User talk:Acps110/Archives/2011/March

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union terminal

I see there is an edit war on the Q train article about the use of the phrase "union terminal." Both you and those IP addresses are right in terms that Coney Island – Stillwell Avenue used to serve independent Brooklyn railroads, but those lines became part of the New York City Subway more than 100 years ago. I have reverted the edits and requested that page be protected temporarily while the issue is resolved. Hopefully, those addresses will not edit again and my request is fulfilled. The Legendary Ranger (talk) 01:27, 10 March 2011 (UTC)

Shorter

ABigail and Brittany- as my edit comment implied, I was busying myself writing the explanation on the Discussion page. Please don't revert it without discussing the finer points of grammar. Note that Medeis has not written that the grammar I have used is wrong, merely that it is not necessary because a different form can be used that is shorter. Amandajm (talk) 02:04, 10 March 2011 (UTC)

The sentence should read, "she appears shorter"; not "she appears the shorter". THE should not be in that sentence. Acps110 ^{(talk • contribs)} 02:09, 10 March 2011 (UTC)

Explanation

Acps110, trust me. The "the" is perfectly correct. The words that are implied are "of the two".

• Imagine the sentence reading "Brittany appears (to be) the shorter (of the two)."

It is exactly like saying "Brittany is "the shortest", but because there are two people and not more, the comparative word "shorter" is used instead of the superlative word "shortest".

Example: In our team, Jack is the fastest. Out of John and Joe, Joe is the faster (one). You could also say "Out of John and Joe, Joe is faster (than John).

This sounds very pedantic, but the trouble with the sentence, as it was written (and the reason why it needed the "the") was that Abigail was not there in person, in the same way as John and Joe are, in the sentence above. Only Abigail's head was there, not her self. And it wasn't the height of her head that was mentioned; it was the angle.

When I wrote "Brittany appears the shorter" then the words "of the two" are understood. It must be "of the two" because "shorter" means there are two things. ("Shortest" means there is more than two). Because ".....er" always means "of the two", we don't have to say it. It is understood because of that "er" on the end of the word.

It could also mean "of the twins" because twins are always two. Or it could mean "of the two sisters" o something like that.

If you take away the "the" then (in this sentence) you must mention the other person i.e. "Brittany is shorter than Abigail".

I hope that this makes it clear. Amandajm (talk) 06:12, 10 March 2011 (UTC)

Perhaps you should familiarize yourself with WP:OWN, as well as the text that appears under every edit box, specifically "If you do not want your writing to be edited, used, and redistributed at will, then do not submit it here." Me removing one word from a sentence is not a reason for you to edit war. Acps110 ^{(talk • contribs)} 14:40, 16 March 2011 (UTC)

Comment Be aware that I filed an edit warring complaint against Amandajm for her five reversions of yours and my edits of Abigail and Brittany Hensel. μηδείς (talk) 15:59, 10 March 2011 (UTC)

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