Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Language/2012 September 27

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September 27

A picturesque equivalent of "job displacing", please ? .

Hello L.L. (Learned Linguists) ! I’m looking (to add some "Références culturelles" to the WP fr version of Replaceable You (The Simpson) for an office slang expression meaning that one, through obsequiousness, hard work, constant desk attendance, and usual covering for his department head, finally supplants him and takes over his job. I’m pretty sure that you don’t lack expressions as evocative as, say, "jaywalking" . In french , we’d use, speaking of the ousted one : il s’est fait grimper sur le dos (he has been back-climbed upon) , or, more vulgarly but quite usually il s’est fait baiser . Thanks a lot beforehand for your answers, t.y. Arapaima (talk) 06:47, 27 September 2012 (UTC)

You mentioned many different things. An employee who moves up by Machiavellian means might be called a "back-stabber". One who advances by obsequiousness might be called a "suck-up", or, more colorfully, a "brown-noser" (must I explain why ?). One who advances by hard work might be called a "ladder climber". While you didn't mention it, one who advances via sexual favors is said to have "slept their way to the top". Perhaps the term closest to what you want, a combo of all of those methods, is when somebody is said to have "clawed their way to the top". StuRat (talk) 06:53, 27 September 2012 (UTC)

Using others as "stepping stones" (as in (I'm Not Your) Steppin' Stone) would appear to have a similar meaning to il s’est fait grimper sur le dos... AnonMoos (talk) 11:38, 27 September 2012 (UTC)

There's also the "snake in the grass"; but English doesn't have a single term that depicts the brown-noser who is also a back-stabber. "Brown-nosing backstabbing Judas" about covers it, though. --Orange Mike | Talk 13:38, 27 September 2012 (UTC)

Thanks a lot for the enlightments ! You'll find some other french equivalents (along with credits, ;-)) in Part II of § "Références culturelles" of the french version of Replaceable You (note N°4) . T.y. (& see you later)Arapaima (talk) 08:24, 28 September 2012 (UTC)

You're quite welcome. I note that you also added "the casting couch", which really only applies to show business. StuRat (talk) 11:51, 28 September 2012 (UTC)

Resolved

Pronunciation of 'Haigh'

In the article on Haigh–Westergaard stress space, how is the surname 'Haigh' pronounced? What country/region does this name likely belong to? Thanks - DSachan (talk) 07:11, 27 September 2012 (UTC)

Harold Malcolm Westergaard was British according to one website (though another website says he was Danish), so I'm guessing that Haigh was British too. Haigh is a common British surname, usually pronounced /heɪg/ i.e. hay with a final g. (later note) Westergaard was later Assistant Professor of Theoretical and Applied Mechanics at the University of Illinois. Dbfirs

I've found Professor Bernard Parker Haigh (1884–1940) at last! He graduated from Glasgow University in 1904, so he might have been Scottish. His early work was on stress fracture in brass, and he was an instructor in applied mechanics at the Royal Naval College, Greenwich when he received his MBE in 1917. He later became professor there. He married Mildred May Cole in 1915, and his son Ian Parker Haigh of Rockstone Management in Torquay, Devon, UK might know whether he pronounces his name like high, hay or the same as Hague as I guessed. His son took part in Dynamic waves in civil engineering: proceedings of a conference organized by the Society for Earthquake and Civil Engineering Dynamics, held at University College of Swansea on 7-9 July 1970. Are Haigh and Westergaard sufficiently notable to have Wikipedia articles? Dbfirs 09:36, 27 September 2012 (UTC)

We have Haigh. Fwiw, I've known people with Haigh as a given name, and as a surname, and I know Gideon Haigh by reputation and from having seen him on TV many times. They all pronounce their names exactly like Hayg. Not Hi. -- Jack of Oz (Talk) 09:58, 27 September 2012 (UTC)

Yes, Jack is almost certainly correct in assuming (as I did) that Bernard pronounced his surname /heɪg/, but there are places like Haigh Hall in Haigh, Greater Manchester where the pronunciation is hay. Most people with this surname who have changed the pronunciation to High have also changed the spelling to match. B P Haigh doesn't appear on the Haigh disambiguation page. Should he? (Does having a stress space named after you make you notable?) Dbfirs 10:18, 27 September 2012 (UTC)

He was my great grandfather. You were right its not high or hay but the same as Hague. If you’ve seen the TV adverts for the wiskey Haig, it’s the same pronunciation, the h on the end being silent. Haighd2 (talk) 16:29, 17 November 2023 (UTC)

Spelling siz(e)ably

A possible odd word for spelling. Is it sizeably or sizably or both? If both, why? Regards, Sun Creator^(talk) 13:49, 27 September 2012 (UTC)

I probably need a coffee, but... How would you use such a word, however it's spelled? --Dweller (talk) 13:51, 27 September 2012 (UTC)

Perhaps, Wikipedia has grown siz(e)ably in recent years? Regards, Sun Creator^(talk) 14:05, 27 September 2012 (UTC)

Google ngrams indicates that the e-less version (sizably) has always been the preferred form, though "sizeably" is known, it is a later creation and has never been as prominent. And before anyone jumps on this as "damn internet fools can't spell", the "sizeably" form predates the invention of the internet by many decades, having started appearing in the 1920s. --Jayron32 13:54, 27 September 2012 (UTC)

Could the more common form in ngrams be a result of an British/American English issue? I first wondered about this spelling when finding that OED only has sizeably and that in it's British English dictionary. Regards, Sun Creator^(talk) 14:08, 27 September 2012 (UTC)

It is a British/American difference. The OED (you looked at "Oxford Dictionaries", which is a different dictionary) gives sizable as the main form but sizeable as a variant spelling and says "sizeable has always been by far the more frequent spelling". But both M-W and the AHD (American) give sizable as the first spelling. Compare ageing (British) and aging (American). Lesgles (talk) 16:37, 27 September 2012 (UTC)

Which was discussed at some length here a few weeks ago. Alansplodge (talk) 17:50, 27 September 2012 (UTC)

Wasn't János Ferenc Sizábly a famous Austro-Hungarian fighter pilot in WWI? μηδείς (talk) 18:06, 27 September 2012 (UTC)

I heard he was a big deal. --Jayron32 18:10, 27 September 2012 (UTC)