Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Language/2006 September 25

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words

Why isn't the word "scody" listed in any dictionary? I have heard it used for more than 50 years. As we all know, it means "yucky" or "crusty" or "disgusting."

"As we all know"? If that were true, it would be in the dictionary. I've certainly never heard the word before. However, if you say that's so grody fast enough.... TheMadBaron 00:57, 25 September 2006 (UTC)

Apparently "grody" is Valspeak. I've never heard "scody" or "grody" used in the UK, but the British equivalent seems to be "grotty". (There used to be a cheap cafe near where I lived in London called El Grotto, but the final O had fallen off the sign. I wouldn't be surprised if that's where the word originally came from ;-) --Shantavira 09:36, 25 September 2006 (UTC)

Where do you live? If it's Britain, I'm inclined to quote the movie Snatch: "Don't anybody speak English here? I thought it was invented in this country!" ;) 惑乱 分からん 11:44, 25 September 2006 (UTC)

According to legend, grotty was invented for A Hard Day's Night, explained as derived from grotesque. (George says it when a marketing type asks him for Youth's opinion on the product.) —Tamfang 06:09, 26 September 2006 (UTC)

Could be a coincidence, but it also sounds akin to grotto. (Cold, moist, damp...) 惑乱 分からん 11:45, 26 September 2006 (UTC)

Without looking (because it's more fun that way) I would guess that grotesque is derived from grotto, most likely in the sense of a decorative garden feature. —Tamfang (talk) 04:01, 30 June 2019 (UTC)

I live in Washington, DC, and (of course), I'm only guessing about the spelling. It could be scody, or scodie, or scodey, or skody...but it has been in vernacular use for many years. Maybe it just hasn't made it into print...and therefore has not appeared in the 5 literary cases needed for the OED. :)

Slovenian language

Can you tell me what the names for "Grandmother" and "Grandpa" are in Slovenian? Please include the English pronunciation. Thank you very much. Lois66.194.118.10 15:28, 25 September 2006 (UTC)

Grandmother is 'babica' (pronounced 'bobby-tsa'), Grandpa is 'dedek' (pronounced 'dedek' with the 'e' like in seven). Both words have the emphasis on the first syllable.---Sluzzelin 18:46, 25 September 2006 (UTC)

Comma?

I have noticed some people will put a comma after In (date)....it does not seem correct and reads better without.

Here is an example:

In AD 70, Gareb was covered with gardens watered by springs.

In c. 1900, Egypt knew of the Canaanite city, and later in c. 1450 the city was under Egypt’s rule.

Are the commas really necsessary after the dates?

I would leave them in. There is usually a natural pause after dates in speech. -- the GREAT Gavini 17:42, 25 September 2006 (UTC)

They aren't necessary, but they aren't incorrect either. They're optional. --Ptcamn 18:15, 25 September 2006 (UTC)

There are cases where it's needed, like: "In 1900 4 out of 5 people lacked telephone access." StuRat 19:10, 25 September 2006 (UTC)

In such and such date is an introductory prepositional phrase. I like to use a comma after an introductory phrase of four or more words. —Wayward ^Talk 03:20, 26 September 2006 (UTC)

German for Joshua

What is the German name for Joshua?

The biblical character is called Josua in German Bible translations. Apart from that, there's no specific German form of the name - there are a small number of Germans called Josua, but the name is not widely established and a bit of an oddity (at a rough guess, the name is probably most common in rural catholic neighbourhoods where parents stick pretty close to the Bible when naming their children, but I don't have statistics to back up that statement - in any case, "most common" does not mean much since the name is rather rare). -- Ferkelparade π 18:10, 25 September 2006 (UTC)

Since Joshua is supposedly a Jewish name, maybe its not surprising the Germans have no equivalent!--Light current 21:28, 25 September 2006 (UTC)

Well there are plenty of Poles and Russians named Jozef, and those countries aren't known for being particularly philo-semitic historically. And a list of the most-popular German baby names shows Jonas, Hanna and Lea. So I don't know if you can attribue the lack of German Josephs to anti-Semitism. -- Mwalcoff 23:48, 25 September 2006 (UTC)

That's funny, I've always taken the English Joshua as the Hebrew for Yeshua, or the near English equivalent of the (Latin-American) Spanish "Jesus." There might be reasons beyond anti-semitism for frequency differences. 00:35, 26 September 2006 (UTC)

Roughly, Jesus == Jeshua == ישוע Yeshua`, while Joshua = יהושע Yehoshua`. The two names Yeshua` and Yehoshua` are related, but not Identical. AnonMoos 03:36, 26 September 2006 (UTC)

Military vehicles in US Army

What is the most common name in US Army for commonly used military vehicles, such as M113? I'm interested, how soldiers refer to it as usually. Thanks in advance.

Don't know but? as the talk page discusses it isn't Gavin. Talk:M113 Armored Personnel Carrier. Rmhermen 23:17, 25 September 2006 (UTC)

APC (short for Armoured personnel carrier) is probably the term you're looking for. --Canley 01:58, 26 September 2006 (UTC)

• Jeep? or hummer/humvee? (hotclaws**== 15:02, 27 September 2006 (UTC))

Yup, "APC" is what we called them when I rode in one.

Bad Word?

Is calling someone a "sheister" impolite or vulgar? I have heard that the word comes from Yiddish, or maybe German, and means "shitter" or "bull-shit artist"; e.g. "We just got conned by that sheister lawyer." Is this word to be avoided in polite company? Thank you.66.213.33.2 19:30, 25 September 2006 (UTC)

Shyster is generally considered insulting, and may come from a German word meaning "Defecator." As commonly used in English, I don't believe it is vulgar, but one might want to consider the company in question. --LarryMac 19:41, 25 September 2006 (UTC)

(After Edit Conflict) It's usually spelled Shyster in English. It's Yiddish and usage varies. It is traditionally applied to Jewish shysters, as opposed to WASP or other ethnic con artists and ambulance chasers. Consequently, it has taken on some of the color of an anti-semitic epithet. On the other hand, sometimes it doesn't especially bother people. Still, I would advice you to use it guardedly unless you are familiar with the speaking patterns of your interlocutors. --Diderot 19:45, 25 September 2006 (UTC)

my name

where to find the meaning of my name and different variations of my name

If you pretend you are a baby again and type "baby names" into google you will find lots of sites with name details. Here is a resonable one I found http://www.thinkbabynames.com/ MeltBanana 21:40, 25 September 2006 (UTC)

Unfortunately, most such sites don't cite sources... --Ptcamn 21:45, 25 September 2006 (UTC)

That's good, that is almost a Wiki-alliterative-mantra. How about:

Sadly such sites seldom cite sources.MeltBanana 21:58, 25 September 2006 (UTC)