Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Language/2010 July 4

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July 4

Kimmeridge, geologically

Is Kimeridge clay the correct term rather than Kimmeridge? --Senra (talk) 07:54, 4 July 2010 (UTC)

Kimmeridge Clay refers to a geological formation and the source for most of the oil in the North Sea, whereas Kimmeridgian is an age or stage in the Jurassic. Mikenorton (talk) 08:11, 4 July 2010 (UTC)

(e/c) The OED allows both versions: "Kimmeridge. Also Kimeridge. A village on the Dorsetshire coast, where extensive beds of the Upper Oolite formation are developed. Hence, Kimmeridge clay, a bed of clay in the Upper Oolite containing bituminous shales. Kimmeridge coal, shale of the Kimmeridge clay containing so much bitumen that it may be burnt as coal; Kimmeridge coal money, disks of shale found near Kimmeridge, popularly supposed to have been used as coins by the ancient inhabitants.

Although the village name is now spelt Kimmeridge, the form Kimeridge is current in geological usage, reflecting the former spelling of the name; cf.:-1933 W. J. Arkell Jurassic Syst. Gt. Brit. xiv. 441 The spelling Kimeridge was used by H. B. Woodward.., by Damon.., and by most earlier authorities. The new form Kimmeridge was not heard of before Webster and Buckland introduced it in the [early] nineteenth century and seems to have no justification. 1947 - Geol. Country around Weymouth (Mem. Geol. Survey Gt. Brit.) v. 68 Inland towards Kimmeridge village. [Note] The name of this village was Cameric in Domesday Book and Kymerich by 1293; by the time of Hutchins' great work on Dorset it had become Kimeridge... The Ordnance map of 1811 (Sheet 16, Old Series) retained one 'm', and so did Damon in his Geology of Weymouth (1860 and 1884­8) and H. B. Woodward in 'The Jurassic Rocks of Britain', (vol. v, 1895), Mem. Geol. Survey. In the resurvey of 1892 (Sheet 342, New Series), two 'm's' were adopted and the Geological Survey followed suit in 1898."--Shantavira|^{feed me} 08:14, 4 July 2010 (UTC)

These days the single 'm' is almost never used in geological literature, not since the early 1960s as far as I can tell. Mikenorton (talk) 09:56, 4 July 2010 (UTC)

Acknowledged and thank you  Done --Senra (talk) 10:33, 4 July 2010 (UTC)

figure out the accent of Tommy Wiseau

Tommy Wiseau, the famous director of the worst $8-million-and-up film ever refuses to identify his accent or his ethnic origins (simply that he has traveled, in particular to New Orleans and New York). I figure combined efforts here can help pin it down. See the trailer or a review or the film in three minutes or a video interview for help, perhaps. SamuelRiv (talk) 08:25, 4 July 2010 (UTC)

It's very hard to say. He has one of those odd hybrid accents. It is unique to him. My very first impression was that his first language is French. Then I started to get a sense that his first language was Slavic. However, I'm not so sure. Obviously, he learned English in the United States. I do not get the least hint of a Southern accent, so I doubt that Louisiana had much impact on his accent. I could imagine some time spent in New York. However, I think that his version of American English is closer to the norm for California, and he has obviously spent time in San Francisco. So, and this is wildly speculative, I imagine a childhood in France. (He admits that he lived in France "a long time ago".) Just possibly, his first language was actually Russian, and his parents were Soviet Jews who emigrated to France (or maybe not) in the 70s, then maybe to New York in the 80s, after which he found his way to San Francisco. That would be my guess. Marco polo (talk) 01:39, 7 July 2010 (UTC)

"Douchebag"

How did a word for a personal hygiene item become a word of insult? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 96.227.54.254 (talk) 14:57, 4 July 2010 (UTC)

If you think about the actual function and use of the object, you can understand that applying that term to a person -- at least among juvenile minds -- would not be a very nice thing to call someone. --达伟 (talk) 15:11, 4 July 2010 (UTC)

closing per BEANS
Not far removed from "scumbag". -- Jack of Oz ... speak! ... 20:03, 4 July 2010 (UTC) Or "full of shit". :) Indeterminate (talk) 20:11, 6 July 2010 (UTC)

I'm looking for a word

I've been thinking of a word that is on the tip of my tongue, but I can't get it. It's been driving me crazy. The word is a synonym of "associate" in the sense "I do not associate with immature people". I'm fairly sure it has a "c" and may be a co-, con- or com- word, but of that I'm less sure. Can somebody help me id the word? Thanks. --Larry —Preceding unsigned comment added by 76.229.163.6 (talk) 15:42, 4 July 2010 (UTC)

Consort. --ColinFine (talk) 15:49, 4 July 2010 (UTC)

also others such as collaborate, and conspire. --Senra (talk) 20:58, 4 July 2010 (UTC)

and confrere. 195.35.160.133 (talk) 14:06, 6 July 2010 (UTC) Martin.

I cannot countenance conspiring to consort, collaborate or cooperate with crazed kids. Googlemeister (talk) 20:41, 6 July 2010 (UTC)