Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Language/2006 December 28

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[edit] December 28

[edit] What does "tucci" mean?

My father-in-law wants my son to call him "Tucci". He says it is Italian for "Grandfather". I thought that was "nonno" - but I don't really know Italian. What does "Tucci" really mean in Italian? I am assuming it actually means something and isn't some random slang he picked up as a kid in Boston. --Kainaw (talk) 01:22, 28 December 2006 (UTC)

There's nothing at the Italian Wiktionary (http://it.wiktionary.org/wiki/Speciale:Search?search=tucci). --Nelson Ricardo 02:25, 28 December 2006 (UTC)
(after e.c.) I couldn't find any connection to an informal word for grandfather either, and nonno is indeed commonly used. Tucci is a surname, Tuccio and Tuccia are Christian names. -uccio is a belittling suffix (similar to the diminutives -ino and -etto) and some Italian words, such as cantuccio, end in -tuccio and would end in -tucci in their plural form. Perhaps Tucci is an aphesis of some other word or name. In several Sardinian dialects, tùciu or tùggiu means neck. Oh, and the roots of the word tushie or tush, in the sense of rumpus, are Yiddish, not Italian. That's all I found - good luck with your father-in-law. ---Sluzzelin 02:41, 28 December 2006 (UTC)

[edit] translation of an article from spanish wikipedia to english

how or where do i ask someone to translate an article from the spanish wikipedia into english? This is the story im very interested in http://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Basil_Zaharoff Thank you John Bau —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 81.183.191.181 (talk) 08:02, 28 December 2006 (UTC).

See Wikipedia:Translation/*/Lang/es.  --LambiamTalk 10:40, 28 December 2006 (UTC)
The Basil Zaharoff article is already in English. In the Spanish article, look for the list of other languages ("otras idiomas") on the left side of the screen and click on "English." US 30 20:11, 29 December 2006 (UTC)

[edit] About the lost of information

Please let me know if I can restore an information of my cd! I had some picture writen to my disk with a software different from Nero Burning, then I write to the same disk pictures with Nero! A last I can`t see the first pictures! How can I see them because they are very precious to me ! —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 84.252.8.246 (talk) 08:31, 28 December 2006 (UTC).

You may have more result if you ask this question on the Computing/IT Reference desk. This here is the Reference desk section for questions about language.  --LambiamTalk 10:35, 28 December 2006 (UTC)

[edit] word trivia --- gry puzzle

i am very interested to read trivias on words. I read the article "gry" that talks about the -gry puzzle. I wonder which sites contains trivias about words, like the -gry puzzle. can u cite some? i would appreciate if u can. i'd ask them to my friends, just for educational purposes. thanks.. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 124.106.184.171 (talk) 10:54, 28 December 2006 (UTC).

When you Google [trivia gry] you will get hits for several such sites.  --LambiamTalk 11:41, 28 December 2006 (UTC)

thanks, but i was asking something LIKE the -gry puzzle in which you ask somebody a question about something and u want him to guess for that word.

That is not what you originally asked. If you do the above Google search you will find sites containing trivia about words, like the -gry puzzle. If they must be guess-the-word games, try [trivia guess-the-word].  --LambiamTalk 15:57, 29 December 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Chernobyl, and The End is Nigh

In the article on the town Chernobyl, there is a long section about what exactly the name is supposed to mean. This relates to some group's Christian biblical arguments that the town's name is the same as the "Wormwood" referred to in the English translation of Revelations 8:11, thus representing a "prophesy fulfilled". The argument loses direction when it starts using the English translation of the Ukrainian name "Chernobyl" for comparison with the English translation of the Greek used in the original Rev 8:11 - a potential double translation error, with no reference to original text. ADH makes this comment on the talk page: “This is insane. Devoting an entire section to botanical nitpicking in order to satisfy someone's theological agenda should be thoroughly unacceptable, …”. I agree, and intend to remove the irrelevant parts, but it piques my interest. What words are used in Ukrainian Rev 8:11, for the star and plant (or plant flavor / bitterness?) which English translates as “wormwood”? Is this the same as the Ukrainian words from name "Chernobyl" could be derived? Revelation 8, verse 11, as found in this Holy Bible: Ukranian Translation.:

11 А ймення зорі тій Полин. І стала третина води, як полин, і багато з людей повмирали з води, бо згіркла вона...

FYI, the KJV translation: “11 And the name of the star is called Wormwood: and the third part of the waters became wormwood; and many men died of the waters, because they were made bitter.” --Seejyb 19:50, 28 December 2006 (UTC)

The word in this Ukrainian version corresponding to "wormwood" in the English version could be transliterated "polin". This does not look remotely related to "Chernobyl". Marco polo 19:56, 28 December 2006 (UTC)
Thank you, Marco Polo, that explains why one of the paragraphs wanders off about "polyn", "common polyn" and "bitter polyn" which I could not relate to the town's name. I shall clean up that article and refer the reader to Chernobyl in the popular consciousness. --Seejyb 22:26, 28 December 2006 (UTC)
According to our article, Chernobyl means "black grass." (It certainly means "black something," starting with "cherno.") Nothing to do with worms or wood. -- Mwalcoff 23:41, 28 December 2006 (UTC)
Wormwood is a plant, so it's not as crazy as you might think. --Ornil 21:05, 29 December 2006 (UTC)
On the Ukrainian Wikipedia, the article on Artemisia absinthium L., uk:Полин гіркий, mentions the name чорнобиль for А. vulgaris L., also known as (common) mugwort. This may well be the origin of the town's name. The Ukrainian article uk:Чорнобиль on the town does not mention a meaning or origin of its name. Although sometimes called wild wormwood, mugwort is another species than wormwood. In the context of hidden messages in Biblical writings, the relevant question then would appear to be: Is it possible that the word Ἄψινθος from Revelation 8:11 refers to mugwort? The answer is no, according to Gernot Katzer's Spice Pages: The Greek term apsinthos applies unambiguously to wormwood and never to mugwort, yet chornobyl means "mugwort", nothing else.  --LambiamTalk 09:48, 30 December 2006 (UTC)
I have nothing to add about the correct meaning of the world, but I remember that Frederik Pohl's Chernobyl, a 1987 novel based on the disaster, began with a note making the "wormwood" connection. --Anonymous, December 28, 05:19 (UTC) -- reposting after unexplained deletion, December 30, 10:58 (UTC).

[edit] Looking for a word that describes opposites

If someone picks up a Battery (electricity) and they talk about the opposite ends, ("positive" end vs. "negative" end), they are talking about polarity. If someone picks up a "fill in the blank" form, and they talk about the rules for filling it in ("required" fields vs. "optional" fields) they are talking about __what is the word that goes here__? NoClutter 20:17, 28 December 2006 (UTC)

Antonym? Antithesis? User:Zoe|(talk) 21:51, 28 December 2006 (UTC)
No, too general. Consider it rephrased as the following question:
   "negative vs positive"      -> is to "polarity" as
   "perishable vs everlasting" -> is to "mortality" as
   "unique vs interchangeable" -> is to "fungibility" as
   "required vs optional"      -> is to "___??___"
all of these are complementary antonyms, I was looking for a word that encompasses the specific case of (required vs optional) ... if there is such a word. NoClutter 23:15, 28 December 2006 (UTC)
necessity? -- Mwalcoff 23:38, 28 December 2006 (UTC)
optionality? There doesn't seem to be a mandatoryity? ;) --Steve (Slf67) talk 01:14, 29 December 2006 (UTC)
essentiality? ---Sluzzelin 01:28, 29 December 2006 (UTC)
"Obligation", perhaps? Hassocks5489 13:40, 29 December 2006 (UTC)
All of the above, including "mortality" and fungibility, are different from "polarity" in an essential aspect:
✓negative polarity ✓positive polarity
✗perishable mortality ✗everlasting mortality
✗unique fungibility ✗interchangeable fungibility
✗required necessity ✗optional necessity
What about "answering"? "Is the answering of this question optional? Uh, let me look... No, it is required." --LambiamTalk 17:07, 29 December 2006 (UTC)
Off-hand, I'd say obligatoriness. Note though that obligatoriness in itself means the act of _being_ obligatory (so it can't boil down to "optional" :-)); but this is the same for "mortality", it can't boil down to "immortality". So considering your examples above it seems fitting. —Gennaro Prota•Talk 18:46, 29 December 2006 (UTC)