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July 18
[edit]A seal of Queen Melisende drawn by Antonino Amico
[edit]Here I found a picture of a seal of Queen Melisende. The picture is from the 2015 Die Siegel der lateinischen Könige von Jerusalem by Hans Eberhard Mayer & Claudia Sode. The article I linked says that the seal "has come down to us through the drawing by Antonino Amico, a Sicilian priest and historian of the 17th century".
I would be very grateful for answers to one or both of the following questions:
- In which publication by Antonino Amico might one find the drawing of this seal?
- What would be the copyright status of the image that appears in Mayer & Sode (2015) if it is based on Antonino Amico's 17th century drawing?
Surtsicna (talk) 10:25, 18 July 2025 (UTC)
- Is it the seal seen here? It looks like a straightforward photograph, and as such would be free of copyright in countries in which copyright requires an element of originality.
- According to the article Ordine di Santa Maria di Valle Josaphat on the Italian Wikipedia, this religious order owned the burial place of Queen Melisanda. The Bibliography section of the article cites: Amico A., Brevis et exacta notitia originis Monasterii S. Mariae de Valle Iosaphat Ordinis Sancti Benedicti in urbe Hierusalem, s.d.
- A more likely source is given, however, in one of the articles in Mayer's collection of reprints Probleme des lateinischen Königreichs Jerusalem, where we read in a footnote on p. 174 regarding a seal of Amalric II:
Ich habe die Nachzeichnung (das Original ist verloren) von Antonino Amico aus dem 17. Jahrhundert im Ms. Qq.H. 11 fol. 159 der Stadtbibliothek Palermo im Mikrofilm benutzt.
[1]
- ("I have used the 17th-century copy by drawing (the original is lost) by Antonino Amico in Ms. Qq.H. 11 fol. 159 on microfilm of the Palermo Municipal Library.") ‑‑Lambiam 12:54, 18 July 2025 (UTC)
- That's excellent detective work, Lambiam. Yes, the seal is seen there. If I understand correctly, Mayer photographed Amico's drawing. So we are dealing with a 2015 photograph of a 17th-century drawing of a 12th-century seal. It does sound like copyright should not be an obstacle for use on Wikipedia. Surtsicna (talk) 13:08, 18 July 2025 (UTC)
July 19
[edit]Weather on 17 July 1918
[edit]The last Emperor of Russia, Nicholas II, was murdered in Yekaterinburg on 17 July 1918 in the middle of summer.
Are there any surviving records on what was the weather like in Yekaterinburg on that day? Was it a warm, sunny summer day? JIP | Talk 02:04, 19 July 2025 (UTC)
- Sorry, no such luck. There is a website which pretends to give data starting at 1930 from the airport of Jekaterinburg / Sverdlovsk, Koltsovo International Airport. Not only does this not cover 1918 (when the airport did not exist), the early data are mostly an empty list / diagram. --Cookatoo.ergo.ZooM (talk) 15:20, 19 July 2025 (UTC)
- PS: Also note that the Romanovs were executed in the basement at 2:00 AM. --Cookatoo.ergo.ZooM (talk) 15:26, 19 July 2025 (UTC)
- A clue is that the bodies were doused in petrol and burned in nearby woodland shortly afterwards, which suggests that it wasn't pouring with rain. The average temperature for Yekaterinburg in July is 24°C (75°F) with 9 rainy days. [2] Alansplodge (talk) 18:11, 19 July 2025 (UTC)
July 20
[edit]References to a past wetter/greener Sahara in Herodotus and Strabo
[edit]doi:10.1093/acrefore/9780190228620.013.532 claims that e.g Herodotus's Historia (Melpomene, 168–199) and Strabon's Geographica (book 1, chapter 3) have references to a past wetter/greener Sahara. Thenewthemesucks said that these are completely spurious reference to a fictional herodotus quote does anyone know what these references are, and if they exist? Jo-Jo Eumerus (talk) 07:56, 20 July 2025 (UTC)
- You can read Herodotus here: [3]. There are references to fertile areas that I interpret as being oases; other than that, I see nothing of the sort. In 173 we read the sad story of the Psylli, whose water tanks dried up. When they trekked south in search of water they were buried in the sandy desert by a strong wind. And 181 tells us that going south from the sea coast, beyond the country haunted by wild beasts, there is a ridge of sand that stretches from Thebes in Egypt to the Pillars of Heracles. ‑‑Lambiam 20:58, 20 July 2025 (UTC)
- There's also a part about Lake Tritonis. And a part about the Fountain of the Sun, which is cold at noon and boils at midnight. Card Zero (talk) 04:41, 21 July 2025 (UTC)
- Only the Psylli thing reads like a reference to a previous wetter Sahara to me ... but I am not sure that we are in the business to second-guess a source (not Herodotus or Strabo, either; the article that is referencing them) in this way. Jo-Jo Eumerus (talk) 09:23, 21 July 2025 (UTC)
- I see, that's ref "Bader2017" in your diff. I always advocate smoothing things over with the "according to" phrasing.
According to an article in Oxford Research Encyclopedias, the ancient geographers Herodotus and Strabo both discussed ...
and lose the part about at first questioned which implies this perception of what they meant is now a settled matter. Evidently it's still questioned. Card Zero (talk) 09:48, 21 July 2025 (UTC)- Rewritten like that, then. Jo-Jo Eumerus (talk) 08:17, 22 July 2025 (UTC)
- I see, that's ref "Bader2017" in your diff. I always advocate smoothing things over with the "according to" phrasing.
- Only the Psylli thing reads like a reference to a previous wetter Sahara to me ... but I am not sure that we are in the business to second-guess a source (not Herodotus or Strabo, either; the article that is referencing them) in this way. Jo-Jo Eumerus (talk) 09:23, 21 July 2025 (UTC)
- There's also a part about Lake Tritonis. And a part about the Fountain of the Sun, which is cold at noon and boils at midnight. Card Zero (talk) 04:41, 21 July 2025 (UTC)
Paul Bunyan is said to have visited the Great Sahara Forest in his youth.DOR (ex-HK) (talk) 03:52, 22 July 2025 (UTC) Since they removed the item again, opened a discussion here Jo-Jo Eumerus (talk) 07:36, 28 July 2025 (UTC)
July 21
[edit]Starless US Flag?
[edit]Is there any use pro-US, anti-US, or other of a flag with the stars all removed, so just a Blue field?Naraht (talk) 18:39, 21 July 2025 (UTC)
- Are you asking about actual flags, or depictions in art (say where the flag is too small to paint stars, or a cartoon where the animation style is simplistic)? Blueboar (talk) 19:44, 21 July 2025 (UTC)
- If you google "u s flags without stars" you'll see a few potential examples. ←Baseball Bugs What's up, Doc? carrots→ 23:10, 21 July 2025 (UTC)
- I found it drawn like that as an icon, used as part of the Tango Desktop Project. This icon is used when selecting a desktop locale. (Drawing stars is hard maybe? I see the stripes are also reduced to nine states.) Card Zero (talk) 04:27, 22 July 2025 (UTC)
- So few examples in google, that this discussion came up second on the phrase "u s flags without stars".Naraht (talk) 19:55, 22 July 2025 (UTC)
July 22
[edit]Where is Chittagong in Ptolemy's map?
[edit]Esteemed Wikipedians, I am currently preparing to write the article “吉大港港” (Port of Chittagong) on Chinese Wikipedia. In the English article Port of Chittagong, it is stated:
“ | In the 2nd century, Chittagong harbor appeared on Ptolemy's map, drawn by the Greco-Roman cartographer Claudius Ptolemy. The map mentions the harbor as one of the finest in the Eastern world. | ” |
The article cites Asia and Oceania: International Dictionary of Historic Places, which claims:
“ | In the Second Century A.D., the Greek geographer Ptolemy noted that Chittagong was among the most impressive ports in the East. | ” |
Other articles like "History of Chittagong" also claims the similar thing. Article "Names of Chittagong" uses the Ptolemaic map but fails to furthr clarify. However, despite careful review, I have been unable to find any corresponding reference in either Ptolemy’s map see commons:File:Ptolemy Asia detail.jpg or in Ancient India as Described by Ptolemy, another book I think quite related to the matter, available through this Internet Archive link. I am now quite perplexed and would like to seek the guidance of knowledgeable individuals on this matter. —— 王桁霽 (talk) 17:11, 22 July 2025 (UTC)
- I haven't located any further sources that would definitively confirm it, but it seems based on some Ptolemy-based maps[4][5][6] that Chittagong may be the area named Pentapolis. The book you've linked also seems to make this identification based on Pentapolis being "five cities" and Chaturgrâma supposedly being "four cities", but I don't know how much this makes sense linguistically. GalacticShoe (talk) 18:27, 22 July 2025 (UTC)
On Pentapolis' connexion with Chittagong
[edit]- Thank you very much. The clue of "Pentapolis" you offered is indeed crucial. Following this lead, I found a 1903 source — A Glossary of Anglo-Indian Colloquial Words and Phrases and of Kindred Terms — which records the following in its entry Chittagong: "The name [Chittagong] seems to be really a form of the Sanskrit Chaturgrāma (= Tetrapolis), [or according to others of Saptagrāma, 'seven villages'], and it is curious that near this position Ptolemy has a Pentapolis, very probably the same place." In contrast, the Wikipedia article "Names of Chittagong" offers an explanation in which the first part (Chitta) is derived from "lamp," yet provides no reference for this interpretation. Given that, whether made by scholars or not, all such speculations are far removed from Ptolemy’s own time, I consider the former account, when combined with what was offered in Ancient India as Described by Ptolemy, to be the more credible. —— 王桁霽 (talk) 22:26, 22 July 2025 (UTC)
- For reference, I believe the Sanskrit for Chaturgrāma would be something like चतुर्ग्राम, from चतुर् (catúr, "four") and ग्राम (grā́ma, "village"). Someone more versed in Sanskrit could offer more insight. GalacticShoe (talk) 06:36, 23 July 2025 (UTC)
- In the 1872 Monier-Williams dictionary catúrgrāma (चतुर्ग्राम) is glossed as: ‘containing 4 villages,’ N. of a country.[7][8] ‑‑Lambiam 09:56, 23 July 2025 (UTC)
- A quick Google Books search turns up a couple of sources that mention the possible Chaturgrāma–Pentapolis connection.[9][10] They also bring up a hypothesis by Francis Wilford that it comes from Pattanphulli, supposedly meaning "flourishing seat".[11] Note that our own article on Wilford suggests that his claims should be taken with a grain of salt; I am still trying to see if there's a linguistic basis for the name. GalacticShoe (talk) 17:39, 23 July 2025 (UTC)
- The Monier-Williams dictionary Lambiam has provided above does have phulli (फुल्लि) meaning "expanding, blossoming",[12] but I can't find a corresponding pattan meaning "seat". GalacticShoe (talk) 17:42, 23 July 2025 (UTC)
- There is paṭṭana (पट्टन), meaning "a city".[13][14] ‑‑Lambiam 21:07, 23 July 2025 (UTC)
- @GalacticShoe and Lambian:, Allow me to once again express my gratitude for the efforts of both of you. I look forward to any discoveries that may emerge and be reflected in Wikipedia. —— 王桁霽 (talk) 18:20, 24 July 2025 (UTC)
- The Monier-Williams dictionary Lambiam has provided above does have phulli (फुल्लि) meaning "expanding, blossoming",[12] but I can't find a corresponding pattan meaning "seat". GalacticShoe (talk) 17:42, 23 July 2025 (UTC)
- For reference, I believe the Sanskrit for Chaturgrāma would be something like चतुर्ग्राम, from चतुर् (catúr, "four") and ग्राम (grā́ma, "village"). Someone more versed in Sanskrit could offer more insight. GalacticShoe (talk) 06:36, 23 July 2025 (UTC)
- Thank you very much. The clue of "Pentapolis" you offered is indeed crucial. Following this lead, I found a 1903 source — A Glossary of Anglo-Indian Colloquial Words and Phrases and of Kindred Terms — which records the following in its entry Chittagong: "The name [Chittagong] seems to be really a form of the Sanskrit Chaturgrāma (= Tetrapolis), [or according to others of Saptagrāma, 'seven villages'], and it is curious that near this position Ptolemy has a Pentapolis, very probably the same place." In contrast, the Wikipedia article "Names of Chittagong" offers an explanation in which the first part (Chitta) is derived from "lamp," yet provides no reference for this interpretation. Given that, whether made by scholars or not, all such speculations are far removed from Ptolemy’s own time, I consider the former account, when combined with what was offered in Ancient India as Described by Ptolemy, to be the more credible. —— 王桁霽 (talk) 22:26, 22 July 2025 (UTC)
LDS handbook and transgender members
[edit]July 23
[edit]Dohne, South Africa
[edit]"The Aborigines' Friend and the Colonial Intelligencer" (1855) incudes a letter sent from "Dohne Port, Amatola Mountain", in British Kaffraria (now South Africa), and mentioning "the Dohne [military] Post". We have an article, Döhne, about a South African agricultural research station, in the same area, but that does not seem to be the same thing (although the entomology is no doubt shared), and is not coastal.
Amatola Mountain, it seems, is now known as Amathole Mountains.
Where was Dohne Port? And the post? Andy Mabbett (Pigsonthewing); Talk to Andy; Andy's edits 19:09, 23 July 2025 (UTC)
- This German text writes 𝔇𝔬𝔥𝔫𝔢 ⸗ 𝔓𝔬𝔯𝔱 without umlaut, and also tells us that its name is now (in 1857) "Stutterheimsstadt", presumably the same as Stutterheim, which indeed is close to the Amathole range. ‑‑Lambiam 20:17, 23 July 2025 (UTC)
- And the latter tells us: "It was later renamed Dohne after the first missionary in the area, Jacob Ludwig Döhne, but in 1857 it was reverted to its previous name, with the name Döhne referring only to a small station nearby." Confusingly, it si not a port.
- I have made Dohne into a dab page. Thank you. Andy Mabbett (Pigsonthewing); Talk to Andy; Andy's edits 20:19, 23 July 2025 (UTC)
- "Port" is a transcription error for "Post". reading on in the letter the author says "I should visit the Dohne Post" and later "I arrived here this day", "here" being of course the place whence he wrote. DuncanHill (talk) 20:50, 23 July 2025 (UTC)
- That makes sense. Thank you. Andy Mabbett (Pigsonthewing); Talk to Andy; Andy's edits 22:53, 23 July 2025 (UTC)
- I'm not so sure. See the link to the German text I posted above, which uses 𝔇𝔬𝔥𝔫𝔢 ⸗ 𝔓𝔬𝔯𝔱 five times. Another source wrting 𝔇𝔬𝔥𝔫𝔢 ⸗ 𝔓𝔬𝔯𝔱: [15]. The whole thing started with a military fort named Dohne Post. Then people settled in huts around the fort, and called the settlement "Stutterheim".[16] According to our article Stutterheim, the town was later (when?) renamed "Dohne" but reverted to its previous name in 1857. I can't tell from what I've seen whether the fort was considered part of the town, but the fort, named "Dohne Post", and the town, are not the same entity. The record suggests that contemporary people used the name "Dohne Port" for the town. ‑‑Lambiam 10:29, 24 July 2025 (UTC)
- With particular reference to the OP's remark that the place is not coastal: if the German source was repeating a name used by the "German settlers from the 1850s" (per Stutterheim), I suggest that Port is more likely to have signified something (metaphorically?) suggestive of a door or gateway (taken from Latin rather than ur-German) than the English meaning, which in German is Hafen (harbour, port, refuge, haven). {The poster formerly known as 87.81.230.195} 94.5.172.125 (talk) 11:24, 24 July 2025 (UTC)
- Latin porta ("gate") became German Pforte. Latin portus ("harbor", "haven") became German Port ("haven"), now archaic. The phrase nach dem nahen Dohne-Port reveals that the term has masculine or neuter gender, unlike porta and her gendered descendants in Romance and Germanic languages.
- Also, German Post does not mean the same as English post, except in the sense of "mail", a post on social media, or as a term in basketball. For the military sense of a place where troops are stationed, German uses Posten.
- Perhaps the Germans referred to the fort as Dohne-Fort, and some settlers started using Dohne-Port as a playful modification to refer to the village, which may have felt as a haven to the settlers. ‑‑Lambiam 15:28, 24 July 2025 (UTC)
- With particular reference to the OP's remark that the place is not coastal: if the German source was repeating a name used by the "German settlers from the 1850s" (per Stutterheim), I suggest that Port is more likely to have signified something (metaphorically?) suggestive of a door or gateway (taken from Latin rather than ur-German) than the English meaning, which in German is Hafen (harbour, port, refuge, haven). {The poster formerly known as 87.81.230.195} 94.5.172.125 (talk) 11:24, 24 July 2025 (UTC)
- "Port" is a transcription error for "Post". reading on in the letter the author says "I should visit the Dohne Post" and later "I arrived here this day", "here" being of course the place whence he wrote. DuncanHill (talk) 20:50, 23 July 2025 (UTC)
July 25
[edit]A saint who made long lists of his sins?
[edit]I'm editing a transcript of an informal discussion (which means spellings of proper names may be guesses) and the speaker says at one point "Some of the people canonized as saints by the Catholic church were definitely mentally subnormal,... some of them even imbeciles. In some cases they died young and were canonized, especially if they came from influential families, and yet they’re among the saints of the Catholic Church. There was one, for instance, I forget his full name, I think he was a St Peter Gonzagos, or something like that. He belonged to a very noble, not to say royal family – I’ll have to check this in the encyclopedia – I think those of Spain and Italy.... From the age of about seven he kept long lists of his sins. He used to spend the whole day writing out these lists of sins and he put them in a big wooden box and they were discovered after his premature death. And largely on the strength of that he was canonized because he had such an acute sense of sinfulness, so he must have been a saint! But he seemed to have been practically a young moron. He died at the age of 16 or 17... And there were thousands and thousands of sheets of paper covered with lists of his sins." My Google fu has failed me. This was spoken about fifty years ago so it wouldn't have been Acutis or anyone like that. Shantavira|feed me 09:08, 25 July 2025 (UTC)
- No definite answer, but the alleged name you transcribed as "Gonzagos" might point to Aloysius Gonzaga, who was of Italian high nobility, died young (aged 23), and got canonized. Our article on him doesn't say anything about writing lists of sins though. Fut.Perf. ☼ 10:47, 25 July 2025 (UTC)
- Very likely the narrator conflated various stories and legends. Giovanni Pelingotto, not a saint but beatified, died aged 64, reportedly produced weekly lists of his sins,[17] which by his death must have had a combined total of tens of thousands of entries. Keeping such lists was a commonly done thing among pious men. ‑‑Lambiam 19:58, 25 July 2025 (UTC)
- I agree. Thanks both for your input. Shantavira|feed me 07:40, 26 July 2025 (UTC)
- Very likely the narrator conflated various stories and legends. Giovanni Pelingotto, not a saint but beatified, died aged 64, reportedly produced weekly lists of his sins,[17] which by his death must have had a combined total of tens of thousands of entries. Keeping such lists was a commonly done thing among pious men. ‑‑Lambiam 19:58, 25 July 2025 (UTC)
Edible city
[edit]I am trying to look up whether there exists an english expression for de:Essbare Stadt, somehow related to urban gardening/farming. Any ideas? --Matthiasb (talk) 20:14, 25 July 2025 (UTC)
- Is Community gardening a sufficiently similar concept? Perhaps Community-supported agriculture or Commoning?-Gadfium (talk) 23:31, 25 July 2025 (UTC)
Toni Morrison and Umberto Eco
[edit]
Toni Morrison gave a speech at Howard University known as "The First Solution" on March 3, 1995. An excerpt from that speech is better known as "Racism and Fascism". It was shown on C-SPAN at the time, but I also think it may have been re-broadcast in April, but I don't know for sure. Within that speech, Morrison depicted a series of ten steps leading to fascism. Some aspects of that speech are a response to the claims made in The Bell Curve, as well as other attempts to marginalize black people in a way that is identical to the goals of fascism. Shortly thereafter, Umberto Eco gave a speech at Columbia University about his direct experience with fascism, breaking it down into 14 steps on April 25, 1995 (later published as Ur-Fascism).
I am aware of the convergent discovery hypothesis. Morrison and Eco were one year apart in age and were both writers. Morrison notably spoke about Eco in her famous Jefferson Lecture on March 25, 1996, almost a year after her speech at Howard. But, I'm not sure about Eco or if he has ever mentioned Morrison.
Is it beyond the realm of possibility that Eco happened to watch the C-SPAN speech, which then motivated him to write his famous speech at Columbia in April? Or is it the other way around? Did Morrison previously read something Eco wrote about fascism? Was Ur-Fascism previously published in another form in Italy before March 1995? Or, per the convergent discovery hypothesis, was this part of the emerging zeitgeist? Personally, I'm leaning against the C-SPAN hypothesis for one reason: the original audio is extremely difficult to hear or understand. Then again, this might just be an artifact of the current upload. It might be possible that the original audio as it was broadcast was clear. Viriditas (talk) 22:00, 25 July 2025 (UTC)
- Update: it turns out that the zeitgeist idea might be the best explanation. I just discovered this: Eatwell, Roger (Jul-Sep 1994). "Why are fascism and racism reviving in Western Europe?" Political Quarterly. 65 (3). Viriditas (talk) 23:04, 25 July 2025 (UTC)
- While you wait for an answer, Unibo has acquired Eco's library, though I'm not aware whether a public catalog has yet been made of his personal papers [18]. As (or, more likely, if ...) the papers are processed, part of your question might be answered about the genesis of Ur-Fascism. As far as I can see, Morrison's papers do not have an earlier version of her First Solution speech, only (presumably, though the catalog doesn't say so) the typescript she read from. Urve (talk) 01:07, 26 July 2025 (UTC)
- Morrison's speech states that the move to a "final solution" is not a jump but takes a first step, and then another, ..., and proceeds to dissect the full move into 10 steps. Eco's 14 items are different. They do not describe "steps" toward fascism, but are meant to identify key elements that commonly appear in fascist movements, not in any particular temporal order. The two are complementary approaches to a phenomenon; neither can have served as direct inspiration for the other. ‑‑Lambiam 06:00, 26 July 2025 (UTC)
- I've read most of what Eco wrote in his lifetime, and I don't recall his ever mentioning Toni Morrison; he did not tend to speak much about contemporary writers in any case. He wrote about his personal experience under fascism throughout his life, however, for example in the novels Foucault's Pendulum and The Mysterious Flame of Queen Loana, or in the essay collection Turning Back the Clock: Hot Wars and Media Populism, in addition to Ur-Fascism, the collection that includes the essay "14 General Properties of Fascism". So it was a question that interested him for a long time, and I doubt that Morrison's lecture had any influence on that. Xuxl (talk) 13:46, 26 July 2025 (UTC)
- Thanks, everyone. I think that pretty much covers it. I agree with what Lambiam wrote, and I appreciate them adding a link to the companion piece "Peril" (2008) over at the main article, as I neglected to add or discuss that material and will get to it soon. I marked this resolved as I don't see anything else left to discuss. Viriditas (talk) 22:36, 26 July 2025 (UTC)
July 26
[edit]Chirtaloo
[edit]Describing methods used to extract rent payments by British colonialists in India, The Aborigines' Friend and the Colonial Intelligencer (1855, p.28) says "their hands were pressed in an instrument of torture called a chirtaloo".
The only Google hits for that word are for the same article, in various publications.
Can we identify the device? Is it perhaps a mistranslation of a Hindi, Tamil, or other Indian language word? Can we find a depiction? Andy Mabbett (Pigsonthewing); Talk to Andy; Andy's edits 12:50, 26 July 2025 (UTC)
- This is part of a string of complaints made in a petition by inhabitants of Guntur, in Andhra Pradesh, where the language is Telugu. I see that words ending in -lu are often plurals, and ceyyalu is "hands". But you wouldn't call an instrument of torture simply "the hands". So here ends my guessing.
- One more guess: wikt:చేతులు (cētulu). This is the same word. Card Zero (talk) 14:52, 26 July 2025 (UTC)
- "Chirtaloo" seems to be a Telugu borrowing of "Chirt". "Chirt" is Scottish, a noun or verb meaning "an act of pressing or squashing that expresses liquid" [19]. Google translates తలు pronounced "taloo" to mean "heads" [20] (although "heads" translates to "talalu"). So it could have meant "heads press". The quote about it being used on their hands is on page 30. Modocc (talk) 04:42, 27 July 2025 (UTC)
- My money is on cētulu, meaning "hands", which I think is pronounced more or less like /t͡ʃeːtulu/, close enough to the presumable RP pronunciation /t͡ʃɜːtəlu/ of chirtaloo (compare the RP pronunciations of chirp and skirt), especially considering that /eː/ does not occur in RP, its closest alternative (see Received Pronunciation § Vowels) being /ɜː/. ‑‑Lambiam 08:11, 27 July 2025 (UTC)
- "Cētulu" is pronounced here. It does not match. Besides why would they call it "hands"? Iron presses were used as crushing torture devices such as the Scottish examples in Thumbscrew (torture) and "chirt" fits if one gets pressed hard enough. Modocc (talk) 08:29, 27 July 2025 (UTC)
- My money is on cētulu, meaning "hands", which I think is pronounced more or less like /t͡ʃeːtulu/, close enough to the presumable RP pronunciation /t͡ʃɜːtəlu/ of chirtaloo (compare the RP pronunciations of chirp and skirt), especially considering that /eː/ does not occur in RP, its closest alternative (see Received Pronunciation § Vowels) being /ɜː/. ‑‑Lambiam 08:11, 27 July 2025 (UTC)
July 27
[edit]Odd reference to The Times
[edit]Over at Nina Power, we have a ref to an article in The Times. However, the only url and indeed mention of this article, apart from WP, seems to be [21]. GALE is a database in the WP:LIBRARY.
Any thought on why this particular article, "Twitter no place for debate, judge tells intellectuals." is so obscure? Gråbergs Gråa Sång (talk) 10:25, 27 July 2025 (UTC)

- Perhaps because the legal case in question was a "storm in a teacup" (as we say). I wonder if anyone has verified that the article did indeed appear in The Times as detailed (though I presume the reprint in the source actually linked is merely more accessible)? {The poster formerly known as 87.81.230.195} 90.193.253.201 (talk) 14:02, 27 July 2025 (UTC)
- Gale (publisher) says "this was in The Times", and I consider that publisher generally reliable for that fact. But [22] or anywhere else I've seen has no trace of it. Gråbergs Gråa Sång (talk) 14:33, 27 July 2025 (UTC)
- The judgment reported on can be read here. Google search fails to find the article in the domain thetimes.com, and it is not listed in the list of articles by David Brown. Curiously, the judge in the case, who is well known, is Justice Collins Rice, not "Rice Collins". It is hard to believe that a seasoned correspondent like David Brown or the editorial staff at The Times would not have caught this. ‑‑Lambiam 14:35, 27 July 2025 (UTC)
- I read part of the judgement, quite interesting. Tried to find earlier IA versions of the Brown list to see if the article was listed at some point, but failed. Gråbergs Gråa Sång (talk) 15:11, 27 July 2025 (UTC)
July 28
[edit]French cheese with plums
[edit]Back in the 1990s I was in Paris, and was taken to a fromagerie and given a piece of sweet cheese, that included plums, to eat as a desert - much like one would eat a slice of fruit cake. In texture it was close to what we in England call bread pudding, or perhaps a dense cheesecake. I seem to recall that it was from northern France - maybe Brittany or Normandy.
Occasional searching over the years has not found it - can other Wikimedians do better? Andy Mabbett (Pigsonthewing); Talk to Andy; Andy's edits 16:01, 28 July 2025 (UTC)
- Far Breton? ---Sluzzelin talk 18:48, 28 July 2025 (UTC)
- That looks very likely, thank you. So not actually a cheese. Andy Mabbett (Pigsonthewing); Talk to Andy; Andy's edits 19:15, 28 July 2025 (UTC)
Location in Washington, D.C.
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Can anyone definitively identify the building in the foreground at left here? - Jmabel | Talk 19:44, 28 July 2025 (UTC)
- US Capitol staff entrance (using Google Image search with the woman cropped out). Andy Mabbett (Pigsonthewing); Talk to Andy; Andy's edits 20:18, 28 July 2025 (UTC)