Wikipedia talk:Manual of Style/Dates and numbers/Archive 47

message: I know that this topic has been argued time and again, but it has once again come up on WP:OLYMPICS. PLease go there to take part in the discussion on the unit convention. → J@red talk+ ubx  16:38, 26 March 2006 (UTC)
thread_title: Olympic units

message: So on the Athenian calendar, conventionally used to date most events in ancient Greece, years began and ended with first new moon after the summer solstice.  Thus, when historians refer to events in Ancient Greece by year, they say things like "In 379/8 BC...", referring to the Athenian calendrical year in which the event occurred.  I've been avoiding this so far by giving month or rough time of year for events, and when that isn't possible saying, for example "in late 379 or early 378 BC."  This is a little awkward, though, and I was wondering if anyone could think of a way around it that would remain comprehensible to readers unfamiliar with this system but retain the sense of the 379/8 method, without saying "sometime between July 379 and July 378."  Thoughts?  RobthTalk 06:07, 9 April 2006 (UTC)
replies: text: The same problem occurs with Old Style and New Style dates. I've used the following phrasing to deal with it in an article: On March 18 1696 (Old Style, the year number not changing until March 25).... Linking to Hellenic calendar would provide the background explanantion. -- Donald Albury(Talk) 11:29, 9 April 2006 (UTC)
thread_title:  Ancient Greek dating 

message: Please contribute to interesting discussion about hectolitres at Wikipedia talk:WikiProject Beer. bobblewik 17:54, 9 April 2006 (UTC)
thread_title:  Hectolitres 

message: For a discussion on this subject on 19 April 2006 see: Wikipedia talk:WikiProject Countering systemic bias#Autumn
----
Re: this addition (now proposal, in a way, I guess) by User:Lemuel Gulliver:
:Since most Wikipedians live north of the tropic of Capricorn, it is tempting to use the names of seasons Spring, Summer, Autumn and Winter to refer to the periods of the years covered by those seasons in this region. However, please bear in mind that the seasons are reversed in south of the tropic of Cancer, whilst areas near the equator have the wet season and the dry season.
:Please therefore prefer wording such as "in early 1990", "in the second quarter of 2003", "around September" or an exact date, rather than references to seasons, unless there is some particular need to mention the season (e.g. due to the Autumn harvest). This is particularly important with topics that concern the Southern hemisphere, the whole world, or outer space (for example, it is nonsensical to say that Apollo 13 landed on the Moon in the summer of 1969).
This is a fairly significant addition, and while it seems common sense, we always seem to argue over what common sense is ;-), so, just in case...
I agree with this, but a couple of pointers:
*With topics that concern a particular area, it might be okay, but this is arguable as it can of course lead to confusion.  Like, if we were talking about New Zealand, "during the summer, New Zealanders often go to the beach..." or about some northern European area, "it often snows during the winter..." or something like that (not from an actual article).  Dunno if these examples are realistic (in concept, not specifically those examples), i.e. if it will ever happen, but something to think about... views welcome.
*Quotations always stay as quoted.  Square brackets, e.g. "... Spring last year [late last year] ..." might help... Does this need to be explicit?  Might be implied...
The first paragraph of the proposal is quite safe, in my opinion.
I think it's fair to say that if this goes without controversy for five days, i.e. no controversy before 08:30, 27 April 2006 UTC, it can be permanently added.  Neonumbers 08:20, 22 April 2006 (UTC)
replies: text: I've restored it with the suggestions you made, Neonumbers, i.e. it's fine to say "it snows in winter in the United States" and words inside quotation marks shouldn't be changed. Otherwise, it seems fine, and basically a matter of common sense, though perhaps not something you'd think of until you read it, which is why it's a valuable section. SlimVirgin (talk) 08:41, 22 April 2006 (UTC)

text: Fully agree with all. --Quiddity 09:37, 22 April 2006 (UTC)

text: We all agree in principle then :D.  No point fussing too much over wording, I guess... My first point (to clarify) was to do with articles on a region, but on second thought, that's essentially the same thing as "the autumn harvest" (or similar, anyway).  It'll work out, not too tricky a topic.  Thanks all.  Neonumbers 02:24, 23 April 2006 (UTC)
thread_title:  Seasons