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Community Projects => The FreeSpace Wiki Project => Topic started by: TopAce on November 25, 2005, 01:21:30 pm

Title: Which variety of English should we use?
Post by: TopAce on November 25, 2005, 01:21:30 pm
I am just wondering. In the Star Wars Wiki, there is a rule to use American English (which I usually ignore :p). I think we should have an agreement on this, because I edited Black Wolf's manoevrability to maneuverability and he changed it back. What you need to know is that Australian English basically demands British orthography, so BW was correct on it, in a way. I know that I had been using British spelling and punctuation so far and many of you know American English better. So I think we should write in American English to make it the easiest for most of you and keep things in order. I am quite capable of checking spelling and punctuation, since this is what I study at University.

Any comments?
Title: Re: Which variety of English should we use?
Post by: Nuclear1 on November 25, 2005, 03:40:40 pm
I don't think it really matters. It depends entirely on the writer, and there really aren't that many differences. The maneuverability spelling is really the most drastic, but colour is really only one letter longer than color.
Title: Re: Which variety of English should we use?
Post by: StratComm on November 25, 2005, 04:11:44 pm
Again, I'm very much against a) too many rules and b) trying to derive anything for this Wiki from the Star Wars wiki.  They are two different animals.  I personally don't think it matters much, but more people know how to write in "American" english than know how to correctly use "British" english so, like the internet, American should be the defacto standard at least.
Title: Re: Which variety of English should we use?
Post by: CP5670 on November 25, 2005, 04:51:18 pm
If there is a rule then American English should be used, as it's the internet standard and FS2 itself uses it, but it shouldn't be a big deal to have both used for different articles.
Title: Re: Which variety of English should we use?
Post by: phreak on November 25, 2005, 07:02:02 pm
how about do something as follows:

cent-er/re
hono(u)r
Title: Re: Which variety of English should we use?
Post by: Eishtmo on November 25, 2005, 07:07:02 pm
I speak only English and bad English, and I'm not very good at either of them.

Let's just avoid broken English, and the world will be a better place.
Title: Re: Which variety of English should we use?
Post by: WMCoolmon on November 25, 2005, 07:19:53 pm
how about do something as follows:

cent-er/re
hono(u)r


You're joking...right? :nervous:

I say, use the American spelling for Maneuverability, everything else can be whatever. Although keep in mind that Americans tend to be less aware of the British spelling of words than vice versa. :p
Title: Re: Which variety of English should we use?
Post by: Kamikaze on November 25, 2005, 09:47:59 pm
Just keep it consistent within a given article.
Title: Re: Which variety of English should we use?
Post by: Goober5000 on November 25, 2005, 11:11:16 pm
Just keep it consistent within a given article.

Best solution. :nod:

Whoever creates (or heavily rewrites) an article is going to write it in his particular dialect of English.  So let's just say that whoever creates an article determines the spelling it will use.
Title: Re: Which variety of English should we use?
Post by: Nuclear1 on November 26, 2005, 12:09:06 am
British English really isn't that different to tell apart from American English anyways. Slang is really where it gets tricky, so as long as we don't have any articles describing the Aeshma as minging or the Colossus' captain as a wanker than I think we have ourselves a winner.
Title: Re: Which variety of English should we use?
Post by: Black Wolf on November 26, 2005, 02:48:32 am
Just keep it consistent within a given article.

Exactly. I'm going to use British english anyway, and TBH I'd prefer peole didn't edit my articles to change it to American or whatever. That said, as long as spelling is consistent within articles, I'm not fussed if others use American.
Title: Re: Which variety of English should we use?
Post by: Sandwich on December 10, 2005, 04:52:18 pm
...we have ourselves a winner.

That's SUCH a British saying. :p

That said, I think we should stick with what :V: used in FS1/2.
Title: Re: Which variety of English should we use?
Post by: WMCoolmon on December 11, 2005, 01:44:58 am
Or we could always go with Esperanto (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Esperanto).
Title: Re: Which variety of English should we use?
Post by: vyper on December 11, 2005, 10:38:25 am
Interesting.
Title: Re: Which variety of English should we use?
Post by: Carl on December 12, 2005, 11:04:00 pm
It should all be written in 1337 speak.
Title: Re: Which variety of English should we use?
Post by: phreak on December 12, 2005, 11:43:36 pm
how about do something as follows:

cent-er/re
hono(u)r


You're joking...right? :nervous:

Could I have said use Engrish as well

err.  Courd I have said use Engrish as werr
Title: Re: Which variety of English should we use?
Post by: IPAndrews on December 13, 2005, 06:03:27 am
Oh come on. The answer to this is obvious. The rebels use American English and the Empire uses British English.
Title: Re: Which variety of English should we use?
Post by: WMCoolmon on December 13, 2005, 06:41:05 am
So we'd be, what, the Whills?
Title: Re: Which variety of English should we use?
Post by: IPAndrews on December 13, 2005, 06:50:35 am
Yes. If you like.
Title: Re: Which variety of English should we use?
Post by: NGTM-1R on December 13, 2005, 09:20:27 am
Everything should have either a Southern or a Cockney accent.
Title: Re: Which variety of English should we use?
Post by: kode on December 13, 2005, 11:43:16 am
pidgin?
Title: Re: Which variety of English should we use?
Post by: TopAce on December 13, 2005, 12:09:55 pm
Everything should have either a Southern or a Cockney accent.

I am sure you mean Cockney dialect? Because an accent is relatively hard to mirror in writing.
Title: Re: Which variety of English should we use?
Post by: NGTM-1R on December 13, 2005, 02:57:54 pm
I am sure you mean Cockney dialect? Because an accent is relatively hard to mirror in writing.

Dialectual dialogue in text results in spoken accent. Spoken accent translated to text result in dialectual dialogue. They are inseperable.
Title: Re: Which variety of English should we use?
Post by: IPAndrews on January 03, 2006, 06:52:51 am
http://www.whoohoo.co.uk/cockney-translator.asp

Title: Re: Which variety of English should we use?
Post by: aldo_14 on January 04, 2006, 04:56:25 am
Everything should have either a Southern or a Cockney accent.

May I be the first to say - Bugger that!

:D
Title: Re: Which variety of English should we use?
Post by: Solatar on January 08, 2006, 06:50:40 pm
I don't particularly mind reading either form of English, so I don't really care...I actually use "re" and "er" in words almost interchangeably, because I read stuff written in British English. Nobody seems to care.
Title: Re: Which variety of English should we use?
Post by: TopAce on January 09, 2006, 07:03:04 am
If nobody cared, the poll would not be 7-8-5, but 0-0-20.
Title: Re: Which variety of English should we use?
Post by: Solatar on January 10, 2006, 08:25:08 pm
I meant on the sites and other literary stuff I look at. The poll just reflects that about equal number of American english speakers have posted than British english speakers. Since this site isn't an overwhelming majority of either (as far as I know, I may very well be incorrect), then whoever writes the article should have say. And anybody that goes through and edits "er" to "re" everytime they see it should do something more productive.
Title: Re: Which variety of English should we use?
Post by: Pythia on January 16, 2006, 02:10:58 pm
can anyone point me to the launcher help forum? I'm having issues searching this site and my browsing hasn't pulled up anything.
Title: Re: Which variety of English should we use?
Post by: karajorma on January 16, 2006, 02:35:20 pm
If you're having trouble with the launcher you probably want the SCP forum (http://www.hard-light.net/forums/index.php/board,50.0.html).
Title: Re: Which variety of English should we use?
Post by: BlackDove on January 16, 2006, 02:35:23 pm
Heh Kaj beat me by three seconds.
Title: Re: Which variety of English should we use?
Post by: Pythia on January 16, 2006, 06:19:54 pm
thanks, appreciate it.