Comments on: Can anyone tell me who these people are?

Question: Can anyone tell me who these people are?

Katemonkey — Wed, 07 Jan 2004 04:48:19 -0800

Can anyone tell me who these people are?

By: Irontom

Irontom — Wed, 07 Jan 2004 05:05:26 -0800

2nd item from the left on the 2nd row looks like Mark Twain to me.

By: contessa

contessa — Wed, 07 Jan 2004 05:09:36 -0800

The one on the bottom row, 3rd from right, in the green shirt with the big collar looks like Shakespeare to me. And the guy 3rd from left in the top row (blue suit) looks a little like Albert Einstein.

By: misteraitch

misteraitch — Wed, 07 Jan 2004 05:16:28 -0800

2nd row, no. 5 made me think of Sir Francis Drake.

By: johnny7

johnny7 — Wed, 07 Jan 2004 05:21:49 -0800

Is that Britney on the right?

By: vacapinta

vacapinta — Wed, 07 Jan 2004 05:23:01 -0800

1.1 Socrates?
1.2 Freud

2.2 Edgar Allan Poe?

By: vacapinta

vacapinta — Wed, 07 Jan 2004 05:34:39 -0800

and 2.5 is i think Kepler

By: vacapinta

vacapinta — Wed, 07 Jan 2004 05:56:39 -0800

2.3 is Chekhov I am certain

By: JollyWanker

JollyWanker — Wed, 07 Jan 2004 06:10:07 -0800

kate, maybe a closer shot would clear up the text - and provide a better clue for a reader of Chinese who the hell they were supposed to be? Anyways, I think 1.1 is Charlton Heston... I mean, Moses...

By: Dagobert

Dagobert — Wed, 07 Jan 2004 06:30:52 -0800

2.7 is Uncle Joe I think.

By: iconomy

iconomy — Wed, 07 Jan 2004 06:56:11 -0800

I see Mark Twain and Edgar Allen Poe. I'm intrigued by the women, as they both look very modern. I also like the way the women had to wear pink. Judging by their garb though - almost like a sweater with a collared shirt under it, they may be more recent than the men. By the way, these are Nationa Famous Persons, without the L in National, Katemonkey ;) This is the best post yet on ask metafilter.

I have to go to work now, but will sleuth later...yay!

By: taz

taz — Wed, 07 Jan 2004 07:04:39 -0800

I'm almost positive that the first one is Walt Whitman. Having a look 'round for some of the rest...

What a fun question, Katemonkey!

By: widdershins

widdershins — Wed, 07 Jan 2004 07:06:17 -0800

This is absolutely a great AskMe question. I don't have any suggestions beyond the obvious ones, but my curiosity is really peaked! Where are the Chinese-reading Mefites when we need them??

By: languagehat

languagehat — Wed, 07 Jan 2004 07:47:21 -0800

I don't read Chinese myself, but I've posted the question; let's hope some of my Chinese-literate readers respond before we all perish of curiosity.

By: Katemonkey

Katemonkey — Wed, 07 Jan 2004 07:50:30 -0800

aha...thank you, iconomy. I wouldn't want to be accused of misrepresenting the Nationa Famous Person.

And I don't have bigger pictures of the images, I'm afraid. I scanned these in while I was working, and now...I'm not. Plus, they're currently in a box somewhere, and I'm not sure where they are.

I think one of the women might be Jane Austen. But I'm not sure which.

By: taz

taz — Wed, 07 Jan 2004 07:53:50 -0800

I agree with Einstein, Shakespeare, Twain, Poe, but I think maybe #5 on the second row may be Sir Walter Raleigh. The women are difficult, but if I had to guess (and disregarding the modern dress), I would say pehaps Mary Shelley for the top, and Elizabeth Barrett Browning for the bottom...

By: crunchland

crunchland — Wed, 07 Jan 2004 08:06:46 -0800

I'm thinking that it's a safe bet that they're all authors, or at least characters in books, since the things are bookmarks.

That said, I think the first one is Karl Marx.

By: taz

taz — Wed, 07 Jan 2004 08:51:46 -0800

I think crunchland is right; also, now I'm thinking that #1 is Tolstoy. And could #3 on the bottom be Thoreau? (This guy's a toughie.)

By: filmgoerjuan

filmgoerjuan — Wed, 07 Jan 2004 08:52:07 -0800

I think the "woman" at the end of the first row (in pink) might actually be Percy Bysshe Shelley.

And could the guy on the far left of the second row be William Blake?

By: languagehat

languagehat — Wed, 07 Jan 2004 08:59:45 -0800

taz is right about Tolstoy, but we're unlikely to get definitive answers on the others; as a couple of Chinese-literate readers have complained on my blog, the scans are too poor for reading except for the one that's blown up at the bottom:

...the scan is too blurry to make out the characters. The one which is scanned larger at the bottom is Tolstoy, though (Ch. Tuoersitai).

By: terrapin

terrapin — Wed, 07 Jan 2004 09:48:00 -0800

OK, I can't help it...

I see dead people.

By: Hackworth

Hackworth — Wed, 07 Jan 2004 09:48:34 -0800

second from the last looks like stalin.

By: jpoulos

jpoulos — Wed, 07 Jan 2004 10:00:32 -0800

Whitman, Freud?, Einstein, ? (Jane Austen? A Bronte?), Jefferson?, Twain, Chekov, ?, Jon Donne?, Shakespeare,?,?

By: amberglow

amberglow — Wed, 07 Jan 2004 10:18:47 -0800

Hillary Clinton? or a really bad Margaret Thatcher?

By: JollyWanker

JollyWanker — Wed, 07 Jan 2004 10:30:03 -0800

And when Margaret Thatcher was bad, she was really, really bad...

/sorry...

By: languagehat

languagehat — Wed, 07 Jan 2004 13:00:30 -0800

A couple of commenters on my thread have really been knocking themselves out; apparently 2.1 is Goethe and 2.4 is Rabindranath Tagore.

By: vacapinta

vacapinta — Wed, 07 Jan 2004 13:27:15 -0800

A summary:
(I make no attributions. Look at the timestamps for this thread and languagehats thread to see who suggested it first)

Top:

1. Tolstoy (Definite. Based on Translation)
2. Freud?
3. Einstein (Definite. Recognizable)
4. ??? (Guesses include Shelley, Austen, Bronte)

Bottom:

1. Goethe (I'd say definite. This is as close as we get)
2. Poe/Twain/Zola? (I favor Poe because of the broad forehead and Twain is usually depicted with white hair)
3. Chekhov (Definite. This is a classic, recognizable image)
4. Tagore? (This is the best guess and it looks good to me)
5. Raleigh/Kepler/Donne/Drake? (Drake would be disfavored because he is not a literary figure. Someone from the 16th century no doubt)
6. Shakespeare (Definite. Recognizable)
7. ??? (Stalin is a common guess but this doesnt seem right given that he is not generally a literary/quotable figure. Early 20th century eastern european - but who?)
8. ??? (Disagreement on gender. Is it a man with a wig?)

By: biffa

biffa — Wed, 07 Jan 2004 15:51:35 -0800

Could 2.7 be Ibsen?

By: jpoulos

jpoulos — Wed, 07 Jan 2004 17:56:35 -0800

I sent this to my father, who suggests that 1.4 is Louisa May Alcott, but I'm not sure.

I think 2.8 is Elizabeth Barret Browning

By: casarkos

casarkos — Wed, 07 Jan 2004 18:57:32 -0800

Yes, larger scans if possible please. I'm pretty sure I'd be able to read them then. Even if they are the ick that is simplified characters :)

By: John Shaft

John Shaft — Wed, 07 Jan 2004 20:20:30 -0800

The last one is Hedwig (not the owl).

Okay, maybe not.

By: languagehat

languagehat — Thu, 08 Jan 2004 10:21:26 -0800

Latest results/suggestions from my thread:

Upon further obsessing:

1 Tolstoy
2 Zola
3 Twain
4 Shelley

bottom row

1 Byron
2 Balzac
3 Chekhov
4 Tagore
5 Bacon
6 Shakespear
7 de Maupassant
8 Voltaire

Someone better dig into that box and solve this before we all go mad!
Posted by: suz at January 8, 2004 12:32 PM