Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Entertainment/2014 April 1

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April 1

Holes

Holes, by Louis Sachar, has this character named Stanley Yelnats who resents his no-good-dirty-rotten-pig-stealing-great-great-grandfather Elya Yelnats, who is from Latvia. The song is supposedly translated from Latvian to English and then modified by Elya's wife. First of all, is there a real Latvian name known as "Yelnats", or does the reader just have to assume the name has gone through some Anglicization, or have no real basis at all? Second of all, The mini-story in the novel that takes place in "Latvia" is supposedly set in the mid-to-late 1800s, presumably before Latvia declared its independence from Russia. Could there have been a semi-independent Latvian state prior to Latvia's independence? (Please don't answer "It's fiction". I know it's fiction, but sometimes authors can include some facts in the work, giving it more credibility.) 140.254.226.236 (talk) 14:40, 1 April 2014 (UTC)

Regarding your first question: Latvian surnames do usually end with the letter s or š, see most common Latvian names, for example, but Yelnats doesn't exist in Latvian. It's a palindromic name. ---Sluzzelin talk 14:58, 1 April 2014 (UTC)

He had a friend named Livingstone Enotsgnivil, I presume? Clarityfiend (talk) 17:55, 1 April 2014 (UTC)

Yelnats by itself is not a palindrome, Sluzzelin. It's just an anagram of Stanley. The whole name Stanley Yelnats is a palindromic name, but a contrived one. -- Jack of Oz ^{[pleasantries]} 21:31, 1 April 2014 (UTC)

Yes indeed, St. Napy Trams. (Let's call it a contrived semordnilap of Stanley). ---Sluzzelin talk 12:50, 2 April 2014 (UTC)

Latvia#Latvia in the Russian Empire shows that the whole of Latvia was part of the Russian Empire until 1917. Rojomoke (talk) 16:59, 1 April 2014 (UTC)

And note that the paragraph before that section describes how Latvian language and culture developed just prior to that period. From then on, the residents might identify themselves as "Latvian", whether or not the were independent politically. StuRat (talk) 17:14, 1 April 2014 (UTC)

• It should be noted that Yelnats is Stanley backwards. The "Latvian" thing has nothing to do with the last name, per se. It's just for background, but has no bearing on the story. --Jayron32 18:00, 1 April 2014 (UTC)

eric lange tv series crime drama identity theft

What was the name of the tv series that Eric Lange appeared in as the university professor who got arrested for identity theft? The captain of the police department is woman and she is the captain. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 65.92.151.138 (talk) 18:40, 1 April 2014 (UTC)

Looking over his IMDb credits, I see he appeared in a Major Crimes episode ("Cheaters Never Prosper"). I've never watched the show, but Major Crimes has Mary McDonnell playing a police captain. Clarityfiend (talk) 01:48, 2 April 2014 (UTC)

A synopsis I found says he played a university professor in the episode. Clarityfiend (talk) 02:02, 2 April 2014 (UTC)

Yep, that is the one. Thanks. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 70.31.18.191 (talk) 16:45, 2 April 2014 (UTC)

Resolved