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Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Language/2012 June 26

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June 26 edit

Debby edit

I note that the storm currently being mean to Florida and surrounding areas is called Debby. Each time I look at that name it just seems wrong. The similar girl's name in Australia is always spelt Debbie. (At least that's my impression.) I believe it's the same in the UK. Is Debby really the common spelling of that name in the US? Does Debbie occur at all? HiLo48 (talk) 04:58, 26 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Both ways here in the US. StuRat (talk) 05:05, 26 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]
Yeah. Having made that post I thought of Debbie Reynolds, so of course you're right. HiLo48 (talk) 05:09, 26 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]
As compared with Debby Boone, for example. ←Baseball Bugs What's up, Doc? carrots→ 16:58, 26 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]
Calling a tropical storm Debby instead of Deborah is just wrong. Would you call a storm Barbie instead of Barbara, or Cindy instead of Cynthia?--Shantavira|feed me 07:45, 26 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]
Yes, because there are only a limitted amount of short common names beginning with any certain letter. μηδείς (talk) 17:28, 26 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]
I just went hunting. You can blame it on the World Meteorological Organization. HiLo48 (talk) 07:58, 26 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]
Hurricane Cindy. Karenjc 08:18, 26 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]
There have been a number of hurricanes named either Debbie or Debby depending on the whim of the folks building the lists. Type "hurricane debb" in the searh box and they should show up. Meanwhile, there have also been several Hurrican Debras. No Deborahs, though. ←Baseball Bugs What's up, Doc? carrots→ 16:58, 26 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Let's revisit the issue of spelling variants when we get Tropical Storm Boadicea. μηδείς (talk) 17:28, 26 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Yes. Pronunciations on TV and radio could be interesting too. HiLo48 (talk) 17:29, 26 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]
I'm waiting for Niamh or Siobhan. -- ♬ Jack of Oz ♬ [your turn] 18:33, 26 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]
Or hurricanes Mxyzptlk or Btfsplk. ←Baseball Bugs What's up, Doc? carrots→ 19:43, 27 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]
Or worse yet, this. ←Baseball Bugs What's up, Doc? carrots→ 19:44, 27 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]
I think that the tropical storm namers try to pick names which culturally reflect the areas affected -- which for hurricanes would generally mean the Caribbean and U.S. eastern seaboard. So I don't expect any obscurer Celtic names any time soon... AnonMoos (talk) 19:50, 27 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]
There have been two Hurricane Knuts, at least one of which was off the Pacific coast of Mexico, so I am not so sure Boudicca would be out of question. μηδείς (talk) 01:26, 28 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]

George Bouhe edit

How is the surname of Lee Harvey Oswald's friend George Bouhe pronounced? He's said to be Russian, but Bouhe doesn't look like a Russian name to me. I can't even imagine how it would be spelled in Cyrillic. Does anyone know at least the anglicized pronunciation? Pais (talk) 11:11, 26 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]

The Russian spelling of his name was apparently Бухе [1] which would be pronounced BOO-kheh. However as a businessman in Dallas he must have used a different pronunciation.--Cam (talk) 12:25, 26 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]
That would be BOO-khyih, no? μηδείς (talk) 03:46, 27 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]
Probably. Although, if it was a cyrillisation of a Germanic name, it might have retained its original pronunciation. Buhe and Bukhe appear in this list. Bukhe is identified as a female Jewish name in [http://www.stormfront.org/forum/t459138-9/ this outrageous site which should be shut down]. -- ♬ Jack of Oz ♬ [your turn] 11:19, 27 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]
See First Amendment. Here in the US of A we worships it. μηδείς (talk) 19:45, 27 June 2012 (UTC) [reply]
Presumably Jack means the author ought to shut it down, out of shame. —Tamfang (talk) 04:36, 28 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]
That would be an unrealistic expectation, which is why I used the passive. A site that glorifies the swastika and makes its attitude to the Jewish people all too clear (Die Juden sind unser Unglück!) says to me that its authors know no shame, and that their handy guide to the identification of Jewish names should not be viewed as an academic exercise in taxonomy. -- ♬ Jack of Oz ♬ [your turn] 05:29, 28 June 2012 (UTC) [reply]

Chinese - Super Hercules edit

[2] "中国北车为神华集团特制火车头“超级大力士”可促运能提升2倍" (used in China_Railways_HXD2#Related_orders)

Is there an appropriate chinese translation of “超级大力士” .. ? Google translate throws out "super hercules" but as far as I know translating as "hercules" would be a conceit (and not - 'encyclopedic'). Thanks.Oranjblud (talk) 11:49, 26 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]

I don't think it's a conceit. There are many vehicles called Hercules. See Hercules (disambiguation)#Vehicles. Oda Mari (talk) 17:30, 26 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]
They're not chinese though ? - is Hercules the only and correct translation?
If I do https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=大力士&hl=en&safe=off&prmd=imvns&source=lnms&tbm=isch&biw it makes me wonder if "strong man" or "iron man" is better ??Oranjblud (talk) 19:06, 26 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]
超级 translates as "super". 大力士 translates as "strong man" or "muscle man". It is not the Chinese translation of the name of the Roman mythic figure. I don't think Hercules has a native Chinese name. His name can be rendered in Chinese as 海格力斯, which is just a rough transcription of the English name. Marco polo (talk) 18:14, 28 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]
ok Thanks. Can anyone suggest a culturally (sensitive) equivalent translation (ie "Super Muscle Man" sounds like a superhero, not the marketting name of type of industrial transportation product..).Oranjblud (talk) 18:50, 28 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]
If the translated name sounds too childish, perhaps it would be better to just transliterate part of the Chinese name into English and call it "Super Dalishi"?59.108.42.46 (talk) 03:31, 29 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]
Hercules is traditionally called in Chinese "大力神", "the god of great strength", which is not a literal transliteration of "Hercules" at all but refers to one of his attributes, following a Chinese convention for gods to be called by their attributes rather than personal names (if any). Hercules is not, however, "大力士". "大力士" was, traditionally, a reference to an acrobatic / street show "muscle man" or "strongman", exactly as those terms are used in English: see Strongman (strength athlete) and Strongman (circus) (though perhaps they are obslete in English due to the demise of such acts whether in circuses or on the street, just as "大力士" in its original sense has also become more or less obsolete in Chinese). I think "strongman" is the most apt translation, however - and "Super Strongman" should be the translation of the whole name. --PalaceGuard008 (Talk) 16:51, 29 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]
Thanks, "Super Strongman" sounds appropriate. I will use that. Thank you for all your responses.Oranjblud (talk) 19:27, 29 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]
The form of employment known as "strongman" isn't entirely obsolete - eg see 2006_World's_Strongest_Man http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/english/doc/2005-10/08/content_483258.htm (good quality family entertainment :)
  Resolved

side tracked edit

Good evening;

I am a french contributor, and I don't understand the meaning of "side tracked" in the following sentence : In February 1944 there was criticism in Parliament of the way that Blamey had "side tracked" various generals;. Can you explain, please. Thank you. Dhatier (talk) 23:34, 26 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Railway analogy: side track is not the main line ... Blamey has managed to get the generals to deviate from whatever was their plan. --Tagishsimon (talk) 23:40, 26 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]
(edit conflict) It seems to be a use of definition 3 of the verb on this Wiktionary page. It was felt by some that Blamey had relegated certian generals to the sidelines, that he had kept them from performing effective duties. Deor (talk) 23:42, 26 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]
Yes. He removed them from command and assigned them to less important duties. Dominus Vobisdu (talk) 23:46, 26 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]
For context and for those who know him not, we're talking about Thomas Blamey. -- ♬ Jack of Oz ♬ [your turn] 23:47, 26 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]
(edit conflict) Without any further context it is a bit ambiguous to me. It could mean either "Blamey distracted various generals (so he could do something sneaky while they were otherwise occupied)" or "Blamey bypassed or circumvented various generals (i.e. continued on a course of action without consulting or getting consensus from the generals)". Either way, it seems a little too informal for use in (for example) a WP article.--William Thweatt TalkContribs 23:48, 26 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]
See my link for context. -- ♬ Jack of Oz ♬ [your turn] 23:50, 26 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]
And it's in quotation marks in the article, so it is presumably a direct quotation of the term the MPs used in criticizing him. Deor (talk) 00:01, 27 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]
Thank you. We use the same railway analogy in french : mettre sur une voie de garage. Dhatier (talk) 00:00, 27 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]
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