Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Language/2007 September 5

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Language desk
< September 4 << Aug | September | Oct >> September 6 >
Welcome to the Wikipedia Language Reference Desk Archives
The page you are currently viewing is an archive page. While you can leave answers for any questions shown below, please ask new questions on one of the current reference desk pages.


Contents

[edit] September 5

[edit] Cast a Dispersion?

What does it mean when someone "casts a dispersion"?

Ex. "I was afraid he'd cast a dispersion on my mother."

There is remarkably little to be found on the internet about this colloquialism. So I am thinking the person I heard it from didn't say it right.

Any help would be greatly appreciated Mr Vain 18:29, 5 September 2007 (UTC)

It's actually "cast aspersions", meaning to question someone's good faith or motives. --Richardrj talk email 18:33, 5 September 2007 (UTC)
It's not a colloquialism but a malapropism, a (perhaps intentional) mangling of a word or phrase. +ILike2BeAnonymous 18:35, 5 September 2007 (UTC)
Mildly off-topic: my family use the malapropism "casting nasturtiums" for the same phrase. SaundersW 19:47, 5 September 2007 (UTC)
Mine too! DuncanHill 20:12, 5 September 2007 (UTC)
"Casting nasturtiums"! What a dreadful insult to one of my favorite garden flowers. It is incredibly easy to grow (huge seeds), has beautiful flowers, can be used as a border plant, a ground cover, or a vine. Not to mention the fact that the flower buds and leaves are edible in salads--they have a sort of peppery flavor like water cress. Also, they make great cut flowers for small bouquets. Casting nasturtiums, indeed!--Eriastrum 22:31, 5 September 2007 (UTC)
Keep the Aspidistra Flying... AnonMoos 00:26, 6 September 2007 (UTC)
One time when someone asked me "Are you casting aspersions?" I cracked her up by replying "No, I'm not Catholic!" —Tamfang 00:53, 6 September 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Translation

What does "Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet sed diam nonummy" mean? Is it Latin or gibberish? It is on the bottom of a page on the Apple website. Xarr 23:36, 5 September 2007 (UTC)

I'm sure it means something, but when putting it in a language translator I get: "Lorem itself pain he is amet but diam ninth" :S ::Manors:: 00:12, 6 September 2007 (UTC)
Lorem ipsum --Reuben 00:15, 6 September 2007 (UTC)

We have an article Lorem Ipsum -- AnonMoos 00:22, 6 September 2007 (UTC)

So yes, in reply to the OP, it's Latin and gibberish. :) FiggyBee 10:04, 6 September 2007 (UTC)