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November 12

Mixed-handed fencing duels

In a famous duel film scene, for a brief time the opponents fight with different hands. But does history know actual (possibly deadly) fencing duels between right-handers and left-handers? If so, is there any evidence which hand has an advantage? I would assume the edge is on the left-handers' side, as they were certainly trained to fight with right-handers - but not that usually vice-versa. --KnightMove (talk) 13:18, 12 November 2024 (UTC)[reply]

There is a clear advantage to left-handed fencers (and boxers). It is believed to be, as you stated, a frequency issue. Less than 10% of fencers are believed to be left-handed. So, right-handed fencers rarely get practice against left-handed fencers, but left-handed fencers compete with right-handed fencers most of the time. As proof, nearly 25% of the top-rated fencers are left-handed. So, they are over-represented. 12.116.29.106 (talk) 13:25, 12 November 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Related trivia: Tua Tagovailoa is right-handed. He plays football left-handed. His father pushed him to throw left-handed at a young age because it gives him an advantage. For the opposing team, the "strong side" and "weak side" are flipped and, theoretically, they make more mistakes. You can claim that this offense has to play a flipped field, but they practice that way every day, so it isn't unusual for them. It is only a problem if Tua can't play and the backup (a right-handed passer) has to step in. 12.116.29.106 (talk) 17:35, 12 November 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Wikilinked the player's name above for those interested in following it up. {The poster formerly known as 87.81.230.195} 94.7.95.48 (talk) 18:45, 12 November 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Vacancies/vacant sees

According to our article List of bishops in the Church of England there are six vacant sees, Ely, Carlisle, Truro, Coventry, Durham, and Worcester. Has there ever been a time when more have been vacant at the same time? Thank you, DuncanHill (talk) 22:33, 12 November 2024 (UTC)[reply]

James II wanted to get rid of Seven Bishops, though events prevented him, and six bishops were removed a few years later in 1691 for refusing to declare allegiance to William III. Also, near the beginning of Elizabeth I's reign "Seven bishops, including Cardinal Pole, Mary's Archbishop of Canterbury, died in 1558 and needed to be replaced", while the surviving bishops were Catholic, and were displaced (except two). AnonMoos (talk) 09:52, 13 November 2024 (UTC)[reply]

You win. I reckon it peaked at twenty vacant sees between 5 July and 14 July 1559. --Antiquary (talk) 12:46, 13 November 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Does your interest extend to pre-Reformation English bishops? Our less scrupulous medieval kings liked to keep sees vacant for as long as they could get away with it because they could pocket the revenues. By my reckoning, from 8 July to 5 October 1214 King John kept Carlisle, Chichester, Coventry, Durham, Exeter, Rochester, Worcester and York vacant – eight in all. I don't know if that's any kind of record. --Antiquary (talk) 12:21, 13 November 2024 (UTC)[reply]

I don't know if it was as simple as that. Pope Innocent III interfered with the appointment of bishops, placing John under an interdict. 2A00:23D0:72D:8E01:70A8:F213:EE38:5671 (talk) 15:10, 13 November 2024 (UTC)[reply]

I used to pray at intercession in church at Sunday communion for Peter Ball when he was bishop of Gloucester, so I'm recusing myself from this discussion. MinorProphet (talk) 21:33, 13 November 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Generative deity names

I don't know of a satisfying etymology for Priapus, has anyone suggested a connection to Prajapati? Temerarius (talk) 23:19, 12 November 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Our article Prajapati states that (according to Robert Graves) the name is etymologically equivalent to that of Phanes. While I'm not quite sure what this statement means, our article Phanes mentions that in the Orphic Hymns he is given the title "Lord Priapos". --Lambiam 23:38, 12 November 2024 (UTC)[reply]

A Sanskrit "j" generally corresponds to an Indo-European (and Greek) "g", so I don't see how that enables a connection to Priapus. Also, the "-pati" part of Prajapati contains the same IE root as in the well-known Greek term potnia, but the second "p" of Priapus is certainly not part of such a root... AnonMoos (talk) 01:28, 13 November 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Πρίαπος is not mentioned before the 4th century BCE, and most scholars dated the Orphic Hymns to around the 2nd or 3rd centuries CE, so (especially as a title for Protogonos) a late borrowing or at least influence from the name Prajapati, rather than inheritance from a PIE ancestor name, cannot be excluded a priori. --Lambiam 05:59, 15 November 2024 (UTC)[reply]

I really don't think so. There were some contacts and cultural influences between Greek and Indian cultures (mostly after Alexander's conquests, of course), but the only two Indic-language religious words which were at all commonly known in the Mediterranean area were Brahmana and Sramana, and they were rather foreign-sounding in the Greek language (see Gymnosophists). I don't see how an Indic word could embed itself into Mediterranean mythology, and an Indic "j" consonant would likely be borrowed into Hellenistic Greek as "z" anyway... AnonMoos (talk) 20:33, 16 November 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Since, according to his article, this god is first recorded in the Greek world from the Greek colony of Lampsacus in the Northern Troad (i.e. in Asia Minor), the name may originate in a non-Greek and even non-IE language. Prior to the Greeks, a number of cultures and hence languages occupied or dominated the area, and I'm not sure what the 'original' indigenous language there might have been. I notice a slight resemblance between Priapus and Priam, which might suggest Luwian as a possible IE origin. {The poster formerly known as 87.81.230.195} 94.7.95.48 (talk) 06:14, 15 November 2024 (UTC)[reply]