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Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Miscellaneous/2021 December 15

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December 15

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What's the correct term for an unusually well-rounded reference book?

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Probably they were made for people who didn't want the expense of buying one book that's just an atlas plus one book that's just an almanac plus one book that's just a thesaurus plus a large dictionary plus an encyclopedia etc. Sagittarian Milky Way (talk) 00:40, 15 December 2021 (UTC)[reply]

It's been decades since I last saw a copy of either Whitaker's Almanack or Pears' Cyclopædia; but back then, according to my (unreliable) memory, both had those aims (minus the lexicography), under the comforting (to the British market) assumption that British matters were of supreme importance and that it would be fine to deal with the rest of the world in summary fashion. A single book that attempted to do all that plus "a large dictionary" would I think be "unwieldy" or "disastrous" or most likely both. (Incidentally, for several years Japan had the three rivals イミダス, 知恵蔵, and 現代用語の基礎知識, which attempted to do this, but only for what was then new/current/newsworthy; the genre differed radically from those of traditional dictionaries or encyclopedias so perhaps merited a distinctive name, but I don't think that it ever got one.) -- Hoary (talk) 02:12, 15 December 2021 (UTC)[reply]
The Grand dictionnaire encyclopédique Larousse was a dictionary and encyclopedia wrapped into one. The circumlocution "grand encyclopedic dictionary" suggests that there is no one-word French term for such an encompassing comprehensive reference work. Its predecessors, such as the Grand dictionnaire universel du XIXe siècle, did not carry the attribute encyclopédique in their names, but were nevertheless primarily an encyclopedia.  --Lambiam 07:43, 16 December 2021 (UTC)[reply]

Secretaries of the United Nations

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Has anyone here heard of "Jackie Lane, the Secretary of the United Nations"?

No, no name that even remotely resembles this one appears in the list of secretaries-general. So this bloke would have been a secretary of a specific rather than general kind -- assuming that the matter wasn't introduced as an editor's brainfart (or mere fiction). (My comments on the article within which this nugget is embedded.) -- Hoary (talk) 01:51, 15 December 2021 (UTC)[reply]

The claim was added to the article on its second edit, by its creator, User:Simon.josey, who was hoping to write a book about his relative, judging by that user page. The broken link should go to [1], so I guess I'll fix that now.  Card Zero  (talk) 02:36, 15 December 2021 (UTC)[reply]
Thanks for the link fix, Card Zero. I read or misread the comment on publishing as referring to the promotion from draft to article -- though that promotion took place before before the comment was written. -- Hoary (talk) 03:39, 15 December 2021 (UTC)[reply]
No, your interpretation is correct, because although he wrote "26th November 2011" he actually wrote that on the 25th, at 9:30, before the article was created. (Hold on. Do we all get localised versions of the timestamps for events in page histories?)  Card Zero  (talk) 04:18, 15 December 2021 (UTC)[reply]
I wish I knew, Card Zero; but the wish is mild and I don't much want to find out. Finding out might lead me to spend hours reading a succession of more or less esoteric pages hereabouts, and I can't risk it. -- Hoary (talk) 06:17, 15 December 2021 (UTC)[reply]
The default is UTC, but in their Special:Preferences (or if they choose so, their Special:GlobalPreferences) users can set a different time zone; either that of their browser or by selecting a major city, from Africa/Abidjan to Pacific Ocean/Wallis.  --Lambiam 10:31, 15 December 2021 (UTC)[reply]

is kaya can be a girl name in turkey?

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But according to this website, it is a masculine name as evidenced here: https://charlies-names.com/en/kaya/ But i am very suspicious about this name as this is appear on one of the siblings in the instagram account the piplets of the turkish immigrants of uk. is kaya name similar to maya? 2404:8000:1005:555:C0EE:F0EE:B396:6DF3 (talk) 07:50, 15 December 2021 (UTC) I hope some people can use the name Kaya on girls.[reply]

Turkish given names fall generally into one of two classes: (1) Traditional ones, generally (but not always) derived from Arabic names and having a connection to Islam, often occurring in the Qur'an or being the name of a companion of Muhammed. These typically have a strict gender assignment. Ahmet is masculine, Ayşe is feminine. (2) Later ones, generally (but not always) a Turkish common noun used as a name. These are often unisex; an example is Deniz, which as a common noun means "sea". However, names in class 2 can still have a strong gender predominance. The name Işıl ("bright") is generally given only to girls; the name Savaş ("war") only to boys. Kaya ("rock") is generally given only to boys, but there is no rule other than convention or conformism keeping parents from choosing the name for a girl.  --Lambiam 10:16, 15 December 2021 (UTC)[reply]

Inflation in Britain

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I would be grateful if a user could please calculate for me how much 273 pounds sterling in 1954 would be today on the basis of inflation in Britain during this period? Thank you. ````— Preceding unsigned comment added by 93.172.129.31 (talk) 15:47, 15 December 2021 (UTC)[reply]

https://www.bankofengland.co.uk/monetary-policy/inflation/inflation-calculator
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