Talk:United States/Archive 10

message: I don't want to get into an edit war, but it seems to me that the proper reference for national leaders for all countries in Wikipedia should be their actual name, not their popular name (i.e., Richard Cheney vs. Dick Cheney).  I know that the actual Wikipedia article is titled "Dick Cheney" and that's probably OK since that is how people will first think of him, but his legal name is Richard Cheney.  In fact, this is the citation used in other reference materials (e.g., see infoplease almanac United States entry). Earpol 10:02, 28 Feb 2005 (UTC)
thread_title:  Legal vs. Popular Names for National Leaders 

message: There are specific usages for these terms.  The abbreviation "U.S." should *only* be used as an adjective, such as "U.S. dollar."  In noun form, the country must always be spelled out as "the United States."  Never refer to the country as "the U.S.;" that may be common in slang usage, but it is considered improper in writing.
:Abbreviations are a form of slang that can only be used as adjectives.  Gotcha.  Likewise, "Aren't I?" should be used instead of "Ain't I?", because the correct answer to the question would be "Yes, I are", and not the ungrammatical "Yes, I am" ("Ain't" being a variation on "Am't", the contraction of "am not").  See, because "ain't" is non-standard.
:Call me crazy here, but if we're going to be so linquistically pedantic, we should at least strive for sensical pedantry. -- King of the Pedants, Corvun 00:58, Mar 16, 2005 (UTC)
Corvun: The use of United States as a noun and U.S. as an adjective is standard in most style guides: NY Times, AP, Chicago Manual (used in book publishing), etc. Those of us who are professional copy editors and proofreaders like the distinction. Of course, we have a bigger bone to pick with Wikipedia: the substandard English found in many articles by contributors whose mother tongue is not English. Horrendous errors of syntax, grammar, spelling, and punctuation are ubiquitous.
: You say that you are a copy editor and proofreader: so, edit the places where you see problems. that is the whole point about wikipedia, you contribute what you can. you don't say that you are an author, you say that you are a copy editor and proofreader. Otherwise, it is better that someone contribute even if they have some rough edges, if their contribution is otherwise an improvement. brassrat
I do that, Brassrat—I often edit one English Wiki article each day to fix punctuation, syntax, and spelling. Some people take offense and revert my edits. (I also contribute articles in English, French, and German, and don't mind if someone alters my writing, especially in French and German.)
:ok, that's fine, but of course i misunderstood because that's not what you wrote... see any parallels? :) Peace. Brassrat 14:51, 16 Apr 2005 (UTC)
thread_title:  "United States" and "U.S." 

message: " The United States country also a collection of overseas territories and possessions around the world" SOrry I'm too tired to do this, can someone else please? Manty thanks. Rich Farmbrough 19:06, 20 Mar 2005 (UTC)
thread_title:  Fix needed. 

message: In the notes section, it reads:
"^1 In the English-speaking world, America has become synonymous with the nation of the United States while American refers to United States (U.S.) citizens; this is a standard usage not in only the U.S. itself, but also Australia."
Why does it mention just Australia? I'm sure that heaps of countries use "American". Is it supposed to be like this? Rainer 10:31, 31 Mar 2005 (UTC)
thread_title:  Notes 

message: Someone removed the United States portal link from the top of the page.  I'm curious who's in favor of the portal and who's against it.  I think the portal needs a little work (the blue is a bit harsh to my eyes), but it's promising, and could be useful.  Who thinks we should add the link back?  And who thinks it should stay off? -- Dpark 19:08, 25 Apr 2005 (UTC)
thread_title:  Portal 

message: The table about holidays implies that government organizations observe Martin Luther King Jr Day, President's Day, and Colombus Day. Some do, but many, including schools, do not. Are there statistics on the matter that anyone knows about? President's and Colombus Days are, in my experience, extinct holidays. The table makes it seem like they are not.
:They aren't extinct as far as the federal government is concerned. We should perhaps mention that these are holidays that the government recognizes, but private citizens and businesses are not required to observe them. It also mentions they are federal holidays. And it does say that not all schools observe them. Do you have a specific complaint? --Golbez 03:29, May 5, 2005 (UTC)
I happen ot highly disagree with them being only minor holidays, as in school i have always recieved all those holidays off, and i have never heard of anyone not getting President's day off, i can accept that MLK day and Columbus day are not recognied, but in my experience Presidents day has always been recognized. (Mac Domhnaill 18:49, 23 August 2005 (UTC)
thread_title:  Minor holiday problem