraux aux élèves"?
d) "Show me the pupil who is not listening" - would it be "Montrez-moi l'élève qui n'écoute pas"? The other thing I am unsure of is how to say "show me a pupil who is not listening". Should the indefinite article be masculine or feminine in this case, if it was a general statement and the pupil described is not known?
As usual, I greatly appreciate the help I get and always recommend the reference desk to anyone I know. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 58.161.138.117 ( talk) 04:24, 24 April 2009 (UTC)
-- Ianare ( talk) 06:21, 24 April 2009 (UTC)
1. What's the name given to a surname that is the surnames of both of someone's parents, such as "Walsh-Moloney"?
2. Which name comes first in such a surname: the mother's surname or the father's surname? 58.165.23.195 ( talk) 07:13, 24 April 2009 (UTC)
Here's one for the the Latinists: cum puella incedit minore medio corpore sub quo manifestus globus, inflammare animo. If they could tell me what that means then I would be grateful. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Kitefox ( talk • contribs) 07:15, 24 April 2009 (UTC)
Why do people say "Macs or PCs" when Macs are PCs? 58.165.23.195 ( talk) 07:27, 24 April 2009 (UTC)
Once upon a time, Macs were different enough from the IBM-PC standard (a 'PC'), mainly the CPU archictecture (powerPC instead of x86) to be in their own category. Now that they use x86 chips and other regular IBM-PC compatible parts, it's just out of habit. You're quite right that there is no difference between them anymore. -- Ianare ( talk) 14:05, 24 April 2009 (UTC)
Why do people say "US state" instead of "United State"? 58.165.23.195 ( talk) 07:27, 24 April 2009 (UTC)
Okay, maybe I've lived in a non-English-speaking country too long, but I cannot for the life of me remember the name of the little noisemakers found at children's birthday parties and New Year's Eve parties that you blow through and a little tube of paper unrolls and it makes a noise like a kazoo. What are they called??? — An gr 11:50, 24 April 2009 (UTC)
Online party supply retailers, such as Amazon and Party City, call these "blowouts," though the term was not in any dictionary I saw. John M Baker ( talk) 21:10, 24 April 2009 (UTC)
On the Internet, why do people say "name" instead of "username"? Saying "name" makes it sound like the person's username is their real name. 58.165.23.195 ( talk) 12:31, 24 April 2009 (UTC)
While helping a friend shop for computer extension cables, we found ourselves wondering about the use of 'male' and 'female' in terms of plugs, connectors, sockets, and the like. I've been trying to find out how old these terms are in this non-biological context...I've seen them applied to pipes and other connectors, but haven't been able to find any information on when or how this form of naming originated. Now my curiosity is piqued, so any information would be appreciated. Thanks! Kufat ( talk) 21:55, 24 April 2009 (UTC)
How would you translate a sentence like "He said he likes himself" into Latin, using the accusative and infinitive? I've read that they always used the accusative and infinitive construction in the classical period, whenever it was correct to do so, so I'm assuming that's the form to use here, but it seems awkward. You can either go "Is dixit se amare se," with one "se" for the accusative "subject" of the infinitive, and one for the object, or leave one of them out, when the meaning doesn't seem so clear. Also, if you do need two "se's," can you say "Is dixit se se amare," or do you have to separate the "se's"? thanks, It's been emotional ( talk) 23:35, 24 April 2009 (UTC)
I was looking through a Latin composition book (Bradley/Arnold/Montford) to see if there were any examples of this, but there weren't; checking other composition books might help. It's possible that they just avoided writing sentences like this, because there was no separate word for "himself" like we have. I mean, there are lots of things that can't be translated literally into Latin (or from Latin into English) because the necessary construction doesn't exist. Another possibility, however, is "inter se", although that is usually used for "each other" ("inter se amant" - they love each other). Adam Bishop ( talk) 16:53, 25 April 2009 (UTC)S
Thanks again, It's been emotional ( talk) 01:10, 26 April 2009 (UTC)
Language desk | ||
---|---|---|
< April 23 | << Mar | April | May >> | April 25 > |
Welcome to the Wikipedia Language 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. |
Can I have all the possible definitions of "fishes"? More specifically, i suppose, can 'fishes' be used as a noun?
Thank you! 216.165.25.53 ( talk) 02:49, 24 April 2009 (UTC)
I am stuck on the following translations and any assistance would be much appreciated:
a) "In this picture there are four children" - would it be "En ce tableau il y a quatre enfants" or "Dans ce tableau il y a quatre enfants" or "Ce tableau il y a quatre enfants"? I am mainly unsure of what French preposition should take the place of "In" in the given context.
b) "Three of the children are picking up pebbles on the shore of the lake" - would it be "Les trois des enfants ramassent des cailloux au bord du lac"?. Mainly I am unsure of:
i) The use of the definite article for "Three of the children"
ii) The translation of "on the shore of the lake". In English, we could write "by the shore of the lake" also, so are the two translations the same (with "by" or "on")?
c) "The master is relating the story of the generals to the pupils" - would it be "Le maîte raconte l'histoire des généraux aux élèves"?
d) "Show me the pupil who is not listening" - would it be "Montrez-moi l'élève qui n'écoute pas"? The other thing I am unsure of is how to say "show me a pupil who is not listening". Should the indefinite article be masculine or feminine in this case, if it was a general statement and the pupil described is not known?
As usual, I greatly appreciate the help I get and always recommend the reference desk to anyone I know. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 58.161.138.117 ( talk) 04:24, 24 April 2009 (UTC)
-- Ianare ( talk) 06:21, 24 April 2009 (UTC)
1. What's the name given to a surname that is the surnames of both of someone's parents, such as "Walsh-Moloney"?
2. Which name comes first in such a surname: the mother's surname or the father's surname? 58.165.23.195 ( talk) 07:13, 24 April 2009 (UTC)
Here's one for the the Latinists: cum puella incedit minore medio corpore sub quo manifestus globus, inflammare animo. If they could tell me what that means then I would be grateful. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Kitefox ( talk • contribs) 07:15, 24 April 2009 (UTC)
Why do people say "Macs or PCs" when Macs are PCs? 58.165.23.195 ( talk) 07:27, 24 April 2009 (UTC)
Once upon a time, Macs were different enough from the IBM-PC standard (a 'PC'), mainly the CPU archictecture (powerPC instead of x86) to be in their own category. Now that they use x86 chips and other regular IBM-PC compatible parts, it's just out of habit. You're quite right that there is no difference between them anymore. -- Ianare ( talk) 14:05, 24 April 2009 (UTC)
Why do people say "US state" instead of "United State"? 58.165.23.195 ( talk) 07:27, 24 April 2009 (UTC)
Okay, maybe I've lived in a non-English-speaking country too long, but I cannot for the life of me remember the name of the little noisemakers found at children's birthday parties and New Year's Eve parties that you blow through and a little tube of paper unrolls and it makes a noise like a kazoo. What are they called??? — An gr 11:50, 24 April 2009 (UTC)
Online party supply retailers, such as Amazon and Party City, call these "blowouts," though the term was not in any dictionary I saw. John M Baker ( talk) 21:10, 24 April 2009 (UTC)
On the Internet, why do people say "name" instead of "username"? Saying "name" makes it sound like the person's username is their real name. 58.165.23.195 ( talk) 12:31, 24 April 2009 (UTC)
While helping a friend shop for computer extension cables, we found ourselves wondering about the use of 'male' and 'female' in terms of plugs, connectors, sockets, and the like. I've been trying to find out how old these terms are in this non-biological context...I've seen them applied to pipes and other connectors, but haven't been able to find any information on when or how this form of naming originated. Now my curiosity is piqued, so any information would be appreciated. Thanks! Kufat ( talk) 21:55, 24 April 2009 (UTC)
How would you translate a sentence like "He said he likes himself" into Latin, using the accusative and infinitive? I've read that they always used the accusative and infinitive construction in the classical period, whenever it was correct to do so, so I'm assuming that's the form to use here, but it seems awkward. You can either go "Is dixit se amare se," with one "se" for the accusative "subject" of the infinitive, and one for the object, or leave one of them out, when the meaning doesn't seem so clear. Also, if you do need two "se's," can you say "Is dixit se se amare," or do you have to separate the "se's"? thanks, It's been emotional ( talk) 23:35, 24 April 2009 (UTC)
I was looking through a Latin composition book (Bradley/Arnold/Montford) to see if there were any examples of this, but there weren't; checking other composition books might help. It's possible that they just avoided writing sentences like this, because there was no separate word for "himself" like we have. I mean, there are lots of things that can't be translated literally into Latin (or from Latin into English) because the necessary construction doesn't exist. Another possibility, however, is "inter se", although that is usually used for "each other" ("inter se amant" - they love each other). Adam Bishop ( talk) 16:53, 25 April 2009 (UTC)S
Thanks again, It's been emotional ( talk) 01:10, 26 April 2009 (UTC)