User talk:Garik

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[edit] Welcome!

Hello, Garik, and welcome to Wikipedia! I am CTSWyneken. Thank you for your contributions. I hope you like the place and decide to stay. Here are a few good links for newcomers:

Again, welcome! And if you have any questions, please do not hesitate to ask. --CTSWyneken 21:14, 10 May 2006 (UTC)(talk)

[edit] Brut y Tywysogion

I don't know where you get the idea that this translates as 'Brutus of Troy' or the like. Did you read it somewhere? If so, I'm afraid it's rubbish. The literal translation of Brut y Tywysogion is 'The Chronicle of Princes'. Brutus of Troy would be 'Brutus o Gaerdroea'. Anyway, I've made the necessary change to the page. Garik 16:15, 17 May 2006 (BST)

I think I got that from reading about Layamon's Brut, which is named for the character Brutus the Trojan. I fully admit that I could be mistaken, as I don't know a word of Welsh (okay, I know "y" means "the"), so thank you for correcting the information.--Cúchullain t/c 19:23, 17 May 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Cool (aesthetic)

Or something spelt like that...You sent a message to my IP account, (I apparently forgot to log in) that I had changed something on the "Cool" page...Unless it was my brother which is highly unlikely, I don't think it was I who changed it, as I have never visited that page on Wikipedia. And this edit appears under a page Stillwater Area High School. What cool has anything to do with it, I'm not sure. --—The preceding unsigned comment was added by Mientkiewicz5508 (talk • contribs) .

Hi. I'm assuming your IP address is 71.215.253.129 - if not, I'm afraid I don't know what the above relates to. I don't know what you might have written about Stillwater Area High School, but if you check the history of Cool (aesthetic), someone at your address made two changes on 26 June (both about some bloke called Ryan Aldridge). For obvious reasons, they count as vandalism (and the article gets a lot of that). Hope that helps in working out what all this is about! garik 09:00, 27 June 2006 (UTC)
Oh well I've never heard that name in my life. I highly doubt that that's my IP because I've seen my IP before and I remember that being shorter. Anyways thanks for clearing it up, hope the glitch or mixup or whatever doesn't happen again.--—The preceding unsigned comment was added by Mientkiewicz5508 (talk • contribs) .

Hi there, I got a similar message on an IP address assigned to this computer, regarding the same article. This IP address is part of a network for a large city government in the Northeastern United States which is open to many users and computers and I think rotates the address on each computer periodically (or may have multiple computers with the same IP -I really don't know how it all works). I've looked at the history of changes made by that particular IP address and saw a few pages that I have changed personally (I've even seen some edits I have made which show a different IP address as well) and many more that I most certainly have not touched or even looked at (IE: I was not the one responsible for the vandalized/poorly edited pages (I'd never even been to the "cool" page) ~I think the Public Schools and Public Library computers may be on the same network). Thanks for cleaning it up and for your message because it inspired me to create my own account.--—The preceding unsigned comment was added by Forthillrox (talk • contribs) .

[edit] Talk:African American Vernacular English/S-cluster metathesis

New response about metathesis. Voortle 22:25, 28 June 2006 (UTC)

This is interesting. All the examples existed in both forms from very early on in English. The big question is whether speakers of AAVE are particularly given to metathesis - which strikes me as unlikely, since I can't see why any particular group would be more prone to it than others - or whether the examples are all survivals from other English dialects (the fact that it's lexically determined points in this direction). I suppose there could be influence of some African language too, in which /s/+C is absent, but that's pure speculation on my part. garik 23:32, 28 June 2006 (UTC)

I've made some changes to the article btw. Hope you approve. garik 12:08, 29 June 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Gay from gaius

Hi! Thanks for your words on my talk page. I don't remember whether I was the one who wrote that the French "gai" comes from "gaius", but I could have been (perhaps not very sober). So:
I'm using now two Portuguese dictionaries about "gai" (and the equivalent Portuguese word: "gaio"). One of them claims "gai" comes from Latin "gavisus" (past participle of "gaudeo", "to rejoice"); the other one asserts that "gai" has a controverted origin and it might come from Frankish "gaheis".
The Dicionaire étymologique et historique... by Baumgartner and Ménard claims that it comes from "gaheis".
I as was saying, I don't know if I'm guilty, but, if I am, I am sorry! Best Velho 23:22, 1 July 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Reverts on Wales

Good recent revert of 217.206.141.89 contribs on the Wales page, aka 80.176.4.106 contribs, aka Celtic Harper contribs, . Forever pushing pov and nonsense on Irish related pages too! --—The preceding unsigned comment was added by 86.42.143.51 (talk • contribs) .


I agree with the edit revert on the Wales page, I was going to add the same information on the Scotland and Ireland pages but I agree the insert is irrelevant. Also I’ll give myself a slap on the wrist as I didn’t sign in when I did the edit. I was taken aback by the unknown posters comment, as I have experienced this unknown posters brand of spin and POV pushing before on the talk harp page. Funny enough, when the “Irish nationalist puppetmaster Bluegold”, was uncovered on the harp page, the anonymous postings and defamatory comments suddenly stopped. Although don’t assume I’m pointing the finger at Bluegold. It seems to me the unknown poster is quite immature for his years. Because of what has been said here I feel I have to defend my exemplary character and honesty. Celtic Harper 00:30, 11 July 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Gurrier

OK and thanks for the explanation (I'm a bit new to Wikipedia.--PeadarMaguidhir 09:42, 13 July 2006 (UTC)

You got so precious with nice PeadarMaguidhir about "gurrier", in which he is correct. So I removed "Aye" on the same principle. --—The preceding unsigned comment was added by 86.42.150.148 (talk • contribs) .

I really think you completely misunderstand the principle behind my correction of PeadarMaguidhir (who, I agree, seems very nice). It wasn't precious in the slightest and anyone else would have removed it too. The point was not whether he was correct in his musing - I'm sure he was -, or that the information was useless or already known. The point is that it wasn't information; it was just a question he didn't know the answer to! The following (which is what he wrote) is quite clearly for the talk page, not for the body of the article. It's just not encyclopaedic style!:
Could this come from the French "guerrier," (warrior), via the Hugeunots???--PeadarMaguidhir 07:49, 13 July 2006 (UTC)
I suppose I should have moved it there myself and not just deleted it; I just thought he might like to do it himself and rephrase the question as he wished. Deleting my note about "aye" is based on an entirely different principle - that the information is already well-known. However, while I'll grant you that most Irish and British people are well aware that the word is not restricted in colloquial usage to Ireland, I'm not sure that inhabitants of countries beyond these isles will be. I don't think the etymology shows that. garik 13:25, 21 July 2006 (UTC)
Hey, don't take it to heart. Thought you were a scotspovpusher. You are from Wales, that's diff. Had a bolliking with some of the former, sorry! --—The preceding unsigned comment was added by 86.42.154.62 (talk • contribs) .

As this first arose due to ignorance on my part (new to Wikipedia),and bearing in mind that there is a para on the Discussion Page on this subject, I suggest we close the chapter here.--PeadarMaguidhir 13:54, 27 July 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Curiosity about Irish name for Wales

Thanks for the question I’ll try to do my best. As far as I can see An Bhreatain and An Bhriotáin, are both are pronunced virtually the same. Irish and Scottish Gaelic spelling does look different, due to the spelling reform in Ireland in the 1950s. An Bhreatain Bheag does translate as little Britian, after a lot of head scratching I came up with a theory regarding that. As far as I can see the Gales from Scotland shared a land border between themselves and the Brythonic Celts in Strathclyde, Gododdin and Rhygedd etc. Therefore they would refer to the Welsh as A' Chuimrigh which is pronunced the same as Cymru. I think that referrs to the time when the Saxons came to Britain and the Brythonic speakers took a cohesive identity. But the Old Irish speaker would still referred to the Welsh as Britons and this term transferred to “little Britain” with the creation of Ofla’s dyke (sp?). When Welsh/Brythonic Celtic culture was pushed to the west and north including Cumbria. Perhaps this also indicates why Welsh, Scottish Gaelic and Irish all have a similar word for the English as Saxons. I could be wrong about the whole thing though.

I think the mix up with “An Bhreatain Bheag” meaning (Wales in Irish) and (Brittany in Scottish Gaelic) could be they are false friends and developed separately. But I don’t know why Brittanys called Llydaw could mean colony or something in Welsh?

About reclaiming Cumbria, I think Brittany would be better, as it has fantastic food, climate and lots of beautiful French women to the south. Although at the moment pissing off Zidane would be a bad idea! Celtic Harper 01:20, 14 July 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Melisende of Jerusalem

Greetings. I have a strange request. I am a Welsh learner but clearly do not have any expertise in translating. I rewrote an artical that I truely wish to see translated into Welsh. The artical is on Melisende of Jerusalem. In your free time, might you translate that artical for me? It would mean alot to me to see it written in "the language of heaven". Also, can you tell me for truth if Melisant or Melisent is the Welsh version of Melisende? I know that Melissendia appears in the Merionedd Lay Subsidy rolls of 1293.

thank you very much for any assistance you might be able to give,Drachenfyre 14:38, 25 July 2006 (UTC)

Hi, Drachenfyre. You really will have to wait a while, I'm afraid - at least until September. At the moment I'm making the sort of contributions that take half an hour at most - more a distraction from more pressing work than anything else. Translating a longish article would take rather longer and rather more attention to detail (ancient names need translating as much as other words). I'm afraid I don't know the Welsh version of Melisende either. Melisant and Melisent both look plausible. Melissendia looks too Latinate to be really Welsh, but I'll try to look into it for you. Hope that's some help! I'll do my best with translating as soon as work eases. garik 14:43, 25 July 2006 (UTC)

[edit] If it's good enough for the BBC..

Heya. Just saw your edit summary and thought I could detect a note of frustration. Know the feeling. I'm sure the BBC will do, though! I have a nice quote from Jan Morris about the cockles of Penclawdd, but alas, it doesn't mention breakfasts. :)

Btw, looking at your name, I think I recognise it. I was wondering if we have a non-Wikipedia mailing list in common..?

Telsa (talk) 15:32, 26 July 2006 (UTC)

Hiya. Yes, there may have been a touch of frustration there - not for the first time this week! Probably more to do with real work than this, which is a handy distraction. Thanks for the sympathy:)
I'm guessing you're on [|Clwb Malu Cachu](another great distraction). I'd noticed your name rang a bell too - I should have put two and two together before. The longer you spend in the global village, the more you start to realise it's not even a very big village... garik 17:18, 26 July 2006 (UTC)
Yeah, I am currently checking my watchlist for light relief too, since nothing is showing up on CMC (well spotted, that's the one). Damn, back to wrestling with the word processor then. Telsa (talk) 21:36, 26 July 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Welsh speakers from off

Hi. This doesn't actually relate to Wikipedia, but it always intrigues me to meet people who are apparently not Welsh but speak the language. What led you to learn it? garik 19:09, 24 July 2006 (UTC)

Hi! I didn't spot your edit on my talk page, it can get busy at times. I've had two welsh girlfriends, and went to univeristy at Bangor, which is bilingual. My mother also lived in north wales for a time. I can't speak welsh to save my life, but can understand it at any rate. I worked at a ski slope in Llandudno, and there are rather a lot of people that only speak basic english there. Odd. HawkerTyphoon 00:29, 28 July 2006 (UTC)

Dwylo Seisnig ar ein merched del ni... Ble mae'r byd yn mynd, tybed? ;) Da iawn am ddysgu deall nhw! Mae llawer o Gymry brodorol yn methu gwneud hynny... garik 08:38, 28 July 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Editing Jacob's Ladder (film)

I'm sorry, but they do say, in the end of the movie, that 'The Ladder' was in fact BZ, and BZ is in fact 3-quinuclidinyl benzilate, so, im reverting some of your edits. Quoted from the movie:

It was reported that the hallucinogenic
BZ was used in experiments on
soldiers during the Vietnam war.
The Pentagon denied the story.

Oh. and if the drug was entirely fictional they wouldn't have mentioned that in the end of the movie. --Neur0X .talk 23:57, 30 July 2006 (UTC)


But the quote you give does not state explicitly that 'The Ladder' (fictional) was in fact BZ (real). The 3-quinuclidinyl benzilate article also notes that "the film does not discuss BZ specifically".
It's arguable, I suppose, that the makers are implying that 'The Ladder' = BZ. In which case, they're either ignorant of the effects of BZ or are deliberately misrepresenting them. However, I see no strong reason to assume such a literal interpretation. It seems much more reasonable to assume that the mention of BZ at the end of the film is to show that the idea of experimental drugs being tested on Vietnam soldiers was not entirely fictional, even if the specific drug in the film was.
Besides, the fact they don't mention BZ by name anywhere else suggests to me that the ladder is not specifically BZ. It's the actual testing of experimental drugs on soldiers that crosses the fact-fiction boundary, not the specific drug.
Unless you can find better evidence for 'The Ladder'=BZ, then I think 'inaccurate' is the wrong word for the Jacob's Ladder article. garik 00:54, 31 July 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Cumbric

Garik, to clean up the Celtic article, you've removed all mention of Cumbric from it. Now there is only a link to the Cumbric language in the footnote of the article without any explanation. I think that Cumbric at least deserves some mention in the Celtic article. Enzedbrit 21:04, 7 August 2006 (UTC)

I agree. I think it deserves a mention - I foolishly hadn't realised I was removing the only mention of it. Sorry! Still, what was there already sounded so confused; I still have no idea what dialects the writer's referring to. It sounds as if they mean dialects of English, but then they say one of them's called Cumbrian. If dialects of Brythonic are meant, then 'influence' is just weird:
The Brythonic language of pre-Anglo Celtic speaking peoples influences dialects of some of its 
regions further from the south east, particularly those bordering Scotland and Wales and in the 
south west, the best known of which are Cumbric...

Anyway, I've just reinstated a - hopefully lucid - mention of Cumbric. Hope it's OK. garik 22:18, 7 August 2006 (UTC)

Thanks Garik! I think it's trying to say that Cumbric was a language and in this instance its presence remains in local words. Enzedbrit 22:31, 7 August 2006 (UTC)

[edit] License tagging for Image:Bont Fawr.jpg

Thanks for uploading Image:Bont Fawr.jpg. Wikipedia gets thousands of images uploaded every day, and in order to verify that the images can be legally used on Wikipedia, the source and copyright status must be indicated. Images need to have an image tag applied to the image description page indicating the copyright status of the image. This uniform and easy-to-understand method of indicating the license status allows potential re-users of the images to know what they are allowed to do with the images.

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This is an automated notice by OrphanBot. If you need help on selecting a tag to use, or in adding the tag to the image description, feel free to post a message at Wikipedia:Media copyright questions. 21:06, 10 August 2006 (UTC)

Answer as for Image:Canol_y_dref.jpg. Problem sorted. garik 22:36, 10 August 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Image:Canol y dref.jpg

Thanks for clarifying the copyright status and source of this image. theProject 22:18, 10 August 2006 (UTC)

Hi. As I just wrote under the image, I got this from German Wikipedia. I can only assume that if a picture can be used in one place on Wikipedia, it can be used on another. However, I can't seem to find a mention of this situation in policy. Nor could I find a way to move it directly from German Wikipedia to English. Anyway, I've put the question to Wikipedia:Media copyright questions. Do you have any advice? garik 22:22, 10 August 2006 (UTC)
Well, the German WP has a much more stringent policy than the English, that's for sure. Anything on German WP (that's been checked, of course) can be used on English, I think, but not the other way around. By the way, I've deleted your upload Image:Dolgellau3.jpg, as it seems to be an exact copy of the other image you uploaded. theProject 22:26, 10 August 2006 (UTC)
Thanks. garik 22:34, 10 August 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Dolgellau

Hiya. I don't suppose you know much at all about Dolgellau do you? Or know of any sources about it? I've expanded the article drastically from this to this (I've done the same to the Welsh version too), but the history section's based only very few sources and one's pretty old. It'd be nice if we could really expand all the articles about Welsh things in general - and Wicipedia really needs work.

Alas, I know less than nothing about Dolgellau, except what I read here. (I see what you mean about a drastic expansion by the way. Nice work!) I shall flip through the index of a history book of two, but that's the best I can offer. I agree about expanding things on both en: and cy: , but trust me, you wouldn't point me at cy: if you had seen the standard of my written Welsh. :( Telsa (talk) 08:15, 14 August 2006 (UTC)


[edit] Languages

Hi There! Can you translate my name in what language you know please, and then post it Here. I would be very grateful if you do (if you know another language apart from English and the ones on my userpage please feel free to post it on) P.S. all th translations are in alpahbetical order so when you add one please put it in alpahbetical order according to the language. Don't add any more silly languages please. Thanks!!! Abdullah Geelah 18:36, 19 August 2006 (UTC)

Slovene added. I think all the other ones I know have gone. garik 20:32, 19 August 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Aberdyfi

Hi Garik.

Can I seek your local(-ish) opinion on the correct spelling of Aberdyfi?

The National Assembly document http://new.wales.gov.uk/topics/localgovernment/localauthorities/gwyneddcouncil/?lang=en)]] gives Aberdyfi as does the BBC site http://www.bbc.co.uk/wales/northwest/sites/aberdyfi/

The article itself is titled Aberdyfi!

However User:Owain cites the Gwynedd Council document http://www.gwynedd.gov.uk/gwy_doc.asp?cat=3371&doc=9209&Language=1 as a reason to revert all changes to Aberdovey (despite the article title!!!)

I'm quite surprised at this because he spends much of his time deleting any reference to Gwynedd, Conwy, etc in articles and replacing them with "North Wales"! -- Maelor  14:46, 25 August 2006 (UTC)

I've put up a request for guidance on this matter (and others) on Wikipedia:Administrators' noticeboard/Incidents. Perhaps you would like to comment?
-- Maelor  19:38, 28 August 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Cantre'r Gwaelod

Hi Rhion,

I noticed that you created the redirect page from Cantre'r Gwaelod to Lowland Hundred. I have to admit though that I've never heard it called anything but Cantre'r Gwaelod, even in English. What do you think? Should it be moved or is Lowland Hundred really that common a name for the place? garik 11:27, 27 August 2006 (UTC)

I don't think I've ever heard it called the "Lowland hundred" actually. It probably should be moved to "Cantre'r Gwaelod". Rhion 11:46, 27 August 2006 (UTC)
Done. garik 12:19, 27 August 2006 (UTC)

[edit] World War II

I had a nice chuckle over your edit summary. "It's believed by some fringe historians that Wales and Scotland may have provided some moral support to the great English war effort." Jolly good show, chap. --  Netsnipe  (Talk)  17:00, 27 August 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Myrddin

Learning Cornish did no go as planned. In fact it didn't go at all, really. As for why, I'm half-Cornish, and more than half the signs there are written in the language. If you want to try Arthur with a lingustic spin, you might want to look into Irene Radford. She wrote the "Merlin's Descendants" series. "Myrrdin Emrys" is his proper name, Myrddin Emrys, Merlin of Britain. She actually came to the conclusion that Welsh was the closest relative of whatever is was Arthur would have probably spoken. --Ragestorm 17:37, 31 August 2006 (UTC)
It can be hard. I tried to learn some Gaelic when I came up to Scotland, but other things just keep getting in the way. Yes, since Arthur wasn't an Angle, Saxon, Jute or anything else Germanic (we can fairly safely assume) and very unlikely to be a Gael, he would almost certainly have spoken Brythonic (and was probably happy enough in Latin). Brythonic, of course, is the ancestor not only of Welsh, but of Cornish and Breton and (now really dead) Cumbric. garik 11:49, 8 September 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Eich ewn defnyddiwr

Do 'ch dde gwnawn anghywideb pryd yn dodi i mewn 'm ddefnyddiwr enwa. --—The preceding unsigned comment was added by Rhydd Meddwl (talk • contribs) .

[edit] The desire to make blue ;-)

Hi Garik, I just read your user page. Just wondering, have you ever taken a look at de:Wikipedia:Die Lust, blau zu machen? Steinbach (fka Caesarion) 16:54, 27 September 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Igloolik, Nunavut & Sanikiluaq, Nunavut

Please be careful when editing. Your two edits to Igloolik and Sanikiluaq accidentally removed material. Cheers. CambridgeBayWeather (Talk) 11:51, 29 October 2006 (UTC)

Sorry about that - I'm not sure what happened. I had a couple of pages open, some vandalised, so probably reverted the wrong ones. Apologies. garik 13:04, 31 October 2006 (UTC)
No problem. I thought it was probably that. Cheers. CambridgeBayWeather (Talk) 14:40, 31 October 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Rowan Williams

'an intellectual of considerable powers' ambiguous? If you say so.Roger Arguile 14:48, 9 November 2006 (UTC)

I do, though I confess the ambiguity is no way grave. It left me wondering what powers are meant. That is, is he an intellectual with great non-intellectual powers (such as good organisational, conciliatory or rhetorical abilities) or is he a man of great intellectual powers? I assumed the latter was intended, although he clearly does have great abilities that are not specifically intellectual. I realise it's a very minor point - the main reason I edited the paragraph was to correct 'sound byte' to 'soundbite', but the other phrase nagged me. I very much approve in general of your 'tinkering' by the way. garik 15:28, 9 November 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Cymru

Yes but on the edit page it says "Native name:Wales".But the native name is Cymru! --—The preceding unsigned comment was added by Sion glyn (talk • contribs) .

I understand your issue with this and I sympathise. However, I disagree that 'Cymru' is the only native name for Wales. It's an unfortunate fact that the majority of Welsh people don't speak Welsh, but it is a fact. For this reason, the majority of native Welsh people don't call their country Cymru in their native tongue. This does not make Cymru any less native, but I'm afraid it gives Wales a rather strong claim to being equally native. Since it is the form used by the majority, and since this is the English-language version of Wikipedia, Wales really should come first. Mae'n ddrwg gennyf, ond dyna'r sefyllfa.
Gyda llaw, 'swn i'n ddiolchgar pe baech chi'n arwyddo'ch negeseuon â ~~~~ yn y dyfodol! garik 22:48, 2 December 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Cymru 2

Ond os ewch i tudalen Iwerddon mae'r enw "Eire" o flaen "Ireland" ond eto dim ond mymryn sy'n siarad yr iaith yno!

Sion Glyn

Mae gennych chi bwynt, dwi'n cyfaddef. Wedi dweud hynny, efallai "Ireland" ddylai dod cyn "Eire". Y beth orau i'w gwneud, beth bynnag (cyn newid yr erthygl) yw codi'r pwynt ar y dudalen sgwrs. Mae Wikipedia i fod i ddatblygu trwy consensws.
(You have a point, I admit. Having said that, perhaps "Ireland" should come before "Eire". The best thing to do, anyway (before changing the article) is to raise the issue on the talk page. Wikipedia is supposed to develop by consensus.)
In general, by the way, I think we should write in English on English Wikipedia - I mean on talk pages and so on. This means we don't exclude non-speakers from discussions. And thank you for signing your name under your post, but please just write "~~~~" in future! It gives the date and time automatically and makes your user name clickable. garik 23:11, 2 December 2006 (UTC)

[edit] List of ethnic slurs

Please don't remove any tags ([1]) without addressing the corresponding concern. `'mikkanarxi 17:48, 9 December 2006 (UTC)

Sorry! It just seemed unnecessary to put the "citation needed" tag on a word so well-known as "wop". I was assuming that the tag was meant to cast doubt on the claim that such a word exists and refers to Italians, which seems rather strange. Presumably I'm missing a bigger picture? My apologies. garik 18:45, 9 December 2006 (UTC)
This is encyclopedia, colleague. And not all English speakers know all possible English slang. Rgds, `'mikkanarxi 03:36, 10 December 2006 (UTC)
No, you're quite right about that. And I see that it's best in an article like that not to make exceptions. What worries me is that a trend start to demand documentary evidence for almost anything, however uncontroversial (e.g. that Sean Connery is Scottish, or that air contains oxygen). Still, I quite accept that this is not one of those cases, and I suppose anyway that too much citation is preferable to too little. I promise to be less cavalier in future! Regards, garik 12:27, 10 December 2006 (UTC)
You know what? That Sean Connery is Scottish does require reference, believe me or not. I strongly suggest you to read wikipedia:Verifiability & WP:CITE. Your worry is groundless. Lists is a special case of articles: try to look at them as a collection of microarticles, each of which requires an independent reference simply because each item it a totrally different topic. Thereofre lists kind of List of ethnic slurs has so many references. Ordinary articles go easy on refs, with the exception of controversial issues, when people from opposite political camps pick each other on each and every word. `'mikkanarxi 05:39, 11 December 2006 (UTC)
You know what? That Sean Connery is Scottish does require reference

Yes, come to think of it, that was a bad example. Thanks for your advice. garik 11:29, 11 December 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Re: Linguistics

Thanks for your support dude. My current high school only has Spanish/Castillian and a not very good teacher at that. I plan on taking a couple of languages in college, I just wish I had an earlier start at it. As for the other subjects, Math: I am in calculus now and like it, Computers: I am typing you this message from my computer class, o well, and our high school doesn't have psychology, I wish it did. How did you teach yourself Latin, wikibooks? Give me holler whenever man.Cameron Nedland 21:12, 15 December 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Image of You on your Userpage

You should upload the image to Wikicommons. Per WP:NOT, images uploaded to Wikipedia are only to be used on articles or projects part of Wikipedia. I know others have done this, but I'm trying to start enforcement of the policy. I just got you because you just uploaded the image and I was browsing through the recent uploaded files. --MECU≈talk 00:01, 16 December 2006 (UTC)

I can't delete it, since I'm not an admin. But you should change the template I put on the image page to {{db-author}}. Use the same filename when you upload to Wikicommons so when this one is deleted, it will still show on your userpage. --MECU≈talk 00:11, 16 December 2006 (UTC)

[edit] cool(aesthetic)

Thanks. Sorry to have intruded on your article, it was really a first draft of an essay I'm composing. However, if you know any sites where I could publish things of this sort, that would be fantastic. Thank you. --DreadlocksRasta 16:14, 17 December 2006 (UTC)

[edit] cool (aeshetic)

I referred to the article "cool (aesthetic)" as yours simply for a lack of a better word for something composed by a general collective. The site you mentioned was not very good. It was more a mass of things, some of which made no sense, some of which had no point. This is my opinion of course, so I implore you take a look for you self. Quite coincendentally, or perhaps ironically, the site is riddled with lists of articles titled as "The Coolest" or "The Cream of the Cool". Thank you though. --DreadlocksRasta 16:14, 17 December 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Diolch!

Thank you so much for the Civility Barnstar! It was very kind of yours and very encouraging. :-) Kindest regards, Húsönd 00:17, 25 January 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Galicia

It is not fair what you have done with Galicia, you dont know anything about this country. Search in google about celtic nations and you will see. --193.144.48.15 17:11, 31 January 2007 (UTC)

I'm not much in favour of google searches as evidence - they don't really tell us much reliable (it's more of a who-can-shout-loudest contest). I sympathise, but my big problem with your edit is that Galicia is already mentioned in the next paragraph. A distinction (I think a reasonable one) is being made in this section between those Celtic areas where Celtic languages are still spoken (or were spoken recently enough to have been revived) and those Celtic areas where no Celtic language has survived at all. But now I look at the article, I see that the dictinction was not made explicit enough. I've edited it now to remedy this. There seems no good reason to me not to include the Galician flag next to the appropriate paragraph btw - those of Asturias and Cumbria (if there is one) should probably be included on the same basis. garik 17:26, 31 January 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Sorry to contact you here, but...

os dach chi'r Garik sy wedi anelu defnyddio ngeiriadur Firefox i, dw i wedi postio hyfforddiannau nawr ar y dudalen[2] 'ma. hwyl, Marnanel 19:07, 31 January 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Eskimo

I saw that you tagged the article here and just wanted to know what was wrong (other than the formatting) of the reference already in the article? I did also find this and this. Cheers. CambridgeBayWeather (Talk) 06:55, 25 February 2007 (UTC)

Hi. My problem is that the reference doesn't say that most Inuit find "Eskimo" highly offensive—just that it's considered derogatory in many other places, which is not the same thing. The most your two other sources say is that it's widely thought to be "rather insulting". None of the sources are very clear at all on whether they're talking about the preference of Inuit people specifically, or Canadians generally. It may be that Inuit people do dislike the word Eskimo intensely, but I have a suspicion that this might be more an assumption based on false etymology. (As in: "Well, I wouldn't like to be called an eater of raw meat!") As a Welshman, I have nothing particularly against possibly derogatory exonyms as such! This makes me wonder whether the Inuit really do. garik 11:34, 25 February 2007 (UTC)
I see your point. I think one of the problems here is that, in Canada at least, it's one of those obvious things that no longer needs defining, like "fire is hot and water is wet". A few other links, Random House, the dictionary maker, says to avoid the term but not really why. Native Languages mentions that it is "...is considered rude by many Inuit." MSN Encarta says some find it offensive as does the Information Centre on Aboriginal Health.
Most of the rest of this is original research. Basically everybody east of here will find the word Eskimo offensive to varing degrees. From here west the word can sometimes be used but genereally it's safer to use Inuit. Part of this has to do with a disagreement over the meaning of "Inuit" and "Inuk". They are used mostly to mean "The People" or "The Real People" and "Person" and this can only be used to refer to people that used to be called Eskimo. However, the people of the area where I live (Copper Eskimo/Inuit) call themselves "Inuinnait" (plural) or "Inuinnaq" (singular). This is defined by my dictionary as "a real Inuk; an Eskimo person". The dictionary further defines "inuit" and "inuk" (note they are not capitalised) as "person; human being", in other words everybody in the world qualifies. So in Iqaluit I would never be an Inuit but in Cambridge Bay I am an inuit.
By the way do you think there might be an article in the Kitikmeot Heritage Society? They have a museum and do some interesting work. CambridgeBayWeather (Talk) 21:24, 25 February 2007 (UTC)
We've got to be very careful of the "everyone knows" argument for inclusion. When I was growing up, I thought everyone knew that native Americans hated being called Indians and preferred Native Americans. I then learnt that some dislike Native American because they find it patronising (or that it imposes the name American on a culture that is older than the name) and that quite a lot prefer Indian. In any case, Wikipedia is strict about original research. I don't think we can keep the claim that most Inuit find the term Eskimo highly offensive until we get a source that says just that.
The Kitikmeot Heritage Society may be some help, though I can't see anything on their website. garik 22:36, 27 February 2007 (UTC)
I agree with the "everybody knows" and have rewritten the section based on what is available. It's odd but even the local library has nothing on it. As to the KHS I was wondering if you thought that it would make a good WIkipedia article or it was too non-notable. CambridgeBayWeather (Talk) 23:34, 27 February 2007 (UTC)
Thanks. CambridgeBayWeather (Talk) 00:25, 28 February 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Invitation, arrr.

Garik, you're turning up on tons of LGBT articles, so I'd like to invite you to join WikiProject LGBT studies. Will ye serve? Dev920 (Have a nice day!) 21:31, 28 February 2007 (UTC)

Hi, Garik, welcome to WikiProject LGBT Studies!

We are a growing community of Wikipedia editors dedicated to identifying, categorizing, and improving articles of interest to the LGBT community. Some points that may be helpful:

  • Our main aim is to help improve LGBT-related articles, so if someone asks for help with an article, please try your hardest to help them if you are able.
  • Most important discussions take place on the project's main discussion page; it is highly recommended that you watchlist it.
  • The project has several ongoing and developing activities, such as article quality assessment, peer review and a project-wide article collaboration, all of which you are welcome to take part in. We also have a unique program to improve our lower quality articles, Jumpaclass, so please consider signing up there.
  • If you have another language besides English, please consider adding yourself to our translation section, to help us improve our foreign LGBT topics.
  • If you're planning to stay, have a square in our quilt! You can put anything you want in it.

If you have any questions, feel free to ask on the talk page, and we will be happy to help you.

And once again - Welcome!

And you're still in time to get today's newsletter...

Drop by the WT:LGBT talk page if you've got any questions, or pick out one of the more active editors there and bug them on their user talk page; most don't bite. =) — coelacan talk — 03:56, 1 March 2007 (UTC)

[edit] LGBT WikiProject Newsletter

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[edit] LGBT WikiProject newsletter

[edit] "Why remove my response?"

There's a bug in the Wikimedia software where, on talk pages, it occasionally fails to catch "edit conflicts" and instead, just silently wipes out the earlier edits. That's apparently what happened on Talk:Wales; I certainly had no intention of removing your response -- please accept my apology.

Atlant 12:39, 3 May 2007 (UTC)

No problem. I guessed it was probably something like that. garik 12:41, 3 May 2007 (UTC)

[edit] my sister

Hey, i am sorry. My sister found my password on a iece of paper and thus thought it would be 'funny' to vandleise wiipedia. Sorry, i have changed it. Thankyou for enlighteneing me. Kind regards, Zesty Prospect 15:09, 9 May 2007 (UTC)

[edit] trlkly: RE hate autosigner

My bad, I should have been more specific with my terminology. What I hate is the bot that goes around signing previously unsigned posts. "The previously unsigned comment was written by <X>" just sounds elitist to me. And useless. Why can't it just sign it normally so that nobody has to use the tildes? Is it really necessary to point out who is a newb or just plain forgetful?

Oh, and I intentionally didn't sign this comment, hoping it would give you an example.

[edit] St.York

Sorry, I hadn't thought off that. The last time I was active the page was a flurry of constant vandalism, bickering, and protection requests. Also, I hope this is the proper way to send a message?

Anyways thanks for clearing that all up. St.York 03:46, 22 May 2007 (UTC)

[edit] LGBT WikiProject Newsletter

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[edit] LGBT WikiProject Newsletter

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[edit] Re. Question regarding the acquisition of animal "language"

The two components would be cognitive/non-cognitive or mental/sensory if defined in that way. Your earlier reply suggests that the cognitive aspect of acquiring a language poses as much a barrier to learning animal communication as would the physical part. Since the two cannot be separated (ie. L1 acquisition is not a 100% mental task), analyzing the cognitive barrier on its own would not be useful.

Are you saying that because something is innate, it cannot function as a spandrel? Pendragon39 13:21, 25 August 2007 (UTC)

Sorry. It's been a remarkably busy couple of weeks, and I completely forgot about your message. Now things are quieter and I can reply.
It's not clear to me that something can "function" as a spandrel. The term refers to the origins of something, not its function. Language – or, more likely, certain components of human language – may well be spandrelic (probably not a real word, but should be) in origin. But of course such components would also be innate. My distinction is between innate and cultural. On one extreme, the shape of the vocal tract is very clearly innate; on the other, the fact that the Welsh word for dog is ci is clearly cultural. It is rather less certain to what extent a good deal of the components of human language are cultural or innate(Principles and Parameters theory really muddies the water here). I agree that analysing the cognitive barrier to the acquisition of non-human communication systems alone would be to exclude something important. But I suppose I do believe that the cognitive barrier is more important. Imagine if you had a computer like Stephen Hawking's that could produce all the sounds a dolphin can just by pressing the right button. You would still be an enormous distance away from acquiring dolphin "language". garik 16:26, 9 September 2007 (UTC)
Hello :) Yes, I forgot about it too and assumed it was too far-fetched to be worth replying to *blush*
I should have wrote "function as if it were a spandrel". For example, can feral children learn animal communication? Or can hunter-gatherer groups learn it by virtue of necessity? Unfortunately these situations are rare in the modern world.
If a function is a by-product it is called a spandrel. Only solutions to specific problems (affecting the fitness of the individual) are considered adaptations. Is written language an invention or a spandrel? It does appear to be a by-product of spoken language despite illiteracy.
I think my problem with the word 'innate' is that I keep thinking it implies exclusivity. Obviously language is innate to many species. Dolphins can learn dolphin communication, and (we assume) that non-dolphins cannot.
Thank-you for taking the time to consider my random ramblings. I just wonder about things sometimes... Pendragon39 20:06, 9 September 2007 (UTC)

[edit] LGBT WikiProject Newsletter

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[edit] Invitation to vote

You as someone who participated in the editing of English people article might be interested in taking part in this discussion. Feel free to state your opinion. M.V.E.i. 16:40, 24 September 2007 (UTC)

[edit] LGBT WikiProject Newsletter

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[edit] Requests for Mediation

Your Voice Counts!

Hello Garik! Its been a LONG time since we spoke! Wow! Didnt know you were family too! lol. Anywhos, I am looking for mediation on the below issue, if you could express an opinion as to weather we should allow countries to have colored borders and title headers. I'd be greatly appreciative!

Cymru
WalesWales
Flag of Wales Coat of arms of Wales
Flag Coat of arms

Greetings Wales community! We need your Voice! We need mediation and impute from the wider community who regularily contribute to articals of Wales interest. At issue is the use of a distinctive border around the country info box, as well title bar. The issue seems to have become a crusade against Wales by certin editors, who have almost never contributed to and practically never visit (by their own admission) the Wales page. I do not tust the motives of the editor, who seems to be stalking my edits and reverting them purposefully. This editor even dismisses the colors of Wales red and green saying that Wales does not have any official colors! (quote: "I imagine that this use of "national colours" (of which Wales has none by custom or tradition)...", Unfortunatly, I must deal with these cyber bullying tactics if I am to contribute here. However, I implore the Wales commmunity to weigh in on the topic of allowing info box borders and title headers. Please submit views on Template talk:Infobox Country and talk:Wales. If the wider Wales community decides not to support a border and title header color in the colors of Wales then I will withdrawal from this position. However, I and other editors do feel it makes the Wales page far more distinctive. Sincerly, David Llewellyn♦Drachenfyre♦·Talk 05:59, 14 April 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Welsh accent

Hello there Garik, I have been listening to sound accent/voice clips on the BBC Voices 2005 study and have to say have noticed there seems to be some siliarities in the pronounciation of some words between Welsh and North-East English - inpaticular the non-Newcastle accents.

Mam is used for mother (though this is not unique), year is pronounced 'yer'. The 'O' sound in No is often often flat and long, and in general some of the vowels have similarities.

Have you heard the north-east accents? 167.1.176.4 (talk) 11:02, 13 May 2008 (UTC)

I've heard people say similar – I know a couple of Northumbrians (though, as you say, not Newcastrians) who get regularly mistaken for Welsh. I've never seen anyone do a detailed comparison, though it's certainly an interesting fact. I'd assume it was simply coincidental (the way many South-east Asian accents are said to sound a bit Welsh), though I suppose arguments could be made for there being some deeper reason. Are you bringing this up in relation to a particular article by the way? garik (talk) 12:03, 13 May 2008 (UTC)
Hello again Garik, no this wasn't really inreference to an article, i don't think i've seen any studies on the subject and would suggest no proper ones have taken place, shame though cos i bet it has entered a few peoples minds, Wiki would have us on that Original Research rule anyhow.
The north-east is a strange one as it seems to be a 'germanic' safety seat - if you know what i mean by that (think labour safety seats), people like to put the accent and vowel tones (it is a bit sing-song though i'd suggest not as much as Welsh) down to the Danes or what have you. Anyway i just wanted to know your thoughts on it. Influence from Gododdin ? 167.1.176.4 (talk) 12:37, 13 May 2008 (UTC)
It would be nice to think that it's something to do with a Brythonic substrate, but, to be honest, I'm not sure how you'd ever get the right sort of evidence to reject the null hypothesis of coincidence. What's more, I've known English-speaking Scandinavians before now who get mistaken for Welsh. I think it's just a reaction to any accent with that rising intonation. garik (talk) 17:47, 13 May 2008 (UTC)
Aye that Gododdin suggestion was a bit wild wasn't it.
Anyway on the BBC Voices thingy, there is one accent that the site describes at Cardiff and it sounds 100% like a full-on strong Glasgow accent, i was shocked! I still dont really know it fi was a mistake or not. 167.1.176.4 (talk) 07:58, 14 May 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Pervert

I have never in my life looked up pervert on Wikipedia. I believe you have the wrong person as I have my own account. 70.240.221.74 (talk) 17:33, 9 June 2008 (UTC)

If you look here, you'll see that a user of your IP address did indeed edit the Perversion article. In fact, the only edits from this address have been to edit Perversion and to write the above message on my page.
However, because of the way some internet providers work, multiple computers may share an IP address (as is explained at the bottom of the talk page for this address, so it may well not have been you personally who made the edits. They did, however, come from this IP address, which is where the warning was directed. The answer is to create your own account, which you say you've already done. So no worries. garik (talk) 17:53, 9 June 2008 (UTC)

[edit] LGBT WikiProject Newsletter

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[edit] England/ Wales/ Scotland/ N. Ireland

Hallo, I thought that I'd contact you here because, otherwise, the discussion will turn into a full-on debate and take over the page! I'm trying to think of any countries which contain countries that are also part of the same country and I cannot. I'm not saying that there aren't any, just that I can't think of any. If you can help me, I may be forced to concede. With just about all of the countries that I can think of, I can "name" the inhabitants, for example; Chinese people come from China, Senegalese, from Senegal, Finnish from Finland, Russian from Russia, Egyptian from Egypt. What do you call someone from the U.K.? I didn't mean that because the U.K. was a kingdom, that prevented it from being a country but that it was a collection, for want of a better word, OF countries, both declared and recognised and therefore, how could it be a country? (Zippstar (talk) 19:30, 11 June 2008 (UTC))

Hi. You seem to be asking several different questions here:
1) Are there any other countries that contain countries?
Hard to say. the UK is certainly unusual in this regard, but then it's unusual in other respects too. The best modern example is Spain. This contains Catalonia and part of the Basque Country. Admittedly, not everyone would call Catalonia a country, but very many people certainly would. And no one would deny that Spain is a country. A good historical example is the Soviet Union, which was itself a country, but contained within itself numerous smaller countries.
2) Are there any other countries where the name for the inhabitants is related to the name for the country?
How about the Netherlands? And we don't call inhabitants of the USA Usanians — not in English anyhow. The thing is that this is specific to the English language in any case.
3) What do you call someone from the UK?
British or (as a noun) a Briton.
4) Can a collection of countries be called a country?
Yes, why not?
So people from Britain are called Britons, and some of those Britons are Welsh, others English, other Scottish, and others Northern Irish. Some, who have lived all over the country, call themselves just British. But this still has nothing to do with whether or not the UK is a country. It is a Kingdom made up of smaller parts that are themselves countries. None of this means that the UK itself is not also a country. I don't understand your difficulty here: why can't a collection of countries also be a country? Even if the UK were the only example in the modern world of this phenomenon, there's nothing to say that it can't be so. garik (talk) 20:20, 11 June 2008 (UTC)
Hallo, again.

You have raised some good points. Indeed, people from the Netherlands/ Low Countries/ Holland, we call Dutch. Is Britain not the island comprising England, Scotland and Wales? Northern Ireland is not part of Great Britain or the British Isles, so why would its inhabitants be called British? The U.S.A are, of course, the United States of America and the inhabitants are known, simply, as Americans. Difficulty? I think that, probably, for the first time, I'm questioning my notion of what a country is. (I hope that I'm not the only one.) I've never known the U.K. as a country but a nation of countries, likewise the Soviet Union (C.C.C.P.), as my father lived there, specifically Russia. What did we call those people? I'm always questioning and my family come from a land that had its own rules before borders were drawn by foreigners, so maybe I'm used to seeing things differently. Thank you for your input. Feel free to write to me any time.(Zippstar (talk) 22:04, 11 June 2008 (UTC))