Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Language/2012 September 6

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September 6

Help with Possible Arabic, Persian, or Dari speaking user

Hello! I thought I would come here since I don't know where else to get a speaker of the language. User:Tatobay.weekly just created an account and has been editing in only what I think is Arabic (I'm not an Arabic speaker so I could be wrong). I wanted to leave them a friendly notice about this being an English Wikipedia but I am not sure if they would understand if I replied in English. So I was wondering if a speaker of Arabic (or whatever language it is) could communicate with them? Thanks, LlamaDude78 (talk) 17:27, 6 September 2012 (UTC)

In case anyone else is thinking of trying it, Google Translate identifies the language as Persian, although provides a less-than-useless translation. The username is the title of an Afghan newspaper, hence I suspect the language is actually Dari Persian - different enough to make it unintelligible to GTranslate. I don't speak Arabic, Persian or Dari, so I'm afraid this is the most help I can offer. If it's any consolation, the way they're going they will probably be blocked for spam/advertising before this gets translated - Cucumber Mike (talk) 17:44, 6 September 2012 (UTC)

Thanks. That is why I left a disclaimer as I have no clue. Unfortunately, my knowledge only spans to Latin and East Asian languages when it comes to other languages... LlamaDude78 (talk) 17:54, 6 September 2012 (UTC)

It's definitely not Arabic, and since he's talking about an Afghanistan newspaper I would assume, like Cucumber Mike, that it's actually Dari, or Pashto. Tatobay.com seems to be available in Pashto, but since that's not the default I guess it's probably Dari. Adam Bishop (talk) 19:26, 6 September 2012 (UTC)

You might also try the local embassy, where you can find users who speak different languages. According to our article on the language, the Iranian and Afghan standards of Persian are mutually intelligible for the most part, so someone from there or from this category of users who have identified themselves as speaking Persian (through these userboxes) can probably help (in fact, there is no separate category for speakers of the Afghan standard).  dalahäst ^{(let's talk!)} 19:47, 6 September 2012 (UTC)

One of Jimmy Wales' friends speaks Tajik and Persian. --Pp.paul.4 (talk) 21:07, 6 September 2012 (UTC)

---

Omidinist is the reference desk regular who is a native Persian speaker (though he hasn't been around for a few weeks)... AnonMoos (talk) 02:27, 7 September 2012 (UTC)

• Well, a Persian speaker has informed me that is not Persian and is not Urdu and says it is possibily Pashto or Balochi. Man, this has become more complicated than I thought. LlamaDude78 (talk) 11:17, 7 September 2012 (UTC)

en:Pashto language classifies Pashto as a Semitic (Canaanite) language, whereas de:Paschtunische Sprache classifies it as Indoeuropean. What went wrong? --Pp.paul.4 (talk) 12:09, 7 September 2012 (UTC)

Resolved: Vandalism in en:Pashto language reverted. --Pp.paul.4 (talk) 12:12, 7 September 2012 (UTC)

No starch

When you say that something, that is no food, has 'no starch', what do you mean? Is that like saying 'no fat'? OsmanRF34 (talk) 22:17, 6 September 2012 (UTC)

The only literal non-food context that immediately comes to mind is laundry. If you send your shirts off to be laundered, they might use laundry starch unless you specify otherwise. Or anyway, they might have, if you did it in 1940; I don't know who uses it anymore. --Trovatore (talk) 22:21, 6 September 2012 (UTC)

"No starch" may be metaphorically used as shorthand for saying that something lacks rigidity and structure, unlike a starched garment (see ruff (clothing)). Depending on the context and the speaker's temperament, this may be a criticism or a compliment. --Orange Mike | Talk 23:42, 6 September 2012 (UTC)

"Starch" is sometimes used metaphorically to indicate formality or precision (also related phrases like "starched shirt"/"starched collar"). I unfortunately can't find a reference, but I presume that it comes from the traditional use of starched clothing in formal situations, as starched clothing can form and maintain a sharper crease when ironed than unstarched clothing. -- 205.175.124.30 (talk) 02:03, 7 September 2012 (UTC)

"Knock the starch out of someone" also has specific meaning. This web site happens to have it in its title. "Starch" appears as a synonym for nerve. Bus stop (talk) 02:14, 7 September 2012 (UTC)

I've stayed in more than one fancy hotel where the laundry form has had "no starch" check-boxes; and I have had to add the words "no starch please" to the top of the laundry form at another hotel, after my first batch of shirts came back feeling like cardboard - actually I had to ask reception for an appropriate translation into whatever the local language was (strange I can remember the incident but not the country where I was staying). Astronaut (talk) 18:52, 11 September 2012 (UTC)

Nooki experiment viral video

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Jlv8F9cerA, titled "An experiment", is a fairly well-known viral video on YouTube which was uploaded back in 2008 and which already has over 235 million views, making it currently the 27th most-viewed video [1] of all time on YouTube. It features a Japanese woman putting something inside a bottle of liquid and then saying "nooki" (or perhaps "nuki"?) a lot as the liquid fizzes. I'm so baffled (and I'm certainly not the only one, as countless comments posted on the video indicate equal bafflement from thousands of other viewers) by what's happening in the video. So, my questions on the video:

1. Could someone who knows Japanese provide a transcription, both in Japanese and in romaji, of exactly what the woman is saying before she starts saying "nooki" a lot... (the video is quite short, only 25 seconds total, and she only speaks for about 10 seconds before starting in on saying "nooki")
2. ...and then translate that transcription into English?
3. What does "nooki" even mean? I assume she's not talking about the English slang meaning of "nookie". (Or maybe she is, analogizing the fizzing; I don't know.)
4. What exactly is the liquid in the video?
5. What exactly is she putting into the liquid in the video?

—SeekingAnswers (reply) 22:33, 6 September 2012 (UTC)

'Nuki' comes from the verb 'nuku', meaning 'to take out' or 'to let out'. As you can see, the liquid is cola, and she has dropped some sort of mint into it, causing it to fizz up violently, and therefore 'let itself out' from the bottle. Also, your analogy is correct, unfortunately. KägeTorä - (影虎) (TALK) 05:05, 7 September 2012 (UTC)

I was going to say, it looks like she's placed Mentos into a bottle of Diet Coke, or some other similar combination involving porous sweets and carbonated drinks. As for the ヌキヌキ analogy, well, that's just disturbing.  dalahäst ^{(let's talk!)} 01:32, 8 September 2012 (UTC)

Thanks, but still waiting on a transcription and translation... Anyone? —SeekingAnswers (reply) 04:25, 9 September 2012 (UTC)

She doesn't say "noki". She says "nyoki nyoki", にょきにょき/ニョキニョキ. It's an onomatopoeia. See these ja-to-en dictionary pages for the meaning. [2] and [3]. She says the word "tsukushi/土筆/a spore-headed shoot of field horsetail" at the beginning of the video. You can see and hear the word ニョキニョキ in 294tv's another video here. Official page is here. The comments in ja are "weird", "stupid", "disgusting", etc. Oda Mari (talk) 09:54, 9 September 2012 (UTC)

Are you sure that is what she says, because it sounds like 'nuki' to me, even after reading your answer. KägeTorä - (影虎) (TALK) 14:52, 9 September 2012 (UTC)

Sounds to me like she's saying "gnocchi". Angr (talk) 15:21, 9 September 2012 (UTC)

Kagetora, I am very sure and right. Didn't you see the linked pages? See this one. She said "つくしのかほりです。ニョキニョキ。さて、今日は飲み物と一緒にニョキニョキしたいと思います。それでは、早速……？？たいと思います。" in the YouTube video. Couldn't you hear that? The girl's name is Kahori and she was a member of a duo called 294, read as tsukushi. They are not active anymore. See [4]. Angr, almost! Gnocchi is ニョッキ in ja. "ッ" is not needed. Oda Mari (talk) 18:38, 9 September 2012 (UTC)

Thanks for the Japanese transcription of what she says, but can you please also provide the romaji and an exact translation? Also, re: "member of a duo called 294" -- what kind of "duo"? You mean like a musical band? —SeekingAnswers (reply) 01:21, 11 September 2012 (UTC)

Romaji:"Tsukushi no Kahori desu. Nyoki nyoki. Sate, kyō wa nomimono to isshoni nyoki nyoki shitaito omoimasu. Soredewa, sassoku...??taito omoimasu".
Translation:"It's Kahori of 294. Nyoki Nyoki. Well, I'd like to do "nyoki nyoki" with a bottle of soft drink today. Now, ready...I'd like to do ??."
They are a pop music duo and released two CDs and one DVD titled "294のみんな一緒にNyoki! Nyoki! Please!" (Tsukushi no minnna isshoni Nyoki! Nyoki! Please!/294's let's do Nyoki! Nyoki! Please! together). [5], [6], [7], and [8]. To my surprise, jaWP has their article. The YouTube video you provided is mentioned in the article. See ja:294 (グループ) (translation). Oda Mari (talk) 09:38, 11 September 2012 (UTC)

thank you for mentioning this. I remember from 2009 this was on top 10 all category. Hyoroemon2 (talk) 10:12, 26 July 2018 (UTC)