Jump to content

Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Language/2014 July 17

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Language desk
< July 16 << Jun | July | Aug >> July 18 >
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.


July 17

[edit]

What does "Renaissance boy" in this sentence mean?

[edit]

In Amis' book "Lionel Asbo:State of England",the following sentences can be read; "I fancy modern languages, sir. And history. And sociology. And astronomy. And- You can't study everything, you know. Yes I can. Renaissance boy, innit. ..You want to watch that smile,lad. All right.We will see about you."

And what's the "smile" ? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 210.22.166.186 (talk) 05:45, 17 July 2014 (UTC)[reply]

A "renaissance boy" is a younger equivalent of the renaissance man. As for what's meant by "You want to watch that smile, lad", I think it depends on the context. It might mean "Wipe that smirk off your face" but it might mean any of a number of other things. —Aɴɢʀ (talk) 06:32, 17 July 2014 (UTC)[reply]

This question was asked and answered here two weeks ago.--Shantavira|feed me 15:14, 17 July 2014 (UTC)[reply]

What are the Chinese characters?

[edit]

What are the Chinese characters here? File:ShanghaiUnknownHS.jpg

Thanks WhisperToMe (talk) 20:13, 17 July 2014 (UTC)[reply]

上海市
澄衷初彶中学
Σσς(Sigma) 20:22, 17 July 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Thank you! What about File:HongqiaoNewHighSchool.jpg? I can't find the Chinese name from the English. Also File:ShanghaiUnknownES.jpg and File:ShanghaiUnknownSecSchool.jpg

So 上海市澄衷初级中学 would be Shanghai City Chengzhong Junior High School, right? WhisperToMe (talk) 20:25, 17 July 2014 (UTC)[reply]

:The first one is too low-resolution to read, but the second is 虹口区丹徒路小学 and the third is 澄衷中学. Your translation for 上海市澄衷初级中学 seems right. --Bowlhover (talk) 05:07, 22 July 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Meaning of series of symbols

[edit]
Thread retitled from "Question".

I dont get what የ ሓበሻ ሻ ጆ means. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 174.16.157.243 (talk) 20:14, 17 July 2014 (UTC)[reply]

I am revising the heading of this section from Question to Meaning of series of symbols, in harmony with WP:TPOC, point 12 (Section headings). Please see Microcontent: How to Write Headlines, Page Titles, and Subject Lines. The new heading facilitates recognition of the topic in links and watchlists and tables of contents.
Wavelength (talk) 20:27, 17 July 2014 (UTC)[reply]
It's Amharic. The language of Ethiopia. I have no idea what it means. KägeTorä - () (Chin Wag) 21:53, 17 July 2014 (UTC)[reply]
The Ge'ez script is used for various languages.
Wavelength (talk) 22:35, 17 July 2014 (UTC)[reply]
It appears to mean ya ḥābašā šā ǧo. Is that any help? Where did you find it? —Tamfang (talk) 05:40, 18 July 2014 (UTC)[reply]
Habasha is the Arabic name for Ethiopia and/or Abyssinia; I expect that it's used in other languages as well. --Xuxl (talk) 12:00, 18 July 2014 (UTC)[reply]