Talk:box

Am I right in reading that the vulgar definition of 'box' is attributed to 'african-american' slang? because when I was in college in 89, that was the whitest-of-white-boy phrases for the young ladies. My friend's incredibly racist white fraternity even had t-shirts that read simply, "BOX." On the converse, I've never heard 'box' in african-american slang (not that i'm an expert).


 * I strongly agree. One of these days, when I get bored (in my copious spare time,) I'll search "AAVE" here on Wiktionary, then remove 9/10ths of them.  It's as if someone searched "vulgar" and tagged everything they found with "AAVE."  --Connel MacKenzie 06:50, 15 December 2006 (UTC)

Boxing etymolgy
The ancient Greek word pyx means fist.

The same word was used for a fist and a small box (i.e. one like a closed fist).

Pyx, pux, pyg, pug... words in ancient Greek all have the same root, fist - Pygmy for example was originlly a measure of length from the knuckles to the elbow.

The Latin speaking Romans seeem to have adopted the pyg/pug variant for pugilism, but exchanged the p for a b in pux to make bux the origin of our box - a container - except in the still current word pyxus which is a small box for containing holy wafers in the Christian church.

Steve Ainsworth
 * Our word to box comes to us from Middle English, which meant to "beat or whip (an animal)", derived from the noun "a stroke delivered with a weapon", "a blow of any kind" which doesn't really imply hitting with the fists as we see in boxing today. So a connection to Greek appears to be remote, if not coincidental ? Leasnam (talk) 16:53, 14 September 2017 (UTC)


 * What is the possible Proto-Indo-European origin of "box" meaning "blow"/"stroke"? 98.123.38.211 04:18, 15 April 2024 (UTC)

box
"(transitive, Jamaica, African American Vernacular) To punch (a person)" redundant to "to strike with the fists". I originally just added to the context labels, before I realized it's just the same sense twice. Was gonna speedy it but I'm not qualified to merge the translations. Mglovesfun (talk) 21:53, 9 February 2013 (UTC)


 * ✅: merged. - -sche (discuss) 05:24, 7 December 2013 (UTC)


 * Does this not need a usage note of some kind? In Englishes other than those mentioned above (e.g. British English) I don't think you would box a person (unless perhaps fighting them in the boxing ring): you would only box someone's ears. Equinox ◑ 14:32, 12 December 2013 (UTC)

wagon-box
Chambers 1908 has wagon-box, meaning "the carrying part of a wagon". Might be SoP, or not: we have a dated sense of box meaning the part of a carriage where the driver sits, which is pretty much the opposite! Equinox ◑ 10:18, 28 January 2019 (UTC)

RFD discussion: January–February 2019
Computing sense: "An input field on an interactive electronic display; a text box." The given citation uses the phrases "dialog box" and "text box" but never "box" alone. Really it just means a rectangle, no different from a "box" on a paper form, e.g. applying for a passport. I think this is a case of trying to get a bit too specialised when it isn't necessary. Equinox ◑ 10:20, 28 January 2019 (UTC)


 * Incidentally, a dialog box isn't an "input field" at all, so that bolded part of the citation is wrong. Equinox ◑ 10:21, 28 January 2019 (UTC)


 * I agree that the definition is not good, but a separate graphical user interface sense may be in order, as seen in these cites:, , . Only in the first is it clear that this concerns an input box. Here is an attempt at a definition:
 * A relatively small rectangular area on the screen of an electronic device such as a computer or a smartphone, possibly located in a window or presented on top of any windows, intended for communication with the user, such as a text box, dialog box, check box or list box.
 * Admittedly lengthish, but the def should exclude windows, which are also rectangular areas on a screen intended for communication.


 * That seems so narrow. "Usually located in a window" etc.? Why not have a sense for the box where you sign on a paper form for your passport? "A small rectangular area, usually printed in ink on a form, in which a human being is intended to write...": it's still just a damn rectangle. Equinox ◑ 12:55, 28 January 2019 (UTC)


 * Delete per Equinox, IMO. - -sche (discuss) 20:48, 4 February 2019 (UTC)

RFV discussion: September 2017–August 2019
Cannot find this Zhuang word in the usual sources. , I think you added this. — justin(r)leung { (t...) 00:10, 14 August 2019 (UTC)

 , where did you get this particular form from? The common form seems to be. — justin(r)leung { (t...) 16:38, 14 September 2017 (UTC)

I have seen on boxda (พ่อตา) and boxlwg (พ่อลูก) but I am not sure these are correct. Are the tones able to change in compound words (tone sandhi)? IMO, box sounds nearer to พ่อ than boh. --Octahedron80 (talk) 23:39, 14 September 2017 (UTC)

However, I also have my data at Pantip's Zhuang-Chinese vocabulary. (I collected all myself.) Only (父 = พ่อ) means father. The "box" seems it be an alternative form of (雄 = ผู้) instead (?) --Octahedron80 (talk) 02:11, 14 August 2019 (UTC)


 * I guess I asked you and forgot about it for 2 years haha. I'm not sure if Glosbe is reliable, though. Sawloih Cuengh-Gun has (岳父) and  (父子；父女) instead. — justin(r)leung { (t...) 06:00, 15 August 2019 (UTC)


 * I am not sure either. So I delete it. --Octahedron80 (talk) 07:46, 15 August 2019 (UTC)


 * alright, thanks! RFV failed. — justin(r)leung { (t...) 02:38, 22 August 2019 (UTC)

George Silver 1599 source
There's a document out there called "Paradoxes of self defence" by George Silver from 1599 thay mentions Box as a punch to the ear in the context of an assault. You can see it on wikteneur. Under his name. TheKingofMortalStreetSmashers (talk) 19:29, 11 April 2024 (UTC)