“Makemake” is the name of a celestial object, a dwarf planet. The “i” in name “Makemake” is pronounced different than in the English word “make” meaning create*. It is pronounced as in “maki”, the sushi roll. So it sounds like the two words “maki maki” instead of “make make” as two words. Is that something … Read more
As in the title, what does a quoted section in a name mean? Names like John “James” Doe (not someone’s name) Answer This usually refers to a nickname, or something that other people might call that person that isn’t their given name. So in the example you gave, that person’s formal given name is John, … Read more
I’ve recently come across the existence of the Dvorak Simplified Keyboard created by professor August Dvorak. And I’ve been looking for solid sources on how to pronounce the man’s name and I can’t find any. Answer In a comment, Michael Harvey wrote: I read an interview in Byte magazine about 1992 with John C Dvorak, … Read more
I recently got puzzled as to why American journalists spell the surname of the current Turkish president in articles written in English as Erdogan, with g (see, e.g., this article in New York Times). We spell his surname as エルドアン, which does not include the g sound. In the original language, Turkish, his surname is … Read more
British mathematician and logician Augustus De Morgan has De in his name. But the French physicist Louis de Broglie has de in his name. Why so? Something to do with being French or British? Answer This is a matter of style. In general, we capitalise the particles de, du, von, van, etc, if the owner … Read more
Mueller, Mueller, Mueller? Why isn’t Robert Mueller’s last name pronounced like “Bueller” of “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off” fame? Is there a correct pronunciation? I’ve been pronouncing it like Bueller for nearly 2 years. I’ve heard some people on TV pronounce it like I do, but most pronounce it “Muller.” Answer The simple answer is that … Read more
I have seen this flying robotic bird on youtube few days ago. Unlike other flying machines/robots, it flaps its wing to fly. Doing google, I came to know that they are called bionic bird. But, bionic bird may not necessarily fly. They can be used as a spying robots sitting on a wall. What do … Read more
What is a small tent kind of shop on the side of the road called? It can sell stuff like newspapers, snacks, coffee, and other small things. The only two things that come to mind are “a hot dog stand” and “street vendor” (though the latter is the person). So, I was wondering what other … Read more
Which word order should I choose in noun phrases with a proper noun component and a common noun component? the Elvis Presley singer v. the singer Elvis Presley the Star Wars movie v. the movie Star Wars the Thames River v. the River Thames the Lisp programming language v. the programming language Lisp the x … Read more
Variation lock seems more accurate by mathematical definitions Edit(to give it more context) Hey, can you tell me the combination of your lockbox ? Why don’t we say variation(or permutation)? The order matters in this case and combination is an unordered set of numbers. Answer Because most people are not mathematicians. I know that sounds … Read more
