Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Language/2010 March 17

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March 17

Mortar

Mortar means 3 disparate things. Is there any reason for these etymology?174.3.107.176 (talk) 01:53, 17 March 2010 (UTC)

As Mortar (weapon) explains, the weapon was so named because of its resemblance to the vessel for grinding. As Mortar and pestle explains, Latin mortarium meant both "receptacle for pounding" and "product of grinding or pounding"; the latter meaning explains the word for the building material. Deor (talk) 02:05, 17 March 2010 (UTC)

Grandad

Wiktionary states that grandad is a common misspelling of Granddad, however it seems to be the preferred form (to me) in BrEng for that word. The OED shows that both forms have been known since the 1800s, so - is this another of those AmEng/BrEng differences or is this really a (very very) common mistake? Nanonic (talk) 02:06, 17 March 2010 (UTC)

Caveats about linguistic prescriptivism in general aside, both spellings seem to be "right": The Free Dictionary, MW, Collins, OED, etc. Even though I sometimes edit there, I've always found Wiktionary a bit iffy to go by as a usage guide. I suspect this issue arises from the idea both the "grand" and "dad" elements of that word must be reflected in its spelling or something. -- the Great Gavini 07:13, 17 March 2010 (UTC)

Defining a term/phrase

Hello there,

I have tried to look up this prase/term but did not get a speciic definition out of it via google and other sites either.

So i thought i might try the always handy 'wikipedia' (which i love using), but it seems that it is not there too.

So my question is: What does "ex aut oritate " mean?

Thank you for your time

Christina M —Preceding unsigned comment added by 203.171.197.178 (talk) 13:09, 17 March 2010 (UTC)

It should be "ex autoritate", or "ex auctoritate", a Latin expression meaning "on someone's authority". For example:" tametsi non scriptos, ex autoritate Apostolica observari oportere" ("even if they are not written, ought to be observed on Apostolic authority"). --151.51.62.111 (talk) 13:34, 17 March 2010 (UTC)

French pronunciation

I've only actually seen the phrase "l'enfer c'est les autres" in print, and I'm kicking myself over not being sure of the pronunciation. Specifically, I'm trying to remember whether the final "s" consonants in "les" or "autres" are silent and what the rule is. Most of the French pronunciation I've had experience with is in vocal music, I don't speak the language (though I can sometimes figure it out since I know another Romance language). SDY (talk) 16:28, 17 March 2010 (UTC)

The "s" is "les" is normally silent, but it is pronounced before a vowel as here; it is silent in "autres". I'd say [lɑ̃fɛʁ sɛlezotʁ].—Emil J. 16:37, 17 March 2010 (UTC)

See the use of liaison in French. --Kvasir (talk) 16:42, 17 March 2010 (UTC)

Gaelic language

How do you say in Gaelic "Till we meet again my friend" —Preceding unsigned comment added by Artstonegardens (talk • contribs) 17:53, 17 March 2010 (UTC)

Irish Gaelic or Scottish Gaelic or even Manx? I'm guessing Irish, since it's St. Patrick's Day. --Kvasir (talk) 22:44, 17 March 2010 (UTC)

In the Irish language, it's the simple, common phrase, "Slán go fóill, mo chara" - Alison ^❤ 03:52, 18 March 2010 (UTC)

Autist

Is an autistic person called an autist? The Hero of This Nation (talk) 19:17, 17 March 2010 (UTC)

wikt:autist says they are. --Tango (talk) 19:26, 17 March 2010 (UTC)

The word "Autist", with a capital "A", is used at Autist. -- Wavelength (talk) 19:36, 17 March 2010 (UTC)

Are there any more authoritative sources for the legitimacy of the term than a dictionary anyone can edit and a personal web page? I would sure love to start using the word more throughout Wikipedia if it is legitimate. The Hero of This Nation (talk) 13:32, 18 March 2010 (UTC)

reference.com is a good place for looking up words, and lists "autist" as a related form under "autism"[1]. --Normansmithy (talk) 14:14, 18 March 2010 (UTC)

My Google search for "site:.edu autist" (without the quotation marks) found 193 web pages, including Sacks, Oliver : The Autist Artist. Wikipedia has an article about Oliver Sacks. You can perform the same search to find other web pages in the .edu domain. -- Wavelength (talk) 15:21, 18 March 2010 (UTC) My Google search for "site:.gov autist" (without the quotation marks) found 25 web pages, including http://kiev.usembassy.gov/files/visnyk_37.pdf, where the word "autist" is used in a heading on page 25. You can perform the same search to find other web pages in the .gov domain. -- Wavelength (talk) 15:46, 18 March 2010 (UTC)

You may also want to check non-US sites, for example the equivalent top-level domains in the UK are .ac.uk and .gov.uk. --Tango (talk) 16:09, 18 March 2010 (UTC)

My Google search for "site:.ac.uk autist" (without the quotation marks) found 39 web pages, including http://www.phil.cam.ac.uk/~swb24/reviews/Ayer.htm, which uses the word "autist" twice. (The title bar incorrectly hyphenates the expression "beautifully written". -- see User:Wavelength/About English/Punctuation/Hyphens and adverbs.) My Google search for "site:.gov.uk autist" (without the quotation marks) found 18 web pages, including Events Diary, which uses the word "autist" in reference to Temple Grandin. -- Wavelength (talk) 16:24, 18 March 2010 (UTC) My Google search for "site:.ac.au autist" (without the quotation marks) found no web pages. My Google search for "site:.gov.au autist" (without the quotation marks) found 53 web pages, including Screen Australia - Former AFC -AustralianFilmsAndAwards - Features 2005, which mentions twice the film Autist. My Google search for "site:.ca autist" (without the quotation marks) found 80 web pages, including http://www.ont-autism.uoguelph.ca/pdf/AAIWW12.PDF, which has the heading "Messages From An Autist" on page 4. My Google search for "site:.nz autist" (without the quotation marks) found 36 web pages, including EnfantsTerribles (by Dr Anne Ruth Mackor), which mentions "Normally intelligent autists" (I removed the spurious hyphen, because I do not want it to influence anyone reading my comments) and "the well-known autist Temple Grandin". My Google search for "site:.int autist" (without the quotation marks) found 2 web pages, including this one, which quotes the expression "a political autist". My Google search for "site:.info autist" (without the quotation marks) found 766 web pages, including autist :: Information about autist :: FindTheWord.info -- Crossword Help - Crossword Solver - English Dictionary - Crossword Dictionary. My Google search for "site:.net autist" (without the quotation marks) found 14,000 web pages, including the scholarly page Critical Phronesis (dated January 19, 2010), which uses the word "autists" several times. My Google search for "site:.org autist" (without the quotation marks) found 5,340 web pages, including Autism Spectrum / Asperger Syndrome and International Exchange — Mobility International USA - MIUSA, which mentions "Autist Mary-Minn " and "Autist Jane Meyerding". -- Wavelength (talk) 20:10, 18 March 2010 (UTC) My Google search for "site:.com autist" (without the quotation marks) found 531,000 web pages, including Access : The autist aesthete : Nature Physics, a web page inviting a visitor to register for a free subscription. My Google search for "site:.biz autist" (without the quotation marks) found 48 web pages, including nothing I found worthy of mention. My Google search for "site:.pro autist" (without the quotation marks) found 2 web pages, including The Speed of Dark | Nick.pro, where the first reviewer, Julia Noble, uses the word "autist" in her first paragraph. My Google search for "site:.travel autist" (without the quotation marks) found 2 web pages, including Aspen Travel & City Value Guide to Great Aspen Deals, which refers to "Dr Temple Grandin, recovered autist". -- Wavelength (talk) 00:14, 19 March 2010 (UTC) My Google Scholar search for "autist OR autist, OR autists" (without the quotation marks) found "about 1,430" pages, including SpringerLink - Journal Article, where the article is titled "Disordered recognition of facial identity and emotions in three Asperger type autists". My Google News search for "autist OR autist, OR autists" (without the quotation marks) found "about 53" pages, including How Do You Describe the Autism Spectrum?, where "autists" occurs twice and "an autist" once. -- Wavelength (talk) 00:56, 19 March 2010 (UTC) Definitions of autist - OneLook Dictionary Search has a link to Autist | Define Autist at Dictionary.com. My Google search for "define:autist" (without the quotation marks) found 2 web pages (one in Wikipedia and one in Wiktionary). -- Wavelength (talk) 05:29, 19 March 2010 (UTC)

It appears to me from the preceding information that you have a valid basis for using the word "autist" in Wikipedia articles. If you save a link to this discussion after it has been archived, then you can refer to it if anyone challenges your use of the word. (By the way, you may wish to see List of Internet top-level domains.) -- Wavelength (talk) 14:35, 19 March 2010 (UTC)

http://google.com/books?q=autist shows lots of use, too.—msh210℠ 18:10, 19 March 2010 (UTC)

Ruthenian

Ruthenian was the main chancellery languages of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and an official chancellery language of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth until 1697 when it was replaced by Polish. At this page: [2] you can find the list of the rulers of these two countries. Looking at their pages, I found that only Sigismund II Augustus has his name translated also into Ruthenian (Żygimont III Awgust I). All the other have only a translation into Polish and Lithuanian (and sometimes in German and Belarussian too). Does anybody know their names in Ruthenian? I'm seeking expecially for the names from Sigismund Kęstutaitis (1432–1440) to John III Sobieski (1674–1696).--151.51.62.111 (talk) 22:26, 17 March 2010 (UTC)

The accurate Ruthenian forms of those names might require library or even archival research. The form that you have for Sigismund II Augustus seems to be a romanized form using Polish spelling, whereas Ruthenian was written in Cyrillic script. The Cyrillic form for this would be Жыгімонт III Aвгyст I or Жыгимонт III Aвгyст I . Marco polo (talk) 20:37, 18 March 2010 (UTC)