Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Language/2017 November 5

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November 5

"Shaker"?

In the context of 19th-century railroad construction, who was a "shaker"? Was that the worker who put the spikes into the baseplates before the spiker hammered them into the crosstie? 2601:646:8E01:7E0B:B9F4:7CD7:EC0A:69F7 (talk) 06:51, 5 November 2017 (UTC)

In the story of John Henry it's the worker who placed and adjusted the drill for the hammer man (constructing railroad tunnels). "The shaker shifted the drill between blows to improve the drill's bite. A good shaker had a supple wrist and could adjust the drill in the two or three seconds before the next blow came." (Steel Drivin' Man: John Henry, The Untold Story of an American Legend, Scott Reynolds Nelson, Oxford University Press, ISBN 9780199741144, p 75) Apparently mechanical engineers distinguished "rocking" (back and forth, clearing away bits of rock), "rolling" (twisting the drill) and "feeding" (pushing the drill further into the hole) among the shaker's activities between hammer blows. The teamwork of hammer man and shaker was co-ordinated by work song. Nelson connects this to "rock and roll" and "backbeat", for example. See also This New York Times article on the book, which explains the shaker's job too. ---Sluzzelin talk 07:56, 5 November 2017 (UTC)

Thanks! 2601:646:8E01:7E0B:B9F4:7CD7:EC0A:69F7 (talk) 09:25, 5 November 2017 (UTC)

Here, in the lyrics to a Lead Belly song, we find "John Henry tol' his shaker, Shaker, you better pray, For if I miss dis six-foot steel, Tomorrow'll be yo' buryin' day". Bus stop (talk) 13:44, 5 November 2017 (UTC)

Right, that's why I asked -- although in the version I had in mind, the lyrics are "John Henry told his shaker, Shaker, why don't you sing? 'Cause I'm swingin' thirty pounds from the hips on down, listen to that cold steel ring." 2601:646:8E01:7E0B:B9F4:7CD7:EC0A:69F7 (talk) 02:02, 6 November 2017 (UTC)

Folkways Records provides this version of the Lead Belly lyrics:

"John Henry said to his shaker,"

"Nigger, why don' you sing?"

"I'm throwin' twelve poun's from my hips on down,"

"Jes' listen to de col' steel ring,"

"Lawd, Lawd, Jes' listen to de col' steel ring."

And this source, not really dissimilar to the one given above, explains: "Historical research supports John Henry as a real person; one of thousands of African- American railroad workers, specifically a steel driver, half of a two man team specializing in the hand drilling of holes up to fourteen feet deep into solid rock for the setting of explosive charges. Steel drivers swung a nine pound hammer straight and strong, all day, everyday, pounding assorted lengths of steel drill bits held by their steady and trusting partners, called shakers, who placed and guided the drill bits , and after every strike of the hammer turned or "shook" the bits to remove the pulverized dust. Together these teams of perfectly choreographed industrial artists would with concentration and muscle lead the way, boring the mile long tunnel through Great Bend Mountain and onward along the pathway throughout the length of New River Gorge." Bus stop (talk) 14:14, 6 November 2017 (UTC)

Question mark in Solomon Islands Pijin

Hi,

the Lonely Planet phrasebook Pidgin Languages of Oceania says that, in this language, a question mark is written at the end, but also at the beginning, of sentences (as in Spanish, but two "?" are used in Pijin, not a "¿" and a "?").

I found no mention of this anywhere else; are there other sources ? And what about exclamation marks?

Thanks. Apokrif (talk) 17:50, 5 November 2017 (UTC)

• p. 21. An example, both for exclamations and interrogations. It is used sometimes in Bislama too. Шурбур (talk) 12:20, 6 November 2017 (UTC)