Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Language/2021 July 31

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July 31

can anyone help with this chinese sentence?

Hi all, in my hsk 4 book, I have a sentence, 看来，没有想的那么容易。Both google translate and the youtube source, [1] tell me, this translates as "It seems that it is not as easy as thought." How does the Chinese produce this meaning? IBE (talk) 01:32, 31 July 2021 (UTC)

Is it the comparison use of meiyou?? IBE (talk) 02:26, 31 July 2021 (UTC)

If I attempted a literalish gloss, I'd say "it seems, it doesn't have the easiness of the thought thing". So as I interpret it, basically the answer to your question is yes. Henry^Flower 20:33, 1 August 2021 (UTC)

Fellow Chinese learner here. From what I understand, the relevant pattern must be "没有 X 那么 Y", 'not as Y as X' (or: 'doesn't do Y as much as X does'), where X is "想的", 'what [I] thought'. Does that help understanding it? Fut.Perf. ☼ 21:12, 1 August 2021 (UTC)

Polish nicknames

Hi,

I used to have many Polish colleagues and I've noticed that all of them have a specific nickame which is quite different to their name but each name has always the same nickname. For example, every Malgozata was Gosha (not sure about the spelling), every Jakub was Kuba, and so on. Just like in English where every Robert is Bob and every Richard is Dick. I couldn't see anything about in Polish name. Should it be added? Our should an article Polish nicknames be created? Ericdec85 (talk) 13:08, 31 July 2021 (UTC)

Either way, you need to find some reliable sources. Here is a start. Alansplodge (talk) 18:44, 31 July 2021 (UTC)

According to Wiktionary, the diminutives of Małgorzata (note the spelling) are Małgosia, Gosia, and Gośka. The ⟨ś⟩ corresponds to the IPA phoneme /ɕ/, sounding like the ⟨sh⟩ of "sheep" spoken by someone while holding their tongue as if to say "teep".  --Lambiam 19:43, 31 July 2021 (UTC)

Any idea where "Stosh" comes from? ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 22:51, 1 August 2021 (UTC)

Probably an abbreviation of Stanisław - Staś. 93.136.108.147 (talk) 03:28, 2 August 2021 (UTC) (I'm not Polish)

Wiktionary presents Staś as a diminutive of Stanisław.  --Lambiam 07:01, 2 August 2021 (UTC)

That makes sense, and it explains why Stan Mikita was called "Stosh". Thank you! ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 07:26, 2 August 2021 (UTC)

Note: some Roberts are Robbies and some Richards are Ritchies (... or even Ringos!) Martinevans123 (talk) 07:49, 2 August 2021 (UTC)

FWIW, we don't seem to have an article or list of English nicknames either. In any case, I can't think of a reliable source for a list of Polish nicknames. All I can find are parenting sites with very short lists of the currently popular names and their diminutives (like this one). — Kpalion^(talk) 10:11, 2 August 2021 (UTC)

I learned a new term today: Hypocorism, which seems to be a fancy way of saying "nickname". There is also a Category:Hypocorisms which has a lot of entries. ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 13:45, 2 August 2021 (UTC)

Yes, occasionally hypocrisms assume the status of real names. Martinevans123 (talk) 13:50, 2 August 2021 (UTC)

Strictly speaking, a hypocorism is a type of nickname, one where the name is meant to indicate a level of affection or closeness. If you call your loved one "Honey-Bunny", that's a hypocorism. If you call them "Sue" or "Steve" (for Susan or Steven), that's just usually just a nickname. --Jayron32 16:49, 2 August 2021 (UTC)

See also diminutive for another type of nickname; in your example "Susie" or "Stevie". Alansplodge (talk) 18:06, 2 August 2021 (UTC)

Or Splodgie, of course. Martinevans123 (talk) 18:59, 2 August 2021 (UTC)

:-) Alansplodge (talk) 21:00, 2 August 2021 (UTC)

Oh the guys you seat near always require spongies. You've heard about Philip Morris ? --Askedonty (talk) 20:16, 2 August 2021 (UTC)

The American cigarette manufacturer?? Do tell... Martinevans123 (talk) 22:14, 2 August 2021 (UTC)