User talk:Chris the speller

This user is one of the 400 most active English Wikipedians of all time.

Archives

Archive 1 (October 2005 – May 2006)

Archive 2 (May 2006 – November 2007)

Archive 3 (up to 90 days ago)

Seasons Greetings

	<font=3> Wishing you a "Feliz Navidad and a Happy new Year" Tony the Marine (talk)

Invite

Century Tower

As a current or past contributor to a related article, I thought I'd let you know about WikiProject University of Florida, a collaborative effort to improve Wikipedia's coverage of University of Florida. If you would like to participate, you can visit the project page, where you can join the project and see a list of open tasks and related articles. Thanks!

Request from Kazuya369

Hi Chris, really appreciate your correction on the article TTDI. I really need your help on something else....I made some extra changes on the same article and i noticed the changes only showed up on the article from my computer when I log in. However, from another public computer(or clearing the cookies on my browser), i noticed that the changes cannot be seen until i click on "edit this page". Just wondering what could be the reason for that? I tried searching on the help section and read about the /ref but that still doesn't work. Maybe I am doing it wrong then? Many Thanks.(or u can email me at kazuya_xtr@yahoo.com) —Preceding unsigned comment added by Kazuya369 (talk • contribs) 13:06, January 25, 2008

Gordon E. Williams

You edited this, you may be interested in commenting on its deletion: Gordon E. Williams

'Marco Kroon' article

You rule Chris. And so does your spelling checker. Pokerface (talk), 16 April 2009 (UTC)

Thanks

Hello, Chris the speller. You have new messages at User_talk:Cacycle/wikEd#Customization_question.
You can remove this notice at any time by removing the {{Talkback}} or {{Tb}} template.

Women's Alliance (Iceland) listed at Redirects for discussion

An editor has asked for a discussion to address the redirect Women's Alliance (Iceland). Since you had some involvement with the Women's Alliance (Iceland) redirect, you might want to participate in the redirect discussion (if you have not already done so). Bridgeplayer (talk) 14:26, 4 July 2010 (UTC)

My article on Distributed Operating Systems

Hi Initially there was no article on Distributed Operating System. So I took some time to gather information and published my article on Distributed Operating Systems. So heres my article http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Distributed_operating_system . Can you please suggest any further improvements to my page please. Sir I am asking you because you contributed to the article today. Thank you very much in advance. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Ksudhir01 (talk • contribs) 06:48, 5 July 2010 (UTC)

Commission

Thank you! Amandajm (talk) 17:58, 21 July 2010 (UTC)

You're welcome! Chris the speller (talk) 21:43, 21 July 2010 (UTC)

PC-1264

Ah, ha! I recently gave someone else a semi-hard time over his improper use, or non-use, of commas. Guess I should have reread my own article first. Thanks for adding those commas to USS PC-1264.Thomas R. Fasulo (talk) 02:43, 30 August 2010 (UTC)

Chris, ever read Eats, Shoots & Leaves? I enjoyed it so much I later went out and bought the illustrated edition. As an extension entomologist for the University of Florida, I receive a large number of contributions from faculty and graduate students to Web sites I maintain. My most popular site is Featured Creatures, which receives over 5.5 million page views a year. The level of writing from college-educated people deteriorates every year. I can understand it when the student is from a non-English background, so I am willing to help out. However, over the years, I have asked way too many American students if English was their second language. Not that I am perfect myself, but sometimes I wonder if they ever had to write anything before. When I went to college, most tests were in an essay format. Now, even graduate level course exams are multiple choice. Thomas R. Fasulo (talk) 02:17, 1 September 2010 (UTC)

Desi

Hey Chris, it's been a long time. How you been, buddy? This humble servant would like to share with you this speech made before the Commission of the Latino American Museum, with his friends: http://www.facebook.com/note.php?note_id=423585291337 Take care. Tony the Marine (talk) 17:50, 2 September 2010 (UTC)

Speedy deletion nomination of HMF Engineering

A tag has been placed on HMF Engineering, requesting that it be speedily deleted from Wikipedia. This has been done under section G11 of the criteria for speedy deletion, because the page seems to be unambiguous advertising which only promotes a company, product, group, service or person and would need to be fundamentally rewritten in order to become an encyclopedia article. Please read the guidelines on spam as well as Wikipedia:FAQ/Business for more information. You may also wish to consider using a Wizard to help you create articles - see the Article Wizard.

If you think that this notice was placed here in error, you may contest the deletion by adding {{hangon}} to the top of the page that has been nominated for deletion (just below the existing speedy deletion or "db" tag - if no such tag exists then the page is no longer a speedy delete candidate and adding a hangon tag is unnecessary), coupled with adding a note on the talk page explaining your position, but be aware that once tagged for speedy deletion, if the page meets the criterion, it may be deleted without delay. Please do not remove the speedy deletion tag yourself, but don't hesitate to add information to the page that would render it more in conformance with Wikipedia's policies and guidelines. Lastly, please note that if the page does get deleted, you can contact one of these admins to request that they userfy the page or have a copy emailed to you. Shlok 14:50, 4 September 2010 (UTC) —Preceding unsigned comment added by Sachinvenga (talk • contribs)

I have copied this notice to the talk page of Hmfracing, who inserted the material into HMF, a disambig page. That is probably the only user who cares if this spam gets blown away. Chris the speller (talk) 15:05, 4 September 2010 (UTC)

English plural

I didn't want to revert your removal of "rooves" (English plural), mainly because some discussions over grammar can get out of hand, and I'm just not that invested in rooves; but I don't agree with your reasoning: "remove 'rooves' as a plural of 'roof'; it is not an acceptable plural, and may encourage people to use it." Yet we already do, rightly or wrongly. There are so many changes in language that stem from incorrect usage that eventually becomes standard and acceptable; and vice versa: when a word becomes archaic enough, its usage is incorrect usage.

The online OED (my access is through my university library, making all this impossible to reference) gives
roof noun (pl. roofs or rooves /ru:vz/)
without comment about rooves being incorrect; and there were 6 results in an advanced search of the word. Here are three:

Concise Oxford Companion to the English Language
NEW ZEALAND ENGLISH
Grammar.
(1) Standard NZE is to all intents and purposes the same as standard BrE. However, the plural forms rooves and wharves are preferred to roofs and wharfs,....

Pocket Fowler's Modern English Usage
roof. The standard plural form is roofs, but rooves is often found, causing dismay in some circles...Rooves, with its softer sound, may well win out in the end, but for now it is better to use roofs.

The Oxford Dictionary of English Grammar
analogy. ....Interestingly, irregular patterns are sometimes spread by analogy: for example, the historical past tense form of the verb dive is the regular dived, but the irregular dove arose in British dialects and American English during the nineteenth century; similarly scarves, hooves, and even rooves have tended to replace the historical and regular plurals scarfs, hoofs, and roofs....

I think rooves might be classified as a hypercompensation, but then, if it's an archaic version of the word, that'd be more like the Tolkien resurrection of dwarves and its making a(n un)welcome comeback. Online remarks that rooves is archaic however are never referenced; I don't know the complete etymology. We have all these ambiguous, irregular forms of the plural of words ending in -f and -fe, and which one is preferred over another?, and no usage history to explain why. Did we really add scarves to the dictionary in the 19th-century (as described above)? Was this scandalous? Scarfs has so few Google-results compared to scarves that I have to think it will one day be archaic and bad English. Yet, I'm one thinking it's a blessing we don't have the equivalent of L'Académie française.

In Language, Leonard Bloomfield discusses pronunciation of plurals, and rooves and roofs is in the section (13.6) without saying one is right and the other wrong. I thought about my own dialect pronunciation of roofs never having once thought about its not matching the spelling, and felt better of it when I found in The Macquarie Dictionary (Australian English) only giving roofs as the plural, but two different pronunciations of the word:
roof. noun (plural roofs /rufs/ (say roohfs), /ruvz/ (say roohvz))

If for any reason other than not to insult Kiwi/s, rooves should be left in the list, they having gone too far to save. I don't think I'd've even wondered about your revision if I'd not read just recently this entry in Fowler's Modern English Usage:
-ve(d), -ves beef. Pl. beeves (oxen).
I had to look that one up. It really is a word.
doyleb23 (talk) 06:32, 26 September 2010 (UTC)

I found the etymology section for words in the OED, and this about rooves:

The historic plural form with a voiced consonant /v/ is superseded in the early 17th cent. in standard usage by the analogical form with f (already attested, at least as a spelling, in the 15th cent.); rooves appears sporadically in the 19th cent., but remains relatively unusual in print until the later 20th cent. [my emphasis], and is treated as nonstandard or regional (or is passed over in silence) by many 20th cent. grammars and usage guides.

Curiously enough, it is not passed over in the OED Dictionary of English Grammar.

Can rooves be allowed here: Nouns with multiple plurals? This section says that one of the forms is usually archaic. It might have a note similar to that of kine:

archaic form; use is chiefly in New Zealand.

The OED and Webster's Unabridged, two dictionaries with authority and influence, and important usage writers Leonard Bloomfield and Fowler all admit its existence as a plural form, and the latter doesn't like it, but it doesn't go on to say it's categorically wrong, just that roofs is for now...better. OED and Websters admit it as a plural form, without using "archaic" (however, they both clearly state that kine is archaic: kine. Archaic pl. of COW n. ). Being non-standard isn't the same as wrong. As it exists as a form at all is sufficient reason that it not be excluded. By your own admission, you feel it is archaic and therefore should not be used and WP shouldn't encourage its use. WP can't do that; that's point of view! That's what struck me, your comment it is not an acceptable plural, and may encourage people to use it. Admittedly, it may be non-standard, especially if not found in many dictionaries and usage guides; some can't decide if it even exists or not (1926 H. W. FOWLER Mod. Eng. Usage 687/2 Roof. No v forms.; vs 2008 Pocket Fowler's Modern English Usage. Ed. Robert Allen. (quote above)); but it can't be universally accepted: I've given reference that it is still being used, chiefly in New Zealand, the OED and Webster's both include it, neither declare it archaic, and the OED admits its use is now become more common in print in the late 20th century.
doyleb23 (talk) 01:12, 27 September 2010 (UTC)

Yes, I did get long-winded and overwrote this when I proved these words equivalent (both are valid plurals), thinking one would want me thorough or at least entertaining. I didn't see however that you are a WP editor with a lot of experience with spelling corrections, a rather impressive number, and didn't understand that WP editors should choose the better word, decide what everybody understands and determine equal merit, which was really my objection all along-- your deciding for us what is acceptable or no, and making decisions about what we should and should not be encouraged to do, without evidence. You maintain that position even after my essay, and I with grand overacted drama withdraw my point of view.doyleb23 (talk) 03:35, 27 September 2010 (UTC)

CSAB (professional organization)

Hi Chris, Thanks for spelling update! -- SchreyP (talk) 14:39, 9 October 2010 (UTC)

You're quite welcome. Chris the speller (talk) 14:42, 9 October 2010 (UTC)

misuse of hyphens

Please stop your disruptive editing. If you continue to vandalize Wikipedia, as you did at Kistler Vineyards, you will be blocked from editing. Thankyou. Ðem Lusty, Lusty Roars!!!! † ^{Speak your beautiful, atrocious mind!!!!} 01:39, 11 October 2010 (UTC)

Putting hyphens where they belong is not exactly disruptive editing, except perhaps to those who have an inordinate fear of hyphens. Unfazed, I plan to carry on. Chris the speller (talk) 05:16, 11 October 2010 (UTC)

Before you, "You Can't Go Home Again" was literally a page about a battlestar galactica episode. hahahah. ok cya.

The Great Arkansas Barnstar

		The Great Arkansas Barnstar
		I award you the Great Arkansas Barn Star for your work on cleaning up my numerous spelling and capitalization errors in the series, History of the Arkansas National Guard. Thanks for the hard work! Aleutian06 13:41, 8 November 2010 (UTC)

List of EastEnders: E20 characters

Oh god, I can't believe I typed "epiosde" that many times! I'm so ashamed! lol I blame the speed at which I type. Thanks for noticing :-) AnemoneProjectors 02:49, 11 November 2010 (UTC)

Thank you

Thank you Chris. It is always nice to hear from the people that you consider among your best friends in Wikipedia. what have you been up to? Tony the Marine (talk) 03:18, 11 November 2010 (UTC)

Shi Yan Ming

Hi. I know that "temple" is a common noun, but since it is used in the article to refer to a proper one that is established up front, doesn't it retains its proper status, even when the entire unqiue or proper name is written out? I recall reading published instances in which this is the case. Thanks. Nightscream (talk) 05:43, 14 November 2010 (UTC)

Thanks. Nightscream (talk) 07:23, 14 November 2010 (UTC)

Thanks

Hi. I've seen your corrections on a number of articles I've worked on, and recognized that some of the errors you corrected were mine. I appreciate your work, and wanted to thank you. Strangely, I'm actually an excellent speller, but that's offset by the fact that I'm also a pretty poor typist -- fast, but error-prone! Best, Beyond My Ken (talk) 01:17, 15 November 2010 (UTC)

Divine Word College of Laoag

Chris, I got more work for ya. Please do the million things you do for this article. BTW, congrats on being one of the top 400 performers in wiki. my kudos, man. more power, too! Ate Pinay (talk•email) 22:18, 18 November 2010 (UTC)