Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Language/2016 May 6

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May 6[edit]

"Gjylihan"[edit]

Hi. Mi query is about the albanian name "Gjylihan" (Gjy-li-han). Anybody knows which is the accented syllable in this name? And in "Gjylo"(Gjy-lo: short form of Gjylihan)? Thanks. Daniel, 6 May 2016 83.61.64.231 (talk) 06:20, 6 May 2016 (UTC)[reply]

Alright, I have no knowledge and little reference, but I asked a native Albanian speaker, and she placed the emphasis on the first syllable. (For the pronunciation of "gj" and "y", see also Help:IPA for Albanian). Some of the references I did find translated the name as "rose", so I'm guessing it's one of those Albanian names derived from Turkish, see wikt:gül, but I suspect it means more than just "Rose". The native speaker couldn't confirm or deny whether "Gjylo" would be the/a short version, as she had never heard this name before. The only famous Gjylihan seems to have been Enver Hoxha's mother, and I did find "Her real name was Gjylihan, (Rose), and for short she was called Gjylo." in Nexhmije Hoxha's memoirs [1], but I suspect you might have seen that too. I speak zero Albanian, sorry, so I posted a request for input at Wikipedia talk:WikiProject Albania. Hopefully, someone knowledgable will chime in here. ---Sluzzelin talk 12:43, 6 May 2016 (UTC)[reply]

What's the most common word used in "_______ is my middle name"?[edit]

I want to say either "danger" or "trouble" but I'm honestly not sure. 2605:6000:EDC9:7B00:99D3:AE38:5406:8954 (talk) 08:18, 6 May 2016 (UTC)[reply]

I would think 'trouble' is more common than 'danger'. Indeed, Google gives me over 5,750,000 results for 'trouble', and only 2,200,000 results for danger. KägeTorä - () (もしもし!) 08:59, 6 May 2016 (UTC)[reply]
Did you search with quotation marks? (Google gives me more hits for "danger is my middle name" than for "trouble is my middle name" when searching with quotation marks). ---Sluzzelin talk 09:38, 6 May 2016 (UTC)[reply]
Google result counts are a meaningless metric, but Trouble Is My Middle Name.--Shantavira|feed me 14:05, 6 May 2016 (UTC)[reply]
Well, Danger is my middle name (though METAPHOR is my actual middle name) ---Sluzzelin talk 14:12, 6 May 2016 (UTC)[reply]
See also Sixteen Tons for a potential source of "trouble" quotations. Tevildo (talk) 17:36, 6 May 2016 (UTC)[reply]
  • Vanilla Google hits are mostly useless, but Google's ngrams are much more meaningful. They use Google's corpora of Enlgish language books, you can search by time period, English variety, etc. Here's a search to get you started [2]. "Danger" doesn't even register, "trouble" gets some ink. Check other words as you see fit :) SemanticMantis (talk) 18:55, 6 May 2016 (UTC)[reply]
"Danger" registers [3] (but "danger" doesn't)---Sluzzelin talk 21:53, 6 May 2016 (UTC)[reply]
Thanks for the clarification. Even after continual reminders I often forget that the ngram is case sensitive. SemanticMantis (talk) 15:23, 9 May 2016 (UTC)[reply]

24/6[edit]

Walking along a shopping street this morning I noticed a shop advertising itself as "Open 24/6". On closer inspection I saw it was a Jewish bagel bakery, open continuously from eight o'clock on Saturday night till two o'clock the following Friday afternoon. Has anyone ever come across this description before? 92.23.52.169 (talk) 12:03, 6 May 2016 (UTC)[reply]

No, but as the bakery is Jewish, it makes sense. Ian.thomson (talk) 12:07, 6 May 2016 (UTC)[reply]
Yes, others have used the formulation before. --Jayron32 12:12, 6 May 2016 (UTC)[reply]
(edit conflict) Indeed, there is also 24/6: A Jewish Theater Company, for example. I have also seen this with reference to shops in certain German states which may be open as desired at any hour (day or night) Monday through Saturday, see Ladenschlussgesetz which mentions this 24/6 scheme (and the 24/5 scheme, too). ---Sluzzelin talk 12:17, 6 May 2016 (UTC)[reply]
If it's open from eight o'clock on Saturday night till two o'clock the following Friday afternoon I make that 24/5¾.--Shantavira|feed me 14:12, 6 May 2016 (UTC)[reply]
Yes, it clearly is not open 24 hours 6 days of the week. I suppose we could use the Jewish definition of a day starting at sunset, but we still don't end up with 24 hours in each of those days, either. (Technically, they wouldn't be exactly 24 hour days, since sunset is at a different time each day.) StuRat (talk) 17:18, 6 May 2016 (UTC)[reply]
The purpose of closing to customers at 2:30 would be to allow adequate time for the shopkeepers to avoid working on the Sabbath, which begins at sunset. As the shopkeepers would a) have to do some work to close down the shop before sundown, and b) account for the earliest sunset of the year, 2:30 PM probably allows them adequate time to do so. If the shop closed closer to sunset, it may give some problems with adhering to Jewish Shabbat laws. --Jayron32 17:35, 6 May 2016 (UTC)[reply]
Presumably it would make total sense to its regular customer base. ←Baseball Bugs What's up, Doc? carrots→ 17:37, 6 May 2016 (UTC)[reply]
I would assume it was a new shop, due to open towards the end of June. DuncanHill (talk) 22:17, 6 May 2016 (UTC)[reply]
Yes, that makes sense in countries where 24/6 is the date format for 24 June. Akld guy (talk) 23:04, 6 May 2016 (UTC)[reply]
I think it would more likely say "Opening 24 June" or at least "Opening 24/6". -- Jack of Oz [pleasantries] 23:45, 6 May 2016 (UTC)[reply]
The usage of 24/6 is pretty obvious in this website.[4]Baseball Bugs What's up, Doc? carrots→ 23:49, 6 May 2016 (UTC)[reply]
The notice was painted on the fascia. That's a clear indication that it does not relate to a future event - had that been the case it would be a less permanent printed or written notice. Anyway, I could see, looking through the window, that the shop was already in business. Even the website is not what it seems - some days in the Jewish calendar have "sabbath status", i.e. sabbath rules apply to them even though they may or may not fall on Saturday. Even some of our editors don't post on some of these days. The sabbath rules are rigorously observed on the Day of Atonement, which is why it is not allowed to fall on either a Friday or a Sunday. The list is:
  • Passover (days 1, 2, 7 and 8) (roughly corresponding to Easter)
  • Feast of Weeks (two days) (roughly corresponding to Whitsun)
  • Jewish New Year (two days)
  • Day of Atonement
  • Festival of Booths (days 1, 2 and 8)
  • Rejoicing of the Law.

This last was the day an eighteenth - century English writer went to the synagogue to observe the ritual. As a result the public were given a totally misleading impression of what happens in a synagogue service.

I would not bank on the shop being open at eight o'clock tonight, which looks to turn out a warm and sunny evening. In fact, like parks, opening hours at the weekend are seasonally adjusted. 92.23.52.169 (talk) 12:41, 7 May 2016 (UTC)[reply]