User talk:Theo Hercules

Hello. In a recent edit, you changed one or more words or styles from one national 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 a subject exclusively related to the United Kingdom (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 another English-speaking country, such as Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Ireland, India, or Pakistan, use the variety of English used there. For an international topic, use the form of English that the first author of the article used.

In view of that, please don't change articles from one version of English to another, even if you don't normally use the version in which the article is written. 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 Manual of Style. If you have any questions about this, you can ask me on my talk page or visit the help desk. Thank you. Canterbury Tail talk 15:15, 10 June 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Hello. Thank you for drawing my attention to this. I will admit that I was unaware of this rule. I would like to ask, however, why the original author’s spelling ought to be respected, particularly in articles regarding international subjects, where it is my understanding that the Oxford spelling variation ought to be used.

Thank you Theo Hercules (talk) 01:05, 12 June 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Why shouldn't they be respected. Unless it's a topic that has a particular variant of English like Australian, Canadian, American, British etc why would a British spelling take precedence? For instance why should an article about Belgium be written in en-GB instead of en-US? There's no such thing as a standard international version of English that needs to be used. The first person to create the article gets to use the version of English. This prevents edit wars from people changing the variety of English pointlessly. Canterbury Tail talk 14:53, 12 June 2024 (UTC)[reply]

@Canterbury Tail Given the international nature of Wikipedia, it seems like a serious flaw to me that there isn't a standard form of English, such as the Oxford spelling style, which ought to be used for Wikipedia articles unrelated to a regional English spelling style. I will, of course, respect the spelling style now that I am aware of the rule, but I just want to put this thought out there. I made the edits to A. Braun's page on this understanding. Theo Hercules (talk) 15:14, 12 June 2024 (UTC)[reply]

I would be grateful if you could clarify this whilst we’re on the subject. Millie Bobby Brown’s article has some words written in the American style. Given that she is British, should I “correct” the original author’s spelling? I can’t tell which rule takes precedence, the first author’s style or the regional spelling style. Thanks Theo Hercules (talk) 01:59, 13 June 2024 (UTC)[reply]

That article is tagged as use British English. So non-British English should be changed to British English. Canterbury Tail talk 11:57, 13 June 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Thanks. Where can I see the tags of an article? Theo Hercules (talk) 11:58, 13 June 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Ignore this, I remember they’re at the top of each article. Theo Hercules (talk) 12:18, 13 June 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Not every article has it. Some have it at the top of the article in edit mode, and some are tagged on the talk page. Most don't have any tagging. Canterbury Tail talk 12:28, 13 June 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Again stop altering the English versions of articles as you did in this edit. You are aware of the rule now, whether you agree with it or not, and if you continue to alter the English version against the MOS it is considered disruptive editing. Canterbury Tail talk 14:54, 12 June 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Please read MOS:DOUBLE for the relevant guideline. The consensus style decision on Wikipedia is to always use double quotes regardless of the variety of English being used (with a few exceptions not relevant to your edits).

And we also only use "straight quotes" and never the slanted or curly ones. Please read MOS:CURLY for this.

If you have any questions please feel free to ask. SQGibbon (talk) 17:53, 10 June 2024 (UTC)[reply]