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Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Language/2014 May 10

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May 10 edit

Laudatory words edit

English has a lot of pejorative words – a car is a clunker, a house a hovel, a restaurant a dive – but can't think of many laudatory words. I don't mean active metaphor like calling someone a saint, or a house a palace. There's "steed" for a horse (opposite of a nag), but I can't think of any others. English seems to be better developed for insult than for praise, but can anyone think of any? — kwami (talk) 02:14, 10 May 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Yea, I think English tends to use adjectives for that, like a "cherry car", although there is the old "cream puff", which, interestingly, is an insult when applied to a person. StuRat (talk) 03:19, 10 May 2014 (UTC)[reply]
That's still metaphor, though. A fine horse isn't being compared to a steed, 'steed' is specifically a word for a fine horse. Similarly 'nag', 'hovel', 'jalopy', etc. It's just hard to come up with positive ones. — kwami (talk) 04:33, 10 May 2014 (UTC)[reply]
A steed is any animal in relation to its rider, imho. —Tamfang (talk) 05:39, 10 May 2014 (UTC)[reply]
...or in relation to Emma Peel. StuRat (talk) 05:21, 15 May 2014 (UTC) [reply]
Here are some possibilities.
  • for "man"—"gentleman"
  • for "stone"—"gem"
  • for "work of art"—"masterpiece"
  • for "clean" (adjective)—"pure", "spotless", "immaculate"
  • for "eat"—"dine"
  • for "writing"—"calligraphy" (I saw your edit of "Esperanto vocabulary" before I saw your question here.)
—Wavelength (talk) 04:37, 10 May 2014 (UTC)[reply]
Yes, "gentleman", "lady", "masterpiece" are good. "To dine", maybe. A bit metaphoric. — kwami (talk) 05:22, 10 May 2014 (UTC)[reply]
Here are some additional candidates.
  • for "thin", "skinny"—"svelte", "slender"
  • for "stout"—"portly", "plump", "Rubenesque"
  • for "snail"–"escargot"
  • for "scrounge", "scavenge"—"salvage"
Others might be found in "List of English words of French origin".
—Wavelength (talk) 14:50, 10 May 2014 (UTC) and 15:11, 10 May 2014 (UTC)[reply]
Euphemism and reframing are slightly different things, but yeah, I think the first one fits. — kwami (talk) 05:50, 11 May 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Do I rule OK? edit

An expression that seems to have evolved in my lifetime is "(somebody) rules OK". I never quite known what it means. It seems to be something the the cool crowd said for a while. I'd also be interested to know where it came from. And Australia has one of those reality cooking competition shows called "My Kitchen Rules". (Probably copied from elsehwere.) I've never watched it, but one cannot avoid the ads without destroying one's television. Is that name related to the same saying? HiLo48 (talk) 04:06, 10 May 2014 (UTC)[reply]

KC Rules OK, but others ruled OK before that.
Here's a discussion. Scots apparently rule. InedibleHulk (talk) 04:26, 10 May 2014 (UTC)[reply]
I don't think "My Kitchen Rules" has anything to do with that. Since it's on TV, it's just a pun. (My kitchen is cool/One kitchen is coolest/My kitchen has rules, which I call kitchen rules) InedibleHulk (talk) 04:28, 10 May 2014 (UTC)[reply]
The same folks brought you My Restaurant Rules. Now they're just bragging. But it does seem to be an Australian original. Even exported. Serbia ruined the pun, translates into English as "My Kitchen, My Rules". Everyone seems to have ruined it on "The/My Restaurant". InedibleHulk (talk) 04:33, 10 May 2014 (UTC)[reply]
As mentioned in the discussion the Hulk linked to, punctuated "X rules, OK?" conveys the meaning more clearly. I always interpreted it that apodictic way: "X is the best, and I will tolerate no dissent!" or "X is the best, and I dare you to disagree!" Two puns I remember from an old graffiti collection are "Maggie rules UK" and "Dyslexia lures KO". ---Sluzzelin talk 04:37, 10 May 2014 (UTC)[reply]
I used to see it everyday at the top of a train tressle I passed through. I still don't understand how someone who didn't rule could have gotten there, so I never questioned it.
Denis Leary isn't Scottish, but he really crammed a lot of apodictic (just learned that word!) OKs into his Asshole. Giving that a listen should clear up how that part's used. The "OK", I mean. InedibleHulk (talk) 04:53, 10 May 2014 (UTC)[reply]
So it's a kind of absolute statement about someone's superiority and a challenge/threat that the reader/listener had better not disagree. OK? (And thanks for apodictic too. I'll try to use it in casual conversation some time this weekend.) HiLo48 (talk) 05:01, 10 May 2014 (UTC)[reply]
Yeah. It's like the smaller cousin of "Capisce?". If you're in a North American movie and someone ends a sentence with "Capisce?", it doesn't matter if you understood the rest. Just get that money somehow, OK?
I imagine your Italian stereotypes are a bit different. InedibleHulk (talk) 05:41, 10 May 2014 (UTC)[reply]
I first heard the phrase in an episode of The Sandbaggers (probably "Who Needs Enemies", 14 Jul 1980). When it's established that Dalgetty is not about to get Burnside's job, Burnside tells someone to have the words "Dalgetty rules OK" scrubbed from the washroom wall. —Tamfang (talk) 05:46, 10 May 2014 (UTC)[reply]
I rule UK. Elizabeth R. (talk) 07:59, 10 May 2014 (UTC)[reply]
Mary Fallin rules OK. Angr (talk) 10:11, 10 May 2014 (UTC)[reply]
Why? HiLo48 (talk) 10:21, 10 May 2014 (UTC)[reply]
"OK" is the abbreviation for Oklahoma, the state which Mary Fallin rules. Angr (talk) 10:24, 10 May 2014 (UTC)[reply]
Ah, I understand now. Systemic bias on display. HiLo48 (talk) 17:44, 10 May 2014 (UTC)[reply]
Queensbury Rules, KO. DuncanHill (talk) 13:26, 10 May 2014 (UTC)[reply]
Extreme Rules, NewsOK? InedibleHulk (talk) 00:32, 12 May 2014 (UTC)[reply]
Every time they meet, Queensberry beats Queensbury one second into the first round on a technical KO, OK?  :) -- Jack of Oz [pleasantries] 08:33, 13 May 2014 (UTC)[reply]
Entiendo. Squash first, bury later. While we're blurring the lines, try to understand Duchess of Queensbury Rules, OK? InedibleHulk (talk) 05:09, 14 May 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Usage of Latin letters in other alphabets edit

Is there any online reference which shows how many of the world's alphabets (including non-Latin ones, where Romanization is applicable) use (and/or do not use) a particular Latin letter? Something like "the letter A is used in an X number of the world's alphabets" and/or "X number of the alphabets do not use it" (preferably, covering all Latin letters). Brandmeistertalk 15:18, 10 May 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Omniglot was the first site that came to mind for me, but after a quick look, I don't think they have quite what you're looking for in your last sentence. This page, however, lists writing systems and the world's languages that use them. If what you're looking for doesn't exist, perhaps with a little work you could glean the information you're seeking from there.--William Thweatt TalkContribs 19:15, 10 May 2014 (UTC)[reply]
I favour a hypothetical new article called "Usage of Latin letters in various alphabets", with a table having columns for letters and rows for languages grouped by families and subfamilies. The Cyrillic form of the Serbian alphabet has the Latin letter "J" among mostly Cyrillic ones—how should that letter be assessed? If a language uses a particular Latin letter but only with a diacritic, how should that letter be assessed? How should distinctions between languages and dialects be assessed? See also Wikipedia:Language recognition chart.
—Wavelength (talk) 19:31, 10 May 2014 (UTC)[reply]
Wouldn't such an article be entirely original research|? --ColinFine (talk) 11:09, 11 May 2014 (UTC)[reply]
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