Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Language/2015 January 14

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January 14

Moving

Is there a word for the feeling you have when you actually shed tears, when hearing about a really poignant or moving true story, which has an unexpected happy ending? KägeTorä - (^影_虎) (Chin Wag) 04:57, 14 January 2015 (UTC)

"Tears of joy" or "tears of relief" or maybe "emotional release". StuRat (talk) 05:09, 14 January 2015 (UTC)

"Tears of joy" is good. Or just "getting emotional" over something good. When Bill Mazeroski tried to give his acceptance speech in 2001 at the Baseball Hall of Fame inductions, he only got about as far as thanking the committee for considering defensive play as a criterion. He was overwhelmed with emotion, and ended his speech (to a standing ovation). ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 06:11, 14 January 2015 (UTC)

I was thinking of tears of joy, but that makes me think more of what your girlfriend has when you produce a little box with an engagement ring in it at some unexpected moment, like while she's milking the dog or something. The particular scenario I have in mind is when you are hearing about an old person's experiences, and this old person is unrelated to you in any way whatsoever. There must be another, more specific, word or phrase. KägeTorä - (^影_虎) (Chin Wag) 07:23, 14 January 2015 (UTC)

Just "moved to tears", although it can also be used to describe a reaction of sadness rather than happiness (e.g. the grave scene in Forrest Gump "moves me to tears" every time). Many times the language isn't as rich as we'd like, and words and phrases have to serve multiple duty. ―Mandruss ☎ 07:57, 14 January 2015 (UTC)

• Catharsis as a word doesn't refer directly to the tears, but it is Aristotle's theory as to why such stories have that effect. μηδείς (talk) 18:23, 14 January 2015 (UTC)

Perhaps "Lachrymose" - [1]. It often has connotations of sorrow, but literally just means "teary" or "tearful". So it doesn't clearly specify the "tears of joy" idea, but it is IMO a more neutral way to refer to tears than "crying" which usually connotes sadness or pain. SemanticMantis (talk) 21:49, 14 January 2015 (UTC)

"Lachrymose" also usually refers to sorrow, though the word origin doesn't compel that.[2] The expression "moved to tears", mentioned earlier, also usually indicates sadness. ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 22:21, 14 January 2015 (UTC)

I would consider "crying" to be more neutral. Check out Guy-cry film and notice that many of the examples (not all) have happy endings. ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 22:23, 14 January 2015 (UTC)

English understanding problem

I need help with the following peeps.

Link 1 (List_of_oracular_statements_from_Delphi#630_BC):

• Who is the king of the island of Thera that went to the oracle?

Link 2 (List_of_oracular_statements_from_Delphi#595_BC):

• The Oracle decreed to whom?

Link 3 (List_of_oracular_statements_from_Delphi#590_BC):

• Are they talking about any prophecies at all here?

Link 4 (List_of_oracular_statements_from_Delphi#560_BC):

• Last section. What's going on? Who's burning who? Who's spirit was taken away? Did it occur straight/long after the War?

Link 5 (List_of_oracular_statements_from_Delphi#480_BC):

• What is the name of the Spartan king of the 300? Who consulted the oracle from Spartans?
• Who consulted the oracle from the Athenians? Was it Athena?
• Third paragraph to look at, from bottom to up: Did the Athenians took the oracle's advice?
• last paragraph to look at: Who didn't listen to the oracle?

Link 6 (List_of_oracular_statements_from_Delphi#431_BC):

• Who are they talking about? Who sought advice from the oracle?

Link 7 (List_of_oracular_statements_from_Delphi#359_BC):

• Second paragraph, from bottom to top: Who was the commander of the Thebes?
• Why are the dates going backwards and the scenes going forwards?

• Does anybody know, how long Pythia or the oracles mentioned in this article lived (from - until)? Y
• Who is Delphi? Y
• Pythia was burnt alive in 67AD, how does she come back to life in 367AD? Y
• What are the names of the other oracles? Y

New Q:

• Can you use this word 'prophecy' for anyone whose future was foretold, or the word is designated to prophets only?

(Russell.mo (talk) 18:36, 14 January 2015 (UTC))

That's a lot of question, but I can shed light on the last few: Delphi is the name of the place, Pythia is then "name" of whoever was filling the role of oracle/priestess at the time. So there were lots of people called Pythia, and when one died, another would take her place. This is described a bit at Delphi#Oracle. Also you might like to know that many people believe that the oracular statements were influenced by the Oracle getting high (that is, intoxicated) by Ethylene and other gases seeping out. As for other oracles, they were known as Dodona and Trophonius. See oracle for a description of the Greeks, and some similar concepts from other areas. SemanticMantis (talk) 21:44, 14 January 2015 (UTC)

Thanks SemanticMantis . I know there are a lot of questions, I just need a rough idea (which you provided)... This is not a topic I need to study... It's better to ask all the question in one go rather than sending many different posts for the same article, I think. (What do you suggest anyway?). -- (Russell.mo (talk) 06:40, 15 January 2015 (UTC))

My personal suggestion is to not ask more than three questions at once (and to number them when you do). People that might look things up or help with a smaller list might just skip a long list. Also questions don't get much visibility after a few days, so for a list like this I would have split them up and posted a few shorter lists throughout the week. SemanticMantis (talk)

Okay, points noted. Thanks. -- (Russell.mo (talk) 18:22, 15 January 2015 (UTC))