Talk:single

RFV

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Rfv-sense: Designed for a single use; not reusable. Example sentence the anti-aircraft rocket is fired from a single use launch platform. This looks like a use of single to mean 'only one; not more than one' (which bizarrely we seem to lack). I don't know how to use 'single' to mean 'not reusable'. Mglovesfun (talk) 22:17, 23 November 2011 (UTC)

Actually that sense is worded 'Not accompanied by anything else.' which I think is wrong. Two things can be not accompanied by anything else, without being 'single'. Mglovesfun (talk) 22:19, 23 November 2011 (UTC)

"Not reusable" is a definition of "single use", not of "single". I suggest that we follow Martin's advice and delete the added sense, then change "Not accompanied by anything else" to "not more than one". Dbfirs 13:36, 25 November 2011 (UTC)

No citations, so rfv-failed and sense removed. Mglovesfun (talk) 21:39, 5 April 2012 (UTC)

Dutch pronunciation

@Mnemosientje, Rua, DrJos, Lambiam, Morgengave Is it me or is the pronunciation with /ɡ/ (which therefore rhymes with jingle) (mostly?) used for the (un)romantic senses while the one without the plosive (homophonous with singel) is (mostly?) used for the musical senses? ←₰-→ Lingo ^Bingo _Dingo (talk) 11:10, 13 January 2020 (UTC)

I use a pronunciation with /ɡ/ in both cases. I can't recall hearing /ˈsɪ.ŋəl/ used for any sense of single in Dutch. Then again I don't often speak about the musical sense of this word often except with my own (late Millennial) age group, which tends to not Dutchify pronunciations as much as older generations might. Perhaps older people use the /ˈsɪ.ŋəl/ pronunciation. — Mnemosientje (t · c) 11:26, 13 January 2020 (UTC)

If someone complains that their partner is not romantic, does that make them a single?:) What I know (or think I know) is that I’ve only heard the pronunciation /ˈsɪ.ŋəl.tjə/ for the diminutive, never */ˈsɪŋ.ɡəl.tjə/, always in the sense of a 45 RPM music record (“we hebben nog tijd voor een singletje, en dat wordt Laat me nu toch niet alleen”), making it a homophone of singeltje. Of course, when you hear it, you can’t be sure how it would be written. And the last time I heard the term may have been in the 80s.  --Lambiam 11:58, 13 January 2020 (UTC)

@Lambiam Off-topic but out of curiosity, what is your exact relationship to the Dutch language? On your userpage you note nl-2, but you have shown yourself in various discussions here on Wiktionary to be quite knowledgable about the language and Dutch culture. If you last heard this word back in the '80s, I assume you must have lived here at some point in your life? — Mnemosientje (t · c) 15:27, 13 January 2020 (UTC)

I spent several extended periods in the Low Countries as well as Suriname and try to keep up by reading Dutch news articles and talking Dutch whenever I meet Dutch-speaking colleagues, most of whom are happy to serve as knowledgeable informants for brandende vragen I have collected about their language and multi-faceted culture. But things are changing so quickly that I can’t trust what I once knew to be the case. I remember Laat me nu toch niet alleen mainly because I could not understand how people could listen to this without a bout of nausea.  --Lambiam 17:21, 13 January 2020 (UTC)

If you'd like to, I think you could easily justify using a nl-3 Babel code. I didn't know Laat me nu toch niet alleen, but it is quite saccharine, yes. The fanvids for it on YT are also full of New Age imagery, pushing the naffness up to eleven. ←₰-→ Lingo ^Bingo _Dingo (talk) 10:20, 14 January 2020 (UTC)

Cool! My default assumption is always that people on internet forums are all late teens or early twenties, so I was curious when you mentioned you lived through the eighties. And I agree with LBD, nl-3 is probably warranted. Or rather: I don't seem to master my 2s as well as you master Dutch, so it makes me skeptical about my own Babel... — Mnemosientje (t · c) 11:10, 15 January 2020 (UTC)

@Lambiam, Mnemosientje Ah, I completely forgot about that reading of romantic partner. Do you think significant other is a better alternative?

I checked a few NL-based radio DJs' pronunciation of single (musical format) yesterday. They all used /ˈsɪ.ŋəl/, which foremost suggests that the sample wasn't exactly representative but also proves that this pronunciation is still current. I think the speakers were in their 30s or 40s. I'm in my mid twenties (no idea where that places me in the great generational classification scheme, apart from not being a baby boomer) and don't think I've previously heard /ˈsɪŋɡəl/ in the relevant sense, so I don't think the pronunciation is purely a generational thing. Mnemo, could it partially depend on the musical scene? I don't think that singles are a big thing in the US except for hip hop and dance, so those Dutch scenes could be more influenced by the English pronunciation. ←₰-→ Lingo ^Bingo _Dingo (talk) 10:20, 14 January 2020 (UTC)

Since significant other is defined as “one’s romantic partner”, substituting this is kicking the can down the chain of links. English single also defines this sense as someone without a romantic partner. The proper solution IMO is to have an entry romantic partner with – next to {{&lit}} – the proper idiomatic sense. I think also romantic relationship deserves such treatment.  --Lambiam 11:49, 14 January 2020 (UTC)

@Lambiam I think that a discussion on whether to add an entry romantic partner is a matter for the Tea Room; OneLook for one doesn't show any entries for it in other dictionaries and perhaps we simply don't have enough senses at romantic (adjective). ←₰-→ Lingo ^Bingo _Dingo (talk) 09:37, 15 January 2020 (UTC)

@Mnemosientje, Lambiam Are you happy with the current state of the pronunciation section? ←₰-→ Lingo ^Bingo _Dingo (talk) 10:33, 8 February 2020 (UTC)

Looks fine to me! — Mnemosientje (t · c) 11:00, 8 February 2020 (UTC)

I find no fault with it.  --Lambiam 11:13, 8 February 2020 (UTC)

single woman

Tickled to notice that Chambers 1908 defines "single woman" as both "an unmarried woman" and "(obsolete) a whore". Equinox ◑ 10:55, 22 December 2022 (UTC)

RFV discussion: March–May 2023

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single

First verb sense: to single out. All the citations use single out and not single. Equinox ◑ 22:44, 9 March 2023 (UTC)

• Failed and quoted moved to single out Wonderfool69 (talk) 20:41, 21 May 2023 (UTC)