Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Language/2009 June 25

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June 25

Adjectives in Czech

I really don't know the language, but I'm slightly curious as to whether adjectives come before nouns or vice-versa. I've seen the former (e.g. česká republika) and the latter (e.g. čaj černý). Vltava 68 01:27, 25 June 2009 (UTC)

It's actually "černý čaj", unless it appears in a weird context. The neutral order is that adjectives come before nouns, but it is not a strict rule, Czech has a relatively free word order, and the grammatical dependence of the adjective on its governing noun is primarily expressed by agreement rather than word order. Adjectives may occur after nouns for example when the adjective is the focus, in poetic or archaic expressions, or in binomial nomenclature. — Emil J. 13:25, 25 June 2009 (UTC)

I don't know Czech, but as a speaker of another Slavic language, I can imagine "čaj černý" being on a menu, followed by other kinds of tea, like green or herbal. Kind of like having a menu in English with "tea, black; tea, green; tea, herbal". That would give it the required context, IMO. TomorrowTime (talk) 19:07, 25 June 2009 (UTC)

It was on some box of tea leaves or something like that, which makes more sense now. Vltava 68 07:40, 26 June 2009 (UTC)

any idiom or saying to mean this idea

In my native tongue there is a saying which when literally translated would look like this: "Even a squirrel according to his ability". The saying appreciates the mite of the squirrel and has some mythological connections. When Rama and his army of vanara were building sethu (a bridge/dam) to Lanka, a squirrel helped them by wallowing in the sand and then immersing itself in sea to deposit the sand stuck to its body. Is there an English equivalent to the saying? --117.204.81.133 (talk) 09:46, 25 June 2009 (UTC)

Perhaps "Every dog has its day" ? --Jayron32.talk.contribs 12:07, 25 June 2009 (UTC)

There's From each according to his ability, to each according to his need, but the somewhat more common phrase is just the first part, and from that I didn't even recall the Marxian connections until I read the article. I wouldn't say it's terribly common, nothing like the Rama story in India, and certainly has different connotations. - Taxman ^Talk 12:27, 25 June 2009 (UTC)

I understand what you mean, and I am surprised that I can't think of a proverb that captures it. It's a common trope in legend, and in fiction that draws on legend: I'm reminded of the mice who gnaw through Aslan's ropes in The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, and indeed almost the whole of Lord of the Rings; but even in those cases I don't recall a particular saying. --ColinFine (talk) 20:00, 25 June 2009 (UTC)

"Every little bit helps." Bus stop (talk) 20:11, 25 June 2009 (UTC)

"The straw that broke the camel's back" is somewhat this same idea but with a negative outcome. Bus stop (talk) 20:14, 25 June 2009 (UTC)

I think "Every little bit helps" seems to capture the sense described best. --Anonymous, 23:41 UTC, June 25, 2009.

"Every little bit helps" is adapted from "Every little helps, said the ant, pissing into the sea at midday" (from the original peu ayde , disçoit le formy , pissant en mer en plein midy in G. Meurier Deviz Familiers 1590) according to the Oxford Dictionary of Proverbs. Fouracross (talk) 14:49, 1 July 2009 (UTC)

There's also the (possibly apocryphal) Scots English proverb, "Mony a mickle maks a muckle." (Which in English English comes out as "Many a small thing makes a lot.") 87.81.230.195 (talk) 14:29, 27 June 2009 (UTC)

According to Fowler's Modern English Usage: "mickle & muckle are merely variants of the same word, & the not uncommon version Many a mickle makes a muckle is a blunder; the right forms are Many a little (or Mony a pickle) makes a mickle (or muckle), with other slight variations." — Constantinople was known to the Vikings as something like Miklgarth, iirc. —Tamfang (talk) 18:02, 27 June 2009 (UTC)

"everyone to the best of their ability" is a bit plain, but fits the description. We are bound to have s.th. more colorful, it just doesn't come to mind. 71.236.26.74 (talk) 10:44, 29 June 2009 (UTC)