Miscellaneous desk
< March 5	<< Feb \| March \| Apr >>	March 7 >

Welcome to the Wikipedia Miscellaneous 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.

March 6[edit]

Tapeworm[edit]

Is it true that Maria Calas eat a tapeworm to keep slim? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 92.25.107.43 (talk) 01:59, 6 March 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Where did you hear such a silly thing? Edison (talk) 02:44, 6 March 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Maria Callas suffered from tapeworms, and she did lose a lot of weight, but the rumor that she swallowed a tapeworm to lose weight is just that, a rumor. See: [[1]]. Dominus Vobisdu (talk) 07:15, 6 March 2012 (UTC)[reply]

An adult tapeworm probably wouldn't make it past the stomach alive, anyway. It would be killed by gastric acid.--Itinerant1 (talk) 10:12, 6 March 2012 (UTC)[reply]

What is this Spanish song?[edit]

In the Droopy short Caballero Droopy, the Crisco Kid plays this tune on his acoustic guitar. This can also be heard in Vega's theme in Street Fighter II. Sarujo (talk) 02:01, 6 March 2012 (UTC)[reply]

It is Cielito Lindo. Looie496 (talk) 02:46, 6 March 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Wait, I wasn't talking about the tune that Droopy was playing on the violin. I was talking about the the wolf character, the Crisco Kid. I've listened to "Cielito Lindo", and the piece does not appear in that song. Sarujo (talk) 03:14, 6 March 2012 (UTC)[reply]

That's a stereotypical "bullfighting" tune. Likely a classical piece, but I don't know what it's called. ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 07:34, 6 March 2012 (UTC)[reply]

The tune Droopy is playing is the chorus from Cielito Lindo,[2] the best known part, "Ay, ay, ay, ay,/ Canta y no llores..." ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 07:39, 6 March 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Those chords that the wolf plays are very common chords that are used frequently at bullfights to introduce the paso doble played when a torero is playing the bull well and the president asks for music to enhance the spectacle. Richard Avery (talk) 07:56, 6 March 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Yep, you've got it. Here are a couple of good examples:[3][4] ←Baseball Bugs Note: Paso doble (or Pasodoble) translates as "double-step" or "two-step". ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 08:02, 6 March 2012 (UTC)[reply]

This youtube clip gives more information. Looie496 (talk) 08:10, 6 March 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Oy. "Welcome to heaven - here's your harp. / Welcome to hell - here's your accordion." -- Gary Larson. ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 10:24, 6 March 2012 (UTC)[reply]

It's called España Cañí {Gypsy Spain) and it's a classical music piece composed by Pascual Marquina Narro. Read the article for more information. Listen to the full piece here: [[5]] Dominus Vobisdu (talk) 08:33, 6 March 2012 (UTC)[reply]

I wonder about that word Cañí. The Spanish Academy[6] only says it means "of Gypsy race" (gitano and "gypsy" both derive from "Egypt"), but no explanation of the origin of the word Cañí itself. ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 10:36, 6 March 2012 (UTC)[reply]

I wondered (since Gypsies are well known for their music) if it might derive from canciar 'sing', or canto (m) or canción (f) 'song'. A possible connection with derivations of Latin canis occurred to me (given long-standing attitudes towards Gypsies), but the modern Spanish word is perro. Is there a Spanish historical linguist in the house? {The poster formerly known as 87.81.230.195} 90.197.66.254 (talk) 18:49, 6 March 2012 (UTC)[reply]

According to the third paragraph of Romani people in Spain#Groups and Caló language#Loans, the term is a Spanish borrowing of a Caló word, so it's perhaps of Indic rather than Romance origin. Deor (talk) 02:57, 7 March 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Kunur --> Coonoor[edit]

Is Wikimapia also a part of Wikipedia? If so, may I request you to correct a name of a town in the map as it is wrong? Kindly amend the name of the town shown in your map as KUNUR, Tamilnadu, India to read COONOOR (which is the right English spelling of the town. Thanks. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 122.161.253.60 (talk) 11:45, 6 March 2012 (UTC)[reply]

WikiMapia is not owned by or affiliated with Wikipedia or Wikimedia. You'll have to contact them yourself (our page WikiMapia has some links that may be useful; Wikimapia User Guide). --Colapeninsula (talk) 12:37, 6 March 2012 (UTC)[reply]

How do u burp on command?[edit]

Help I'm desprate all my friends can do it but Ii can;t — Preceding unsigned comment added by 202.203.132.29 (talk) 15:17, 6 March 2012 (UTC)[reply]

why does this question keep coming up? Wikipedia:Reference_desk/Archives/Science/2010_November_14#Burping_on_command et. al. Is it because like radishes it is a repeater?--Aspro (talk) 15:47, 6 March 2012 (UTC)[reply]

And again:Wikipedia:Reference_desk/Archives/Miscellaneous/2012_February_15#How_to_burp_on_command.3F--Aspro (talk) 16:03, 6 March 2012 (UTC)[reply]

It's the first question that's important enough for 7-year-olds to get on Wikipedia with, perhaps. --jpgordon^{::==( o )} 20:17, 6 March 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Really im serious i want 2 be able 2 do this. PLEEDSE hlep!!!! — Preceding unsigned comment added by 202.203.132.29 (talk) 16:20, 7 March 2012 (UTC)[reply]

PLEASE!!~!!!!! IM DESPRATE ALL MTY FRIENNDS CAN DO IT PLeAsEE! — Preceding unsigned comment added by 202.203.132.29 (talk) 15:16, 8 March 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Please do not post your question to multiple desks. Practice. Ask your friends for help. Read the links provided above. Stop bugging us about it: we do not respond well to people desperate to accomplish the trivialities of life. Any more of this and we will regard you as a troll and act accordingly. --Tagishsimon (talk) 15:40, 8 March 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Alexander Armstrongs ears[edit]

E$xactly how big are Alexander Armstrongs ears from top to bottom of lobe. I have a bet on this. can you HELP? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 92.25.107.43 (talk) 17:25, 6 March 2012 (UTC)[reply]

I assume you mean Alexander Armstrong (comedian)? If so, why do you think we'd know how long his ears are? As far as I'm aware, there is no compulsory ear-measuring system in the UK, and neither is there a national ear-archive. I think you'll have to ask Armstrong yourself. AndyTheGrump (talk) 17:34, 6 March 2012 (UTC)[reply]

How accurate do you need to be? I have a figure, but it's based on a rather hefty chunk of guesswork. What I did was to take this photo and measure from his heel to the top of his head. Then I did the same for his ear. By knowing his height, and a little bit of maths, I got a figure for the size of his (left) ear. Repeating it on this photo gives a similar answer. Therefore I'm going for ~~9cm~~ 9.5cm from top to bottom, ±1cm. - Cucumber Mike (talk) 19:40, 6 March 2012 (UTC)[reply]

My word, that's nearly four inches!. That is incredibly large by any measure. I am totally flabbergasted! — Preceding unsigned comment added by 92.28.67.225 (talk) 21:08, 7 March 2012 (UTC)[reply]

train tickets[edit]

So, I bought a ticket on the national rail enquireies website, I was supposed to go today, but things didn't work out and I need to go tomorrow instead. Is there any way I can change the date on the ticket, rather than having to buy a new one, or at least to get my money back, since I haven't even picked it up from the machine yet.

148.197.81.179 (talk) 23:35, 6 March 2012 (UTC)[reply]

At least in the US, for airline tickets, they have refundable tickets (at higher prices) and non-refundable tickets. The refundable tickets may also charge a fee for any change, making it difficult to justify them financially. I suggest you read the fine print to discover if your tickets are refundable. StuRat (talk) 23:38, 6 March 2012 (UTC)[reply]

How would (unsourced) commentary about U.S. airline tickets be useful in response to a question about UK rail tickets? TenOfAllTrades(talk) 00:46, 7 March 2012 (UTC)[reply]

How is relating experiences that may jar something in the OP's memory of the transaction offensive? There aren't that many different schemes for selling tickets the world over, so warning the OP about situations that people in other countries have encountered isn't that far fetched. Besides which, the last sentence did suggest that the OP take a step that they may have overlooked (literally), reading the fine print. Dismas|^(talk) 02:30, 7 March 2012 (UTC)[reply]

My UK experience is that the best you'll get is a refund & need to buy new tickets; or else the option to pay an excess to change the dates. I think you need to hunt out the refunds or customer service link on the website you got the tickets from. --Tagishsimon (talk) 23:46, 6 March 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Read this. You'll need to know who you bought your ticket for - if you got a confirmation email or receipt it should say. --Colapeninsula (talk) 23:55, 6 March 2012 (UTC)[reply]

It says I need to return the ticket to them for a refund, but I don't have the ticket, I never even went and picked it up. 148.197.81.179 (talk) 00:18, 7 March 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Unfortunately, you may need to go there to pick up the ticket. Why would they make you waste your time to do this ? In the hopes that you won't bother and they can keep your money, of course. StuRat (talk) 07:53, 7 March 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Such cynicism. You know this for a fact, do you, Stu? -- Jack of Oz ^{[your turn]} 11:28, 7 March 2012 (UTC)[reply]

What part of "may" don't you grock, Jack :-). Obviously StuRat's cynical suggestion wasn't intended as a comprehensive and definitive statement, although I agree with him that it's quite likely part of the scenario. I would wonder if the machine would actually issue a ticket at all for a date already passed. {The poster formerly known as 87.81.230.195} 90.197.66.188 (talk) 12:17, 7 March 2012 (UTC)[reply]

A non-cynical here but I would assume they want the ticket back to prove that it has not been used/stamped (i.e so they are only refunding unused tickets not those of any Tom, Dick or Harry that decides to try their luck at getting a refund after using the ticket...though I appreciate even this process still has some big flaws). ny156uk (talk) 20:51, 7 March 2012 (UTC)[reply]

A daft non-cynic though...they probably know it's never been printed so therefore can't have been used, ignore me!! I'll leave my entry as proof of my daftness :-) ny156uk (talk) 20:53, 7 March 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Even obvious things like that tend not to be worked into their business practices, unless it results in more money for them. Consider grocery store prices. How often has something rung up for twice the posted price ? Often, in my experience. How often has something rung up for free, which isn't supposed to ? Never, in my experience. In the first case, nobody much cares about fixing the problem, while, in the second case, they fix it PDQ. StuRat (talk) 03:15, 8 March 2012 (UTC) [reply]

What sort of shonky merchants are you dealing with, Stu? If this happens "often", do you keep on going back to the same store(s)? Or is there some sort of general conspiracy to overcharge StuRat at every possible opportunity? -- Jack of Oz ^{[your turn]} 04:49, 8 March 2012 (UTC) [reply]

When I complain that an item rings up overpriced, they fix the price on my item, but never make any effort to fix the price in the system for the next customer. I've gone so far as to remove signs from the shelves which state a lower price than rings up. We used to have a state law requiring merchants to pay 10X any overcharge back to the customers. That actually had some effect. But, alas, the business lobby got that law dropped. I'm surprised it's any different in Aussieland. Large businesses in the US are fundamentally dishonest. In another example, US banks will intentionally delay crediting a customer deposit, if it will allow them to charge stiff overdraft fees. In yet another example, a health insurance company will find some excuse to drop a patient with an expensive disease, like a payment a day late, even though the same patient would be kept on if they were healthy. StuRat (talk) 05:25, 8 March 2012 (UTC) [reply]

So, when ~~FDR~~ Coolidge said "the business of America is business", apparently he didn't want anyone to assume he was talking about fair dealing and ethical practices. What date do you fly out of that God-forsaken country to one where you'll be treated justly? And what's taken you so long to realise how bad it is there? -- Jack of Oz ^{[your turn]} 08:55, 8 March 2012 (UTC) [reply]

Far as I know, it was Calvin Coolidge that said that. Silent Cal is regarded by some conservatives as the greatest President ever, for the reason stated by Will Rogers: "Coolidge didn't do anything. But that was OK, because nobody wanted him to do anything." ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 13:23, 8 March 2012 (UTC)[reply]

My mistake. Fixed. Thanks. -- Jack of Oz ^{[your turn]} 19:54, 8 March 2012 (UTC)[reply]

There was a shift from "treat your customers honestly" to "cheat them any way you can, if you're sure you can get away with it", sometime after FDR. In banking it seemed to happen with 1980's Reagan deregulation and a Supreme Court decision allowing banks to pick the state with the most lenient laws, put their HQ there, and use those laws to cheat their customers in all 50 states. The states, in turn, all wanted those bank's to put their HQ in their cities, so we had a "race to the bottom" where each state competed by passing the most lenient banking laws. StuRat (talk) 09:01, 8 March 2012 (UTC) [reply]

I'm not so sure. It seems more likely a much more significant reason is asking for the ticket is a standard part of the process and not normally an issue since most people have their tickets. Doing something else would not be standard and therefore require the person involved to spend more time and think about it more, perhaps even check with others or even get permission, So they will be reluctant to do it if they see an alternative that's easier for them, particularly if they feel they can justify it. Of course if it's not possible to receive the ticket any more, it seems they will have no choice, although they may not be aware of this until you find out and tell them. Having said that, it wouldn't surprise me if they do have a method of handling cases where you don't have the ticket, not so much for people who never picked theirs up, but for people who lost theirs. However as it may be rare, you'll likely have to check with them directly and perhaps go thru several hoops before you find someone who knows.

I would note I'm not sure what the OP (or others in this subdiscussion) are referring to anyway. As I understand the original question, the OP has already missed their journey. The page linked above doesn't seem to discuss getting a refund in that scenario, only before you travelled. It may be possible, but the website doesn't discuss it so even if you had your ticket you'll need to check further. It is of course not uncommon that refunds will be allowed before travel since in that case they can try to offer your seat to someone else, but will not be allowed after travel where they only found out, if ever, when you didn't show up so it's more difficult for them to offer your seat to someone else. I believe this is often the case even for most generous airline tickets mentioned above by StuRat, usually travel insurance is necessary for refunds when you miss a journey when it isn't the fault of the travel company. [7] [8] [9] do mention some US airlines may allow you to travel on a later flight if you have a good reason for missing your flight, but won't give a refund. Of course, even if the rail company allowed this, waiting until you received this info on the RD seems a good way to ensure it's too late to do anything about it.

In some cases even if a refund is nominally not allowed, you may get one in exceptional circumstances, but this does seem unlikely if you're able to travel tomorrow.

Nil Einne (talk) 14:05, 7 March 2012 (UTC)[reply]

If you'd like more information about changing or cancelling a rail ticket, you can -

Speak to someone at your nearest station

Telephone a Train Company telesales centre

--LarryMac | Talk 14:27, 7 March 2012 (UTC)[reply]