Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Humanities/2008 August 10

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August 10

Even further nudity question

What I meant by "un-stimulating" in my previous question is actually only that I find the sight of male genitals unattractive. I'm comfortable with the rest of the male body (heck, with what men wear on public beaches and swimming pools, I'd have to be). So when I look at a nude man, I tend to focus on the face or the chest instead. It's not such a big problem that I'd actually have to make an effort not to look at them. It's nothing to do with anti-gay sentiment or cultural standards, quite the opposite. It's purely aesthetic.

Speaking in context of people who have no problem going around nude in mixed company in social situations, is this common for men? What about women? JIP | Talk 08:00, 10 August 2008 (UTC)

Would it make you feel any better to know that you are pretty normal, in that a lot of people think a lot like you, while also not being necessarily typical, in that you are probably smarter and more curious than many people? Or are you really looking for people to discuss how they feel about nudity? I thought you'd already got the answer that these things are extremely culturally variable and that where there is a culture of people being nude in mixed company, people don't tend to have a problem with it in the culturally appropriate setting. 79.66.38.215 (talk) 08:13, 10 August 2008 (UTC)

Hey JIP, methinks you need some original research at a nudist camp or such. Anything less is just hearsay, and mind you keep your clipboard from obscuring your body -- it's illegal to be covered. ;) Julia Rossi (talk) 10:28, 10 August 2008 (UTC)

There are no nudist camps in Finland. There are only two (well, in practice three) nudist beaches. They are mainly only populated on a select few weekends in summertime, otherwise they are only visited by a handful of stray single men or perhaps a stray family. I have been to one or two events in all three of them but found it too awkward to go around asking people how they feel about being nude and seeing other people nude. JIP | Talk 18:42, 10 August 2008 (UTC)

For someone who admits to finding the subject matter unattractive, you do seem to be surprisingly persistent in bringing up the subject. Is there another motive for this? DOR (HK) (talk) 01:03, 11 August 2008 (UTC)

Yeah, I was thinking the same thing. JIP, honestly, I don't think there's a satisfactory and decisive answer for you. Some people have issues with this kind of stuff, others do not. In large part, it's a cultural issue; people who are used to this kind of stuff and who are often in company where people take their clothes off aren't likely to have problems with it. The answers are going to be pretty different depending on whether you're asking this from the members of an old school hippie colony or a bunch of strictly moralistic Puritans, regardless of whether they're men or women... to pick a couple of obvious examples.

Saying that your preference to avoid looking at male genitalia is "purely aesthetic" strikes me as kind of unlikely, though; there's nothing inherently unaesthetic about a penis. You're making a value judgment based on personal preference, which is probably at least in part shaped by the cultures you're influenced by -- the Finnish overall culture, the family culture you were brought up in, the culture prevalent in your work and social circles, etc. And that's fine, it's what all of us do; it's not as if you're mistreating anyone because of it. But this topic really seems to be bothering or fascinating you quite a bit for reasons that are kind of unclear to me... and probably none of my business, for that matter. -- Captain Disdain (talk) 02:08, 11 August 2008 (UTC)

Carriage 1920 Circa

I observed a 1920 Circa in a museum and noticed the religious art. I am curious as to the artist He signed as D. Carlos Quinto. It could have been Di Carlos Quinto. The side panels of the Circa also titled each painting Battaglia, Rinhto Prigioniero, Trionfo, and Giostra. Then also had the following Daneu Palermo via stable #182, #732 These Circas were from Sicily and Southern Italy.

I would like information on the titles of the paintings and also if you have any info on the artist —Preceding unsigned comment added by 209.244.7.245 (talk) 09:22, 10 August 2008 (UTC)

Sounds as though you have panels from a painted Sicilian cart. The exploits of Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor, Don Carlo Quinto in his kingdom of Sicily, were a traditional choice of subjects, right through to modern times. Circa simply means "about", meaning that the date 1920 is approximate. --Wetman (talk) 17:11, 10 August 2008 (UTC)

As for the titles, the first one means Battle ("Battaglia"), and the third and fourth mean Triumph ("Trionfo") and Jousting ("Giostra" can mean carousel too, but I doubt this is the case here). I'm not sure about the second one ("Rinhto Prigioniero"); "prigoniero" means prisoner or captive, but "Rinhto" must be misspelled. Perhaps "rinato"? In this case it would mean Reborn Prisoner or Reborn Captive.

The "via Stabile" is a street in Palermo, and Daneu is a palermitano surname (there is also a "via Antonio Daneu" in Palermo). I found a reference to a family Daneu running an antiquities shop at the "via Stabile" in the early 20th century - the Swiss artist Karl Peterli worked there for a while (and painted Sicilian Carts. reference in German). ---Sluzzelin talk 18:02, 10 August 2008 (UTC)

Actually "Rimasto", though typographically more distant from "Rinhto", sounds more likely in this context. "Rimasto Prigoniero" could be translated as Taken Prisoner or Held Captive. ---Sluzzelin talk 22:44, 10 August 2008 (UTC)

has a binding contract been formed between New-Wheels Ltd and Easyclean for the sale of the van at £12,000.

New-Wheels Ltd (‘New-Wheels’) based in Penarth is in the business of selling and leasing cars and vans on a national scale, they also supply local businesses with good ‘one-off’ sale deals. Easyclean is a new small business operating an office cleaning service in the Cardiff area.

New-Wheels wrote to Easyclean at their offices in Splott offering to sell a white van for £12,000. On receiving New-Wheels’ offer, Easyclean telephoned New-Wheels in order to accept. New-Wheels however said that they wanted notice in writing of the acceptance from Easyclean. New-Wheels said that if Easyclean got the written acceptance to New-Wheels by 11.00 am the next day (Wednesday) they would go ahead with the sale at £12,000.

Easyclean wrote and posted a letter of acceptance immediately at 12.00 noon on the Tuesday. It was received by New-Wheels at 10.00a.m. on Wednesday morning.

In the meantime however another company had approached New-wheels offering to buy their entire stock of white vans on very favourable terms and New-Wheels decided to withdraw their offer to Easyclean. They wrote to Easyclean withdrawing the offer by post at 5pm on Tuesday. The letter of withdrawal arrived at Easyclean’s offices at 10.30am on Wednesday morning and was read by the office manager —Preceding unsigned comment added by 79.173.214.102 (talk) 16:38, 10 August 2008 (UTC)

And your question is? Remember that we don't give legal advice. Any such questions may be removed. If you need legal advice, do not ask it here. Ask a lawyer instead. See also Wikipedia:Medical disclaimer and Wikipedia:Legal disclaimer. Flamarande (talk) 16:41, 10 August 2008 (UTC)

The question is in the header. --Tango (talk) 17:54, 10 August 2008 (UTC)

We can't give legal advice here, but I can point you towards the relevant Wikipedia article: Offer and acceptance. --Tango (talk) 17:54, 10 August 2008 (UTC)

Isn't this more like a legal homework question than a legal question? --jpgordon^∇∆∇∆ 22:45, 10 August 2008 (UTC)

I expect so, but without being certain, a link to a Wikipedia article is as far as I'm willing to go. --Tango (talk) 00:15, 11 August 2008 (UTC)

Advice or homework, it is still inappropriate. More likely a law students homework, which is normally written out like a request for advice.89.242.136.83 (talk) 14:59, 11 August 2008 (UTC)

I'm sure it is homework. The answer in this case is, there are plenty more white vans out there - do not waste your money on a solicitor :) --15:13, 11 August 2008 (UTC)

I'll admit now I'm curious what the right answer is. --jpgordon^∇∆∇∆ 19:54, 11 August 2008 (UTC)

Whites living in South Africa

Are the majority of whites living in SA, mostly from British descent or Dutch descent? ScienceApe (talk) 16:48, 10 August 2008 (UTC)

Whites in South Africa states that 60% of white South Africans speak Afrikaans at home, so we can probably safely assume the majority is of Dutch descent. Algebraist 16:54, 10 August 2008 (UTC)

Note that Afrikaners are mainly of Dutch descent but are also descended from French, Flemish, and German settlers. So the Dutch are probably the largest single component of white South Africans' ancestry but may not constitute a majority of white South Africans' ancestors. Marco polo (talk) 20:15, 10 August 2008 (UTC)

Historical Occupation

I have found an occupation listed on a 1790 Pennsylvania census: flourmert. I have been unable to find out exactly what a flourmert was. I would appreciate any help you can give. Thank you 66.162.122.179 (talk) 19:28, 10 August 2008 (UTC)

Probably a semiliterate census taker's abbreviation for "flour merchant." Edison (talk) 19:45, 10 August 2008 (UTC)

But a lovely word, and amazingly has no Google hits! (Well, lovely when pronounced French-ish. Pretty ugly when pronounced English-ish.) We should make it mean something. -jpgordon^∇∆∇∆ 22:40, 10 August 2008 (UTC)

Elizabeth II and the british and predecessor royal familiy

Can anyone direct me to any copyleft (public domain) media (specifically videos) related to Elizabeth II, the British royal family and the history of the monarchy in Britain and its predecessor kingdoms? Thanks v much. --217.227.99.165 (talk) 20:11, 10 August 2008 (UTC)

I don't know about videos, but Wikipedia has lots of copyleft material. Try Elizabeth II, British royal family, Monarchy of the United Kingdom, Kingdom of England, etc. Note, copyleft and public domain are different things. Wikipedia content is copyleft, it isn't public domain. --Tango (talk) 20:29, 10 August 2008 (UTC)

How did Hamlet kill the king?

How did Hamlet wound the king exactly? Did he stab him? impale him? slice him open?

I'm trying to find the right English word to translate the verb trapiki which was used in Esperanto.--Sonjaaa (talk) 21:17, 10 August 2008 (UTC)

Both the Wikisource version of Hamlet and the article on King Claudius use the word stabbed. From Claudius's article "Hamlet finally extracts his revenge and slays the king by stabbing him and forcing him to drink the very poison that had been intended for him." Paragon¹²³²¹ 21:28, 10 August 2008 (UTC)

From the source:

Hamlet: The point!--envenom'd too! Then, venom, to thy work.

Stabs KING CLAUDIUS

All: Treason! treason!

King Claudius: O, yet defend me, friends; I am but hurt.

Hamlet: Here, thou incestuous, murderous, damned Dane, Drink off this potion. Is thy union here? Follow my mother.

KING CLAUDIUS dies

Rmhermen (talk) 00:09, 11 August 2008 (UTC)

from the play as written, we see that Hamlet stabs Claudius with a poisoned (envenom'd) knife. We also see that he at least tries to also force Claudius to drink poison, but since there is no explicit stage direction ("Drinks"), whether or not this actually occurs prior to Claudius' death is at the discretiom of the director. -Arch dude (talk) 01:00, 11 August 2008 (UTC)

A sword, not a knife. Read the scene. It's a foil in the dialogue and a rapier in the stage directions; from what the foil article says about "modern" foils, I guess "rapier" would be the term today. --Anonymous, 03:28 UTC, August 11, 2008.

And as Adam McNaughtan put it in his incomparable Oor Hamlet,

...Then Hamlet's mammy drank the wine an' as her face turned blue

Hamlet said, I quite believe the king's a baddie noo

Incestuous, treacherous, damned Dane, he said, to be precise

An' made up for hesitatin' by killin' Claudius twice

Cos' he stabbed him wi' the sword, forced the wine between his lips

He said, The rest is silence - that was, Hamlet had his chips

They fired a volley o'er him that shook the topmost rafters

An' Fortinbras, knee-deep in Danes, lived happy ever after...

— emphasis added by OtherDave (talk) 18:00, 11 August 2008 (UTC)

leteratures

i am truing to find the main novels of honore de balzac and i would like to know moew about his life and everything that includes him —Preceding unsigned comment added by 91.187.116.67 (talk) 22:33, 10 August 2008 (UTC)

Try our article Honoré de Balzac. Feel free to come back if you have more specific questions. Algebraist 22:35, 10 August 2008 (UTC)