User contributions for Wordwright

29 October 2024

• 17:1317:13, 29 October 2024 diff hist +52 Ball →Etymology: You cannot actually show the earliest use of the word "ball" to denote a thing played with if you quote a sentence in Middle English but don't provide a translation. I corrected that unfairness by providing a translation courtesy of Grok. current

28 October 2024

• 19:0119:01, 28 October 2024 diff hist −343 Cup See "No cup will be called a glass" in the talk section for my reasons for deleting the passage that began, "Names for different types..." and ended "...a shot glass, instead."
• 18:5818:58, 28 October 2024 diff hist +3 Talk:Cup →No cup will be called a glass
• 18:5518:55, 28 October 2024 diff hist +4,340 Talk:Cup →No cup will be called a glass: new section Tag: New topic
• 17:0617:06, 28 October 2024 diff hist −21 Cup Cups are solid, and cannot be drunk, so they cannot be used to quench thirst; since some cups hold things not for drinking, it is not correct to say that people of a wide range of cultures social classes use them to quench their thirst. Made the appropriate change.
• 17:0217:02, 28 October 2024 diff hist −3 Cup An adornment is something that has no function, but merely beautifies; the grip on a cup is not an adornment, but an attachment; just like door knobs, handles on a valise, the grips on a window sash, they allow one to move the body of the cup without touching it. Made the appropriate change.

17 September 2024

• 21:2021:20, 17 September 2024 diff hist +137 Mary MacDonald (poet) →Poetry: When Macbean translated the hymn and named the tune "Bunessan" in 1888, Eleanor Farjeon was only eight years old, and would not write "Morning Has Broken" for another forty-three years. Hence in 1888 the tune was not famous under a name that it was not associated with until 1931. Made the appropriate change.

31 August 2024

• 21:3721:37, 31 August 2024 diff hist +2 m René Descartes →Collected editions: "The first five volumes contains" is wrong; the plural subject requires the plural form "contain." Made the appropriate change.

25 June 2024

• 19:1419:14, 25 June 2024 diff hist +4 Christianity in Europe Religions don't have size, so Christianity cannot be larger than another religion. The term to describe a social reality involving some matter (a good or an evil or pattern or activity) that has some competitors but has a scope of acceptance or a rank that so far outstrips those competitors as to make that form the presumptive and decisive and fate-making reality resistant to demotion, let alone removal, in that society regarding that matter is *predominance.* Made the appropriate change.

16 April 2024

• 23:5723:57, 16 April 2024 diff hist −2 Mary Ann Vecchio →Kent State: "Invade into" is not idiomatic English, and "invasion" collocates with "of." Made the appropriate change.

23 March 2024

• 06:5806:58, 23 March 2024 diff hist −2 Sisyphus →See also: As with the edit of the sentence about Camus, the term "metaphor" is used abusively here instead of the proper term "symbol." Made the appropriate change.
• 06:5606:56, 23 March 2024 diff hist −1 Sisyphus →See also: The colloquial use of "metaphor" as a comprehensive term for any sort of figurative language should not be tolerated in an encyclopedia, especially not when a philosopher is the subject. Camus used Sisyphus as a symbol. Made the appropriate change.

1 February 2024

• 20:4120:41, 1 February 2024 diff hist 0 m Ovid in the Third Reich →Analysis and reception: When writing about great poets, we should respect our language.

3 January 2024

• 15:5415:54, 3 January 2024 diff hist −1 Victor Wembanyama →Off the court: There are no "matches," only games, in basketball. Made the appropriate change.
• 15:5115:51, 3 January 2024 diff hist −2 Victor Wembanyama →San Antonio Spurs (2023–present): Since all NBA players are men, the epicene "their" is pointless; "his" is right. Made the appropriate change.

28 December 2023

• 23:4123:41, 28 December 2023 diff hist 0 m Dexter (TV series) →U.S. broadcast
• 23:3623:36, 28 December 2023 diff hist −1 Dexter (TV series) →Plot: To flinch is to withdraw with a spasm; to be unflinching is not to spasm in withdrawal from a threat. A tendency cannot flinch nor be unflinching. It *can* be unyielding. Made the appropriate change.
• 23:3323:33, 28 December 2023 diff hist −4 Dexter (TV series) →Plot: Morgan did not "manipulate" Dexter—that implies secret, indirect control. No, he *trained* Dexter. Big difference. Made appropriate change.

8 December 2023

• 14:1014:10, 8 December 2023 diff hist +5 Jay North →Early life: Numbers from one to ninety-nine should be written out in prose when they denote real quantities like age or weight, rather than dates and years or series with the numeral in their title. Made the appropriate change.

5 November 2023

• 23:0623:06, 5 November 2023 diff hist +4 They Flee from Me →Literary Interpretation: When one hangs a picture, the picture is hung; when one hangs a man, the man is hanged. Made the appropriate change.

10 October 2023

• 16:1016:10, 10 October 2023 diff hist −4 Eve Arden →Death: "Due to" has come to displace "because," "since," "given," and other words and expressions in the same semantic field, and in this instance has infected the idiom "to die of." In the name of strong and human English prose, I disinfected the idiom.
• 16:0516:05, 10 October 2023 diff hist −1 Eve Arden →Film: "Multiple" is overused and, worse, is technical; it should not displace "many," "several," "numerous," "various," and other words from the same semantic field. For the sake of strong and human English prose made an appropriate change.

22 September 2023

• 21:5421:54, 22 September 2023 diff hist +1 The Night Agent →Filming: A comma should separate the main clause (which begins "The series was...") from the subordinate clause (which begins "...with the city..."); I placed that comma like a mother.
• 21:5121:51, 22 September 2023 diff hist +1 The Night Agent →Filming: A comma was missing between "Washington" and D.C," so I placed the hell out of that comma.
• 21:4921:49, 22 September 2023 diff hist −8 The Night Agent →Filming: "Throughout" means "in the whole of"; since the series was *not* filmed in *all* places in BC, but in only some, it was simply filmed *in* BC. Made the appropriate change from the inept "throughout" to the perfect "in."

20 September 2023

• 21:0121:01, 20 September 2023 diff hist 0 2023 Writers Guild of America strike Periods of time are measured in length, not volume or mass; since this labor stoppage is being compared to the one in 1988, which lasted 154 dyas, it is clear that length of time is the measure. This stoppage is therefore the longest since COVID and since 1988. Made the change from the inept "largest" to the felicitous "longest."

19 September 2023

• 13:4313:43, 19 September 2023 diff hist +4 Tomás de Torquemada →In popular culture: "Due to" is overused; strictly speaking, it indicates the presence of an unexpected and unfortunate cause. It is simply because of the insistence, etc. Made the change appropriate to remove the robotic mindlessness from the sentence.
• 13:4113:41, 19 September 2023 diff hist +2 Tomás de Torquemada →In popular culture: The title of a television show must be italicized. Made the appropriate change.
• 13:4013:40, 19 September 2023 diff hist 0 Tomás de Torquemada →In popular culture: Rather than a semi-colon, which makes about as much sense as a hot poker for shish kabob, a comma should come after "akin to Torquemada." Made the appropriate change.

11 September 2023

• 19:1019:10, 11 September 2023 diff hist −1 All That She Wants A rendition is a distinctive performance of an already finished song—there are many renditions of "The Star-Spangled Banner." But this song was revised several times before the final version, so what one wants is either "revisions" or "versions." Made the appropriate change.

9 September 2023

• 23:2923:29, 9 September 2023 diff hist −2 Christopher Dawson →Life: My God, the person who wrote this was not paying attention. "...and joined an field-ambulance" is a run-on sentence, and "an" occurs only before words that begin with vowels. Made the changes to cure this passage of rather painfully illiterate solecisms.
• 23:2623:26, 9 September 2023 diff hist +1 Christopher Dawson →Life: A comma should come after "officer." Placed the necessary comma.
• 23:2423:24, 9 September 2023 diff hist +1 Christopher Dawson A period should end sentences. Placed the necessary period to end the sentence about Dawson's ability to expound his thought, etc.
• 23:2323:23, 9 September 2023 diff hist +2 Christopher Dawson "To exert" collocates *only* with words that denote motive realities like force, power, and influence, so it is not possible to exert thought. Given the contrasts, what seems to be meant is that Dawson was able to impress both those naturally disposed and those not naturally disposed to agree with a Catholic. Made the appropriate change.
• 23:1823:18, 9 September 2023 diff hist 0 Christopher Dawson Christopher Dawson would not have countenanced the sub-literate splitting of the infinitive with "not." Made the appropriate change.
• 23:1623:16, 9 September 2023 diff hist −5 Christopher Dawson "Necessity on how" is *very* awkward: "necessity on" is not an English idiom, and "on how" is a clumsy use of a preposition with a dependent clause. "Necessity for" is the proper idiom to introduce an infinitive clause. Made the appropriate change.

28 August 2023

• 08:2408:24, 28 August 2023 diff hist +3 WorldStarHipHop →Initial launch: "Thereon" means "on the thing just mentioned," but context requires "thereafter." Made the appropriate change.

24 August 2023

• 00:4800:48, 24 August 2023 diff hist +7 Nayib Bukele The simple past tense "decreased" and "during" would be appropriate only if Bukele were no longer in office; since he is still in office, the present perfect and the open temporal phrase "so far in" are proper. Made the necessary changes.

21 August 2023

• 21:0221:02, 21 August 2023 diff hist −8 Television →Terrestrial television: "As we know it from now on," aside from being bad English, implies that broadcasting is *just now* beginning, whereas the context indicates that broadcasting as we now know it *began* in 1936. Made the appropriate change.

19 August 2023

• 20:0220:02, 19 August 2023 diff hist −8 Everybody Hates Chris →Synopsis: "Racist-dominated" is not a word, and Chris' school is not "racist"—Caruso is the only one who maltreats Chris because he's black, there is one episode about basketball stereotypes, and Miss Morello is naïve in her reliance on stereotypes. The school is best described as "all white." Made the appropriate change.

16 August 2023

• 17:4417:44, 16 August 2023 diff hist +1 Chris Rock–Will Smith slapping incident In a sentence the most important element comes last; regarding WS's apology, the most important element was *not* that he made it in his acceptance speech, but that he did not apologize to Rock. Made the appropriate change.

20 July 2023

• 03:1403:14, 20 July 2023 diff hist −2 Y'all →History: "Manifested" is a high-falutin' way of saying "appeared," and is not necessary unless you want people to think highly of you. Since nobody cares about the person who preened himself on using "manifested," but just want information, "appeared" is best. Made the appropriate change.

8 July 2023

• 04:1004:10, 8 July 2023 diff hist −4 Dai Gohonzon →Mythos: Unless the image of the Dai Gohonzon already existed, it could not be "transferred" at all; instead, Nichiren *created* the image by inscribing it on the log. Made the appropriate change.
• 04:0704:07, 8 July 2023 diff hist 0 Dai Gohonzon →Mythos: The passive past participle "procured" cannot come before the noun, but must come after it to introduce the clause that completes its sense. Made the appropriate change.

28 June 2023

• 18:0218:02, 28 June 2023 diff hist 0 m Biltmore Estate →History: In American English, periods and commas are placed *inside* quotation marks; since this is an American subject, American punctuation rules rule. Made the appropriate change. American Forever! Tag: Reverted

22 June 2023

• 17:3117:31, 22 June 2023 diff hist 0 James Fitzjames Stephen →Return to England, 1872–1879: The clause "mainly for family reasons" explains an action, and so should not stand in apposition to "Stephen," the subject of the sentence that does not need explaining, but after "returns," the action for which Stephen had a motive. Made the appropriate change.
• 17:2717:27, 22 June 2023 diff hist −1 James Fitzjames Stephen →Early career, 1854–1869: One can only "practice with" things like instruments, not with intellectual fields. Thus Stephen did not "practice with journalism," but rather practiced *as* a journalist. Made the appropriate change.

12 June 2023

• 09:3909:39, 12 June 2023 diff hist −5 The Case of the Curious Bride →Production: *Captain Blood* could not "also" star Errol Flynn because Flynn did not star in *The Case of the Curious Bride*. Made the appropriate change.

8 June 2023

• 19:4019:40, 8 June 2023 diff hist +1 The Public Enemy →Critical response: A comma must come after the verb that introduces a quotation clause. Placed a comma after "noted."
• 19:3719:37, 8 June 2023 diff hist −12 The Public Enemy →Mae Clarke's Grapefruit scene: "Grapefruit take of the scene" is inaccurate: there can be several takes of one scene, but no take can be a "grapefruit" or a "swimsuit" take. Moreover, only one take of a scene gets in a film. What MC saw was the grapefruit scene. Made the appropriate change.