Wikinews talk:English spelling poll

Arguments for Option 2

1. The majority of English speakers world-wide (including those for whom it's not their first language, however) use British English, not American English. Dan100 12:13, 8 Jan 2005 (UTC)

I believe native speakers in India would state they speak Indian English. And if they are not yet the largest single block of English speakers, they soon shall be. (This is merely to point out there is no "British English", any more than there is a U.S. "English", but simply regional and dialectical variations. After all, standardized spelling itself is only about 200 years old, and a rather pointless "standard" imho.) - Amgine 00:34, 10 Jan 2005 (UTC)

According the the Wikipedia entry on the w:English language, 70.7% of English speakers use the American dialect, 15.9% use British, 4.9% use Canadian, 4.8% use Australian, and the remaining dialiects make up less than 4%.-- Davodd | Talk 20:01, 22 Mar 2005 (UTC)

Arguments for Option 3

I voted for option 3 because options 1 and 2 are arbitrary (i.e. both are equivalently "good") and option 4 requires the writer to know the convention of the country that the article is about. Instead, I think option 3 allows initial authors to guide the style according to what they are familiar with. Instead of using the spelling of "labour" for articles written about British unions, an author in the United States would simply use the name "labor" they're familiar with. -- IlyaHaykinson 21:45, 6 Jan 2005 (UTC)

Polls are divisive, and the last course for determining policy

First off, spelling is an element of the Style Guide, which is not policy but a guideline to improve the general readability and uniformity of articles. Our average contributors are not professional journalists, are never likely to be on average at the professional level, and we should be realistic about that.

Second element: Where has this subject developed into a problem? If no problem, why are we debating a policy?

Third, and finally: Have other methods of creating consensus been tried? Has there been a discussion anywhere about this topic? Has it been brought up on the water cooler pages? - Amgine

It is my hope that our polls are not divisive, but used as a tool to allow us to put aside personal assumptions to see how other Wikinews contributors see the world and the future of this project. The UK/U.S. issue has been brought up in various places - but most recently: Wikinews_talk:Style_guide#Names_of_people_and_things. I suspect we will not reach a consensus on this particular poll, but we'll at least have these results to stimulate discussion that may lead to a future workable consenses policy. On a further note, the Wikinews:Style guide, too, is a proposed policy. -- Davodd | Talk 05:32, 7 Jan 2005 (UTC)

Polls, excepting unanimous ones, are divisive. It is nearly the definition; a publication of differences.

It has been brought up occasionally, rarely, and even more rarely with a specific example at issue. The Style guide talk page is the appropriate place for the discussion, and the development of the Guide's approach. I would suggest: "There is no policy addressing dialectic spelling and grammar, specifically. Any regional spelling and/or grammar should be applied consistently throughout the article, and should be respected by other editors, and is not justification for an edit or revert war." - Amgine 06:16, 7 Jan 2005 (UTC)