Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Miscellaneous/2013 August 8

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August 8

De-anting my flowers

I have some nice flowers growing in the garden, and would like to cut them and put them in a vase, but tiny ants seem to be the pollinators, which means any flowers I bring in are covered with ants. So, how can I get the ants off the flowers first, without destroying the flowers ? StuRat (talk) 11:17, 8 August 2013 (UTC)

Nearly all the advice I can find is about peonies; not sure if this will work for less robust flowers. But anyway, the standard procedure seems to be (1) shake the flowers, checking manually all the ants are gone (2) submerge the flower heads in a bucket of lukewarm water for a few minutes. [1] [2]. There are also a number of methods for keeping ants away from plants while growing, such as a borax mixture surround, or homemake ant traps. [3] 184.147.136.32 (talk) 11:48, 8 August 2013 (UTC)

As an aside, the ants are probably not pollinating, but engaging in nectar robbing. SemanticMantis (talk) 13:45, 8 August 2013 (UTC)

OK, thanks. StuRat (talk) 03:19, 12 August 2013 (UTC)

Scissors

Hey guys, I'm wondering about left-handed/right-handed scissors. I'm pretty ambidextrous, but my "dominant" hand is my left; and thus I naturally grip the scissors with my left. However, usually the scissors are "right-handed" ones, and my project is usually ruined or damaged as a result before I can think to switch to my right (almost just happened!) So my question is: what is the difference between the left- and right-handed scissors (like how can one not work well if you use the opposite hand)? And is there a technique to use the other hand with the wrong scissors (just out of curiosity, because it's not really a problem for me)? Thanks! --.Yellow1996.^(ЬMИED¡) 17:42, 8 August 2013 (UTC)

This is discussed at Scissors#Left-handed scissors. Is there something about that explanation that doesn't answer your questions? Dismas|^(talk) 17:49, 8 August 2013 (UTC)

No, that clears everything up. So it's the asymmetry at work! Thanks! --.Yellow1996.^(ЬMИED¡) 18:33, 8 August 2013 (UTC)

You also ask about "a technique to use the other hand with the wrong scissors". The technique is simply to pull with the thumb and push with the fingers to keep the correct pressure on the blades, but that doesn't solve the problem of line-of-sight. Dbfirs 18:35, 8 August 2013 (UTC)

The line-of-sight problem is quite easily solved by cutting with the scissors aligned with the centre of the body, so that you can look straight down on them and see both sides. Equisetum (talk | contributions) 18:45, 8 August 2013 (UTC)

(Edit conflict) There is indeed a technique for the use of "wrong handed" scissors. I'm left handed and often use right-handed scissors this way. As you can see from our article, the forcing of the scissor blades apart by the natural twisting motion of the hand while closing is the issue. To counteract this you need to use a (very unnatural) opposite twist - pushing out with the fingers and pulling in with the thumb hooked through the handle. I find this leads to a slight loss of precision and is uncomfortable for sustained use, but the efficacy of cutting is restored. There is a similar situation with serrated blades such as bread knives - the orientation of the serrations counteracts the natural inward twist of the right hand while cutting. To avoid cutting wedges a left-handed user must apply a deliberate outward twist to counteract not only the natural twist of the hand but also the serration induced twisting which now exacerbates rather than relieves the problem. Equisetum (talk | contributions) 18:40, 8 August 2013 (UTC)

Oh, yeah - I was so focused on my project I forgot about my second question! ;) Thanks you two for the info on using with the opposite hand; I'll give it a try next time I'm cutting paper for my project. --.Yellow1996.^(ЬMИED¡) 01:06, 9 August 2013 (UTC)

How low to pulls pants on the toilet

In Western societies, suppose one is wearing long pants, how low does one typically pull down their pants while sitting on the toilet? I usually enjoy pulling my pants all the way down to my ankles such that the pants are all scrunched up. I find that this lets me spread open my legs and allow for better expulsion of feces.

However, in public restrooms, I consistently observe others leaving their pants a little bit higher such that the pants are not scrunched up by the ankles. I would imagine many of them leaving the top of the pants at the knees or even mid-thighs.

What is more common in Western societies? I am a male if that makes a difference.

As a side note, I suppose that if one is wearing dress pants, one would have to leave the pants hanging mid-thigh or by the ankles if one would not like to sustain wrinkles in the pants right?

Thanks. Acceptable (talk) 18:29, 8 August 2013 (UTC)

I somewhat doubt there are any good statistics since in most Western societies, one thing that is common is to close and lock the door if you are sitting on the toilet and also don't purposely look under the door of a toilet unless you have a good reason (like seeing if there is anyone inside for those who don't lock the door when looking for an empty store). Or in other words, leave those doing their business, to their business unless perhaps you're a 'wide guy'. And it seems unlikely anyone would have undertaken polling on this sort of thing. Nil Einne (talk) 19:33, 8 August 2013 (UTC)

Oh, I don't know. We do have Toilet paper orientation. HiLo48 (talk) 18:36, 9 August 2013 (UTC)

Store, Nil? I can't imagine what would be being bought and sold in such a place. I think you may mean stall. We call them cubicles over here. -- Jack of Oz ^{[pleasantries]} 19:56, 8 August 2013 (UTC)

They may be not pulling them all the way down to avoid having them touch the floor. That's gross. Mingmingla (talk) 20:01, 8 August 2013 (UTC)

I doubt that wrinkles would set into the clothing in the span of time necessary to drop the average deuce. Dismas|^(talk) 20:30, 8 August 2013 (UTC)

Some public toilets have water standing on the floor, from mopping the floor, or from someone missing the target, so if you drop your trousers to the ankle, the pants may get wet. Edison (talk) 13:27, 9 August 2013 (UTC)

Being a bad dancer

This might not be the usual reference question but I notice the answers here are good quality and I'm embarrassed to ask anywhere else. I have a poor sense of rhythm and so unsurprisingly I'm very bad at dancing. Like even in free style dancing I know I look awkward and some friends have politely pointed out that I stand out in looking off. But I curious about this. How exactly does someone usually look very awkward when freestyle dancing?

Rjatodoum (talk) 19:27, 8 August 2013 (UTC)

Like this? SteveBaker (talk) 19:31, 8 August 2013 (UTC)

We do not have references on your appearance. μηδείς (talk) 19:33, 8 August 2013 (UTC)

Medeis is formally correct that there's not much we can tell you according to the letter of the law. I don't feel any strong compulsion to let that stop me from telling you, though, that I used to be a bad dancer, and now I'm pretty good. It just takes practice. Well, at least for me it did. Some people are naturals, and there may be people who will just never get it no matter how hard they try, but the people in the broad center of the bell curve are not very good when they start, but can get a lot better. --Trovatore (talk) 01:17, 9 August 2013 (UTC)

Fine Trovatore, you have given your advice self-admittedly against ref desk rules. The conversation is still closed according to ref desk rules. μηδείς (talk) 02:50, 9 August 2013 (UTC)

Both dancing and rythm are things that can be practiced and learned. Some people are naturally good at it. Other (like me) need an intellectual approach and learn more slowly. Try studying musical theory (just a little bit), to understand the basics of time signature in music. Most modern rock and pop is based on 4/4 time, meaning it has a repeating sequence of 4 beats, with the first one being stressed (and often the 3rd carrying a secondary stress). Some modern music and e.g. all waltzes are 3/4 time, 3 beats repeating with a stress on the first. Another important thing is controlling your center of gravity. If you are standing with weight on both feet, you can move neither of them. Or, conversely, if you want to move a foot to the beat, you must have your weight on the other feet well before the time of the beat! If you feel uncomfortable with freestyle, try studying a few set choreographies. Once you have the moves down pat, you will find it much easier to combine them in new ways to improvise. --Stephan Schulz (talk) 03:40, 9 August 2013 (UTC)

Well, a lot of dance music is more 8/8 than 4/4, although the distinction is not always completely clear (compare Beat Me Daddy, Eight to the Bar with the response Bounce Me Brother With a Solid Four). Also, for most dance purposes, it's better to think of the emphasis as being on the even-numbered beats (see backbeat). Clapping on 1 and 3 is a sure way to come across as an insurance salesman out of your social depth. (The Bobs have a song called Bulky Rhythm, with the lyric "I've got a bulky rhythm in my feet/I wanna put my handclaps on the downbeat".) --Trovatore (talk) 05:41, 9 August 2013 (UTC)