Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Language/2007 August 24

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August 24

Translate japaneses please (re-ask)

Can somebody please help tranlate Bladestorm:_The_Hundred_Years'_War#Mercenaries from the japanese-english into plain, readable English.

For instance I imagine that "Diane, blooming on the battlefield, a wild lily." should read "Diane, a young female warrior"?

The original source can be found at: http://www.gamecity.ne.jp/bladestorm/ (press "character" then the yellow button) - the site is flash so unfortunately I can't just copy the japanese characters over. Thanks.

Specifically these

• Bart, a friend searching for the greatest "legend".
• George, Mark's elder brother, never losing dignity, unleashing arrows of mortality.
• Mark, George's brother, "an iron wall for the sake of defending people.
• Karen, dual swords dancing upon the battlefield.
• Nalan, strong and descendent of the blue wolf.
• Yoshimasa, a samurai that breathes loyalty.
• Shakti, a "death god" that becomes a seductive dragon.

Your help appreciated.87.102.79.29 13:31, 24 August 2007 (UTC)

I have rewritten them from Engrish to English. I hope nothing was lost in translation. =] HYENASTE 23:08, 24 August 2007 (UTC)

Thank you very much, (and also thank you for remindind me of the word 'engrish' I was trying to think of that).

Only the reference to a 'blue wolf' confuses me - does this have some contextual meaning in Japan? Anyone know??

Thanks again, anyway.87.102.84.56 11:08, 25 August 2007 (UTC)

Go Like Who-Dray-Gah

This is a family expression, meaning to go very quickly. It comes down from the Bohemian side of the family, and I have tried to find out who or what this refers to. The spelling is phonetic, the best I can do.

Didn't you just ask this? Perhaps you could ask one of the family members to write it down. I for years as a child thought my mother was using a word "ennative", which I inferred to mean "caused by", as in "What was that outburst ennative?". Only as an adult did I realize she was saying "in aid of". Whodraygah might have a similar story. --Sean 15:17, 24 August 2007 (UTC)

They asked it on one of the other desks and were directed here. --Anon, August 24, 16:14 (UTC).

If they're from a German speaking Bohemian background, I suppose it could be seen as phonetically loosely related to Hutträger, meaning "hat-bearer" or just someone wearing a hat. I don't know what would make a hat-bearer's speed remarkable, and I have never heard this simile. ---Sluzzelin talk 13:51, 25 August 2007 (UTC)

Noddy

In the sense of "simplistic" or "elementary", what is the derivation of the word Noddy? Noddy (disambiguation) suggests it is from the character Noddy but quotes no references. Wiktionary was no help (and I've added 3 more definitions there). -- SGBailey 14:40, 24 August 2007 (UTC)

In the absense of other infomation it's safe to assume that it derives from the character of the same name - with a nuance of childishness or simplicity (compare mickey mouse eg http://catb.org/jargon/html/N/noddy.html)87.102.75.201 15:06, 24 August 2007 (UTC)

Though http://www.yourdictionary.com/ahd/n/n0126300.html claims 'noddy' once meant 'foolish' can anyone provide a literary example of this?87.102.75.201 15:10, 24 August 2007 (UTC)

The phrase 'tom noddy' predates Enid Blyton though http://www.bartleby.com/81/12146.html87.102.75.201 15:18, 24 August 2007 (UTC)

'Noddy meaning a fool or a simpleton is in OED dating back to 1530. DuncanHill 15:51, 24 August 2007 (UTC)

Greek first name in Latin transliteration

This is the first name of a performer in a program of Greek taverna-style music. Per the Hebrew source text — קאיה — it seems to be pronounced KAI-a (to rhyme with "Maya;" sorry, I don't "do" IPA). How to spell it in Latin letters? -- Thanks, Deborahjay 15:19, 24 August 2007 (UTC)

Do you have a link to the name in Greek? Flyguy649 ^talk _contribs 16:41, 24 August 2007 (UTC)

Unfortunately, no other info available. I'd be content to have an approximation based on the above phonology. Would "Kaia" do, perhaps? -- Deborahjay 17:09, 24 August 2007 (UTC)

Do you know if it's a male or female name? —Angr/talk 17:06, 24 August 2007 (UTC)

I suspect it's female only because of the "-ah" ending, if it's like gender-marked names in other local languages. -- Deborahjay 17:09, 24 August 2007 (UTC)

Update: Just found this link (by searching the name in Hebrew of another member of the band). Seems the lady spells it "Kaya"... therefore, so shall I! -- Cheers, Deborahjay 17:15, 24 August 2007 (UTC)

Hmmm. If the Hebrew transliteration has the correct sounds and it's a first name, it seems female. I don't know it, but generally only female names have final A. Without seeing the Greek version, either Kaia or Kaya is probably ok, with the first syllable rhyming with eye, not hay. -- Flyguy649 ^talk _contribs 17:20, 24 August 2007 (UTC)

"...generally only female names have final A", true. There are always exceptions, such as the Russian name Sacha and the Italian name Luca. Also, some cultures can allow names to cross over genders, as in José María. Xn4 01:22, 26 August 2007 (UTC)

Andrea, Nicola, Akira, Hidetaka, Beda, Dara, Osama ... Perhaps I'd call them counterexamples, not necessarily exceptions, though the worldwide majority of given names ending in -a does seem to be female. Here another forum collected examples from several languages, with counterexamples and attempts at explaining the phenomenon. ---Sluzzelin talk 02:14, 26 August 2007 (UTC)

To be clear, I was referring to final A generally denoting female names in Greek. And there are exceptions, especially in nicknames or shortened forms, there may be a final A in male names. Eg Andrea and Nicola per above. Flyguy649 ^talk _contribs 15:51, 27 August 2007 (UTC)

not much, wazoo with you?

(Hey, what happened to the '+' button on this page?) Hearing the phrase "references up the wazoo" made me wonder, has wazoo ever been used in a literal sense? Or indeed has it any sense more literal than that? —Tamfang 16:58, 24 August 2007 (UTC)

The '+' button has been restored. --MZMcBride 19:53, 24 August 2007 (UTC)

Thanks up the wazoo for that. —Tamfang 22:37, 24 August 2007 (UTC)

I'd love to pull a reliable answer out of my wazoo, Tamfang, but all I found was a seven year old rant by Gene Collier in The Pittsburgh Post Gazette:

"Beyond its nauseating proliferation, what's most bothersome about "up/out the wazoo" is that "wazoo" is completely without pedigree in the language. It has no known etymology, at least according to the folks who run the Merriam-Webster Web site. They speculate only that the term came into use in 1983, the circumstances of which are left to the impossible depths of our memory."

I hope someone can find more on origins and first use. The American Heritage Dictionary writes "perhaps alteration of kazoo", suggesting cartoon onomatopoeia and silliness. Zappa used it before 1983, of course, "And who are those dudes in the back seat of Calvin's car?" ---Sluzzelin talk 11:02, 25 August 2007 (UTC)

As fate would have it, I remember a conversation in 1983 that contained wazoo in the sense in question (I was already acquainted with "Cosmik Debris"). —Tamfang 04:25, 27 August 2007 (UTC)

Malice as a verb

Can the word "malice" (or a homophone thereof) be used as a verb? In particular, would it make sense in the sentence "I am a zombie and I will malice you with a shoehorn"? It's a great word, but since the sentence is spoken by an especially stupid character in a children's cartoon, I'm not exceptionally hopeful. Laïka 17:41, 24 August 2007 (UTC)

I suspect the intended verb was "molest". Is the character prone to malapropism? —Angr/talk 17:48, 24 August 2007 (UTC)

Possibly, but molest does have certain connotations (especially in conjunction with shoehorn!) which might it unsuitable in the context. Laïka 18:11, 24 August 2007 (UTC)

The OED recognizes the verb "malice" as current in the sense "To regard with malice; to bear malice towards; to seek or desire to injure" (citations from 1547 to 1981), but seek/desire is an important part of the definition, as the word is used of a threatening posture ("he kept walking sullenly around the tent, malicing us with that blasted shoehorn") rather than of actual assault. Wareh 18:35, 24 August 2007 (UTC)

It seems that cartoons today are written as much for adults as for children. "...molest you with a shoehorn" seems to use the word correctly in context. What do you do with a shoehorn? You fit something into a tight spot. It is almost certain that the cartoon used that phrase. 152.16.16.75 01:30, 25 August 2007 (UTC)

Sounds similar to the use of "menace" as a verb. Are you sure the character didn't actually say "menace"? --Reuben 18:59, 24 August 2007 (UTC)

Any noun can be verbed, given enough MBAs. --Sean 18:42, 24 August 2007 (UTC)

(snicker) "Our new verbification solution, to malice." -- Flyguy649 ^talk _contribs 18:45, 24 August 2007 (UTC)

In Calvin and Hobbes it was said that verbing weirds language, but it's been happening for a long long time. --Kjoonlee 18:49, 24 August 2007 (UTC)