User talk:Twidget1

Warning - October 2008

In a recent edit, you changed one or more words from one international variety of English to another. Because Wikipedia has readers from all over the world, our policy is to respect national varieties of English in Wikipedia articles.

For subjects exclusively related to Britain (for example, a famous British person), use British English. For something related to the United States in the same way, use American English. For something related to other English-speaking countries, such as Canada, Australia, or New Zealand, use the appropriate variety of English used there. If it is an international topic, use the same form of English the original author used.

In view of that, please don't change articles from one version of English to the other, even if you don't normally use the version the article is written in. Respect other people's versions of English. They in turn should respect yours. Other general guidelines on how Wikipedia articles are written can be found in the Wikipedia:Manual of Style. If you have any queries about all this, you can ask me on my talk page or you can visit the help desk. Thank you. Fair Deal (talk) 23:34, 26 October 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Your recent edits

Hi there. In case you didn't know, when you add content to talk pages and Wikipedia pages that have open discussion, you should sign your posts by typing four tildes ( ~~~~ ) at the end of your comment. If you can't type the tilde character, you should click on the signature button located above the edit window. This will automatically insert a signature with your name and the time you posted the comment. This information is useful because other editors will be able to tell who said what, and when. Thank you! --SineBot (talk) 23:54, 26 October 2008 (UTC)[reply]

British English

Hello Twidget1. Regarding the comment you left on Fair Deal's talk page, have you actually read the Manual of Style section that has been pointed to you in edit summaries, and other places where you have asked about this? The section is here: WP:ENGVAR. You are not alone in not knowing about this. The edit you have been making has been made in the past by various people, and it always get reverted. There is consensus that British English is to be used in this article. --A Knight Who Says Ni (talk) 00:05, 27 October 2008 (UTC)[reply]

BRITISH ENGLISH

I KNOW that nowhere in the U.K. they say, "The car are very fast". NEITHER do they say, "They is happy". A little lesson here: The definite article has a singular and a plural form. If you're going to use a singular definite article (the or that over those), then the verb has to agree. That is to say: That IS very pretty, or Those ARE beautiful. NOT "That are nice!" , or "Those is sweet." I KNOW you don't talk that way in the U.K. I've been there.

NOT

THOSE bandS is playing well today. nor THAT band were great!

RATHER:

THE band is good. THOSE bandS are horrible. Twidget1 (talk) 18:26, 27 October 2008 (UTC)[reply]

BUT, I will tell you where they DO talk like that--The uneducated parts of America..."I've seed it for myslef". (Yes--I've actually heard the "word" "seed" used as the past tense of "To see", instead of "saw".)Twidget1 (talk) 18:34, 27 October 2008 (UTC)[reply]

You are correct in all the examples you give. Nonetheless, in the world outside of the USA, they do say "Pink Floyd are..."; it's not the same situation as any of your examples. You've answered my question: you haven't read the help file, which explains it. --A Knight Who Says Ni (talk) 00:49, 28 October 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Here is what is confusing you: you talk about definite articles. "Pink Floyd" is not a definite article, it is a proper noun, and it is plural. In the USA, proper nouns follow the same rules as definite articles. Elsewhere, proper nouns follow the rules of proper nouns, which early Americans must have failed to grasp. --A Knight Who Says Ni (talk) 00:55, 28 October 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Pink Floyd is a noun--yes. Band is a noun too. Band is a SINGULAR noun. THE is a definite article, AND the writer of that article CORRECTLY USED the SINGULAR definite article with the SINGULAR noun and then used a PLURAL verb and a PLURAL pronoun.

"The band were known for THEIR" (pluarl pronoun)....

The writer jumps from singular definite article and noun to plural verbs and pronouns. If the word, "band" were considered plural, then the writer should have said, "Those band were known for thier..." It is possible to jump, however if the focus is changing from the entity of the band to ITS memebers: THE band IS struggling financially and I don't know how THEY (the members) can find the resources to continue as a team; however this sentence structure is shakey and would not make good writing.

BTW...these rules, I've double checked with an English professor friend of mine. ONE FROM SOUTH HAMSTEAD (Near LONDON). Why do I want to trust some illiterate site to tell me the rules on English--when I have access to litterate and informed sources? —Preceding unsigned comment added by Twidget1 (talk • contribs) 02:38, 29 October 2008 (UTC)[reply]

If that's the way you feel about Wikipedia, why do you want so desperately to contribute? You won't convince the entire Wikipedia editing community to allow you to use Americanized English in articles about British people, by trying to claim a different non-Americanized English doesn't exist. If you really showed Wikipedia's help files to an English professor, and he agreed with you that non-Americanized English doesn't exist, you would certainly have an ignorant professor. If you're asking if you can go ahead and change articles this way again, the answer is no, and if you insist on doing so, your ID could be blocked for vandalism. Perhaps you should limit yourself to editing articles about American people and places. --A Knight Who Says Ni (talk) 12:58, 29 October 2008 (UTC)[reply]