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Errors in In the news

Template:ITN-Update Per the article itself, the news concerning the unrest in Ferguson should read "Renewed rioting", since the rioting and other civil unrest has been ongoing since August/September. TomStar81 (Talk) 23:19, 25 November 2014 (UTC)

Phillip Hughes
For those unfamiliar with cricket, the Phillip Hughes item should make it clear that he was killed by a ball and not by the more commonly used definition of the term 'bouncer' --2.219.235.69 (talk) 09:00, 27 November 2014 (UTC)

• Strongly endorse this. The current wording makes perfect sense when taking into account the doorman synonym. That's misleading. starship.paint ~ regal 14:27, 27 November 2014 (UTC)

Change made. (This issue also was raised at Wikipedia:In the news/Candidates, so further discussion can occur there.) —David Levy 14:37, 27 November 2014 (UTC)

The only problem now is that it removes the idea that he was killed by a ball being bowled at him, not struck at him with the bat or simply thrown at him. The purpose of wikilinks is to remove the supposed confusion claimed above. The Rambling Man (talk) 14:40, 27 November 2014 (UTC)

I personally agree, but the opposing view generally prevails in situations such as this one. —David Levy 14:52, 27 November 2014 (UTC)

should be ok since a Cricketer getting hit by a ball would generally signify he got hit during the play. Can add the term Batsman if that makes it any clear that it was not during fielding but rather batting -- Ashish-g55 15:00, 27 November 2014 (UTC)

You could just add while batting at the end (after ball). ReadingOldBoy (talk) 16:36, 27 November 2014 (UTC)

"during the play"? What? That doesn't make any sense at all. And "while batting" is not bad, but not really the point. The actual point is that he was hit by a bouncer. That's what all the discussion is about, to look into helmet design and to look into banning bouncers. We currently have a "meh" blurb which doesn't serve anyone well. The Rambling Man (talk) 21:42, 27 November 2014 (UTC)

I am sorry but I think that “by the ball” looks a bit weird. Why not “by a ball”?--85.74.98.8 (talk) 17:53, 27 November 2014 (UTC)

It's been "fixed". Right now it's completely lost the original essence, that he was killed as a result of being struck by a bouncer bowled at him that he tried to hit. We currently have a completely banal and uninformative blurb. Still, if that's what America wants, we should do it because the subtleties of cricket appear to be lost on most. The Rambling Man (talk) 21:04, 27 November 2014 (UTC)

Note that we've had similar complaints/discussions regarding ITN blurbs containing American terminology. I agree that wikilinking usually is a viable solution (irrespective of the country/countries involved), but this argument rarely wins the day. —David Levy 22:14, 27 November 2014 (UTC)

Wikilinking is not adequate for resolving ambiguities, per WP:EASTEREGG. It won't work if the reader hasn't even realised they have misunderstood. jnestorius^(talk) 12:01, 28 November 2014 (UTC)

WP:EASTEREGG pertains to a link that's been piped to display text referring to its target in the abstract (e.g. describing a drug as unapproved "in certain countries" instead of "in the European Union"). It has nothing to do with references to subjects by their actual names, and it certainly doesn't mean that we're to avoid mentioning any term that might confuse someone (an impossibility). —David Levy 23:34, 28 November 2014 (UTC)

In my opinion, "the ball" better conveyed that the accident occurred during a cricket match in which Hughes participated. (When describing such an event, "the ball" is the usual wording.) To my ear, "a ball" could refer to any random ball that happened to strike him. Obviously, a cricket ball would be the most likely type, but not necessarily in the aforementioned context. (There are multiple realistic scenarios in which Hughes could been in proximity to a projectile cricket ball while not participating in a match.) —David Levy 22:14, 27 November 2014 (UTC)

It can't be what Americans want, or we would be debating the obscure word "cricketer" (in the U.S., that sounds like calling a sailor a "battleshipper" or a churchgoer a "churcher", and besides a cricket is an insect), not "a ball" or "the ball". Art LaPella (talk) 05:25, 28 November 2014 (UTC)

Ummm... so, according to you, no American ever uses the word “footballer”?--94.65.173.211 (talk) 21:04, 28 November 2014 (UTC)

Hyperbole aside, "footballer" is not an everyday word in the US. In American English, the usual terms are "football player" (for American football) and "soccer player" (for association football). —David Levy 23:34, 28 November 2014 (UTC)

Errors in today's or tomorrow's featured picture

Is it really necessary to have that odd dotted line under the abbreviation "c."? 86.155.135.140 (talk) 04:32, 29 November 2014 (UTC)

Errors in the summary of the last or next featured list

Please report any such problems or suggestions for improvement at the General discussion section of Talk:Main Page.