Spelling and grammar on the wiki - US vs UK
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- catfromouterspace
- Embryo
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Hi
Hello, and thank you for letting me edit stuff. I fixed some minor things, but there are a couple of pages that need to be pretty much totally rewritten and I don't want to do that. One thing: punctuation goes inside the quotation marks! And another thing: there are lots and lots of errors that spellcheck will not catch. This is where you need a geek like me who likes to proofread stuff because it bugs me. Oh, I should also mention that I'm an English major and I don't know much about technical stuff like html. I don't know how to do that, so I'll just go around it and leave that alone. I don't know what half of these buttons are above this post box. Sigh. I'll figure it out, I suppose. I am not sure yet if I want to write anything but I am happy to edit stuff because I like fixing things, like I said. (Why do people think it's necessary to use an apostrophe to form a possessive? I don't understand. But then most people don't understand why I care.) Anyway, I'm glad to be here. Just recently did a marathon of NGE, watched the whole series and all the movies, so now that I am registered here I am an official Evageek. http://forum.evageeks.org/images/smiles/asuka_thumbsup.gif
- Mr. Tines
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Re: Hi
You'll find the use of programmers' quotation is quite pervasive, I'm afraid.
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- pwhodges
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This is US practice; British practice is different:
The old printer's rule about punctuation inside the quotes was basically "for appearance." If outside, the punctuation looks a "bit detached". But the rule's not that simple.
The Oxford Guide to Style (aka Hart's Rules for Compositors) states that the punctuation in British practice goes inside or outside the quotes according to sense, but if the same mark is logically required both inside and outside (typically, when the quote ends with a full stop), then it is not repeated outside. It goes on to say that in US practice, the mark is always inside the quotes, and this can give rise to editing problems when combining US and British sourced material.
Examples of British practice quoted from the above cited book:
They were called 'the Boys from Dover', I am told.
She was heard to mutter, 'Did you do it?' (omit full stop at end of main sentence)
Can you verify that he said, 'There is only one key'? (omit full stop at end of quote)
Did he really shout 'Stop thief!'? (both marks serve a purpose)
He concluded that 'We must give up the task.' (omit outer full stop rather than duplicate it)
Cogito, ergo sum means 'I think, therefore I am'. (the quote is a specimen not a sentence, so has no stop itself)
"Being human, having your health; that's what's important." (from: Magical Shopping Arcade Abenobashi )
"As long as we're all living, and as long as we're all having fun, that should do it, right?" (from: The Eccentric Family )
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Before 3.0+1.0 there was Afterwards... my post-Q Evangelion fanfic (discussion)
"As long as we're all living, and as long as we're all having fun, that should do it, right?" (from: The Eccentric Family )
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Before 3.0+1.0 there was Afterwards... my post-Q Evangelion fanfic (discussion)
- UrsusArctos
- The Beginning and The End
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British practice makes far more sense in these instances than the US practice. So far, I've been using a mixture of British punctuation and US spelling. Best of both.
But this does raise the question about whether or not we should let the Wiki stick purely to American English if we have a substantial number of readers and contributors from the Commonwealth who use British grammar and spelling conventions. What appears to be a grammatical or spelling error to one is correct for the other.
But this does raise the question about whether or not we should let the Wiki stick purely to American English if we have a substantial number of readers and contributors from the Commonwealth who use British grammar and spelling conventions. What appears to be a grammatical or spelling error to one is correct for the other.
(Was Board Staff from Dec 31, 2007 - Oct 17, 2015 and Oct 20, 2020 - Aug 1, 2021)
Not knowing that Monk is bi is like not knowing the Pope is Catholic - ZapX
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Not knowing that Monk is bi is like not knowing the Pope is Catholic - ZapX
You're either really bad at interpreting jokes or really good at pretending you are and I have no idea which.-Monk Ed
WAAAAAAAAGH!!!!!(<-link to lunacy)...Taste me, if you can bear it. (Warning: Language NSFW)
The main point of idiocy is for the smart to have their lulz. Without human idiocy, trolling would not exist, and that's uncool, since a large part of my entertainment consists of mocking the absurdity and dumbassery of the world, especially the Internet.-MaggotMaster
- Nuclear Lunchbox
- Agent Ahegao
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Perhaps it would be productive to specify which manner of punctuation is considered "correct" on the wiki. For example, if we listed Commonwealth as correct, it would just mean that we of the US (le moi) would have to learn the new conventions.
Shin Evangelion brought me back, five long years later.
Apophenia. Noun. The tendency to perceive a connection or meaningful pattern between unrelated or random things.
They called me the Quentin Tarantino of hentai.
The difference between a blow-up doll and a dakimakura.
Apophenia. Noun. The tendency to perceive a connection or meaningful pattern between unrelated or random things.
They called me the Quentin Tarantino of hentai.
The difference between a blow-up doll and a dakimakura.
- UrsusArctos
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This actually poses a good question. When there were just a handful of us, we didn't pay particular attention, because everyone majorly involved was US-based or could use US spelling and grammar conventions (or we just didn't bother particularly about it). Now that the editor base has increased so much, I'm not sure what to do. How many of our editors are from the United Kingdom or the Commonwealth?
Using a mixture of US spelling and UK punctuation the way I've been going about it isn't exactly feasible, and I'd much rather have an open discussion about which system to use than impose one over the other by fiat.
Using a mixture of US spelling and UK punctuation the way I've been going about it isn't exactly feasible, and I'd much rather have an open discussion about which system to use than impose one over the other by fiat.
(Was Board Staff from Dec 31, 2007 - Oct 17, 2015 and Oct 20, 2020 - Aug 1, 2021)
Not knowing that Monk is bi is like not knowing the Pope is Catholic - ZapX
You're either really bad at interpreting jokes or really good at pretending you are and I have no idea which.-Monk Ed
WAAAAAAAAGH!!!!!(<-link to lunacy)...Taste me, if you can bear it. (Warning: Language NSFW)
The main point of idiocy is for the smart to have their lulz. Without human idiocy, trolling would not exist, and that's uncool, since a large part of my entertainment consists of mocking the absurdity and dumbassery of the world, especially the Internet.-MaggotMaster
Not knowing that Monk is bi is like not knowing the Pope is Catholic - ZapX
You're either really bad at interpreting jokes or really good at pretending you are and I have no idea which.-Monk Ed
WAAAAAAAAGH!!!!!(<-link to lunacy)...Taste me, if you can bear it. (Warning: Language NSFW)
The main point of idiocy is for the smart to have their lulz. Without human idiocy, trolling would not exist, and that's uncool, since a large part of my entertainment consists of mocking the absurdity and dumbassery of the world, especially the Internet.-MaggotMaster
- Nuclear Lunchbox
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Since so many people that have edited the wiki in the past may not even be around anymore, polling or trying to count might be worthless. Taking a poll based on current members might work, but the problem is that I think everybody (including myself) is biased towards their own system, likely because both are just as good and we'd like to have something that we're comfortable with. I mean, if I have to cast my own vote, I would go with the American conventions.
Shin Evangelion brought me back, five long years later.
Apophenia. Noun. The tendency to perceive a connection or meaningful pattern between unrelated or random things.
They called me the Quentin Tarantino of hentai.
The difference between a blow-up doll and a dakimakura.
Apophenia. Noun. The tendency to perceive a connection or meaningful pattern between unrelated or random things.
They called me the Quentin Tarantino of hentai.
The difference between a blow-up doll and a dakimakura.
- The Eva Monkey
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- Agent Ahegao
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Good point. If that's the case, then it might be good to put a notice on the default page of the Wiki to let people know which standard is accepted.
Shin Evangelion brought me back, five long years later.
Apophenia. Noun. The tendency to perceive a connection or meaningful pattern between unrelated or random things.
They called me the Quentin Tarantino of hentai.
The difference between a blow-up doll and a dakimakura.
Apophenia. Noun. The tendency to perceive a connection or meaningful pattern between unrelated or random things.
They called me the Quentin Tarantino of hentai.
The difference between a blow-up doll and a dakimakura.
- The Eva Monkey
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- pwhodges
- A Lilin in Wonderland
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Apart from avoiding ambiguity in cases where there have been actual shifts in meaning, does anyone even worry about minor things like alternate spellings or punctuation rules? It's only comparatively recently that they have been codified as rigidly as that are now. If the content of a page interested me, I doubt I could tell you at the end what spelling convention it followed.
"Being human, having your health; that's what's important." (from: Magical Shopping Arcade Abenobashi )
"As long as we're all living, and as long as we're all having fun, that should do it, right?" (from: The Eccentric Family )
Avatar: The end of the journey (details); Past avatars.
Before 3.0+1.0 there was Afterwards... my post-Q Evangelion fanfic (discussion)
"As long as we're all living, and as long as we're all having fun, that should do it, right?" (from: The Eccentric Family )
Avatar: The end of the journey (details); Past avatars.
Before 3.0+1.0 there was Afterwards... my post-Q Evangelion fanfic (discussion)
- Nuclear Lunchbox
- Agent Ahegao
- Age: 26
- Posts: 10623
- Joined: Dec 13, 2012
- Location: Nippon
- Gender: Male
It bugs some people more than others to see punctuation that doesn't match up with what is generally accepted as the correct standard in whatever part of the world they live in. (I am one of them.) I don't make a big stink about it here since the forums are multi-national and have yet to declare any one language.
Shin Evangelion brought me back, five long years later.
Apophenia. Noun. The tendency to perceive a connection or meaningful pattern between unrelated or random things.
They called me the Quentin Tarantino of hentai.
The difference between a blow-up doll and a dakimakura.
Apophenia. Noun. The tendency to perceive a connection or meaningful pattern between unrelated or random things.
They called me the Quentin Tarantino of hentai.
The difference between a blow-up doll and a dakimakura.
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