Wiktionary:Votes/bt-2006-07/Bot approval request: ScsHdrRewrBot

Discussion moved from Wiktionary:Beer parlour/2006/July#Bot approval request: ScsHdrRewrBot.

The ScsHdrRewrBot account will be used to perform simple rewrites of Wiktionary section headings as part of an ongoing effort to keep them consistent.

I will use this bot only to perform rewrites that are obviously cosmetic, or that have achieved consensus.

Examples of "obviously cosmetic" rewrites:

1. ===Verb (transitive)=== to ===Transitive verb===
2. ===Also see=== to ===See also===
3. ===Alternative spelling=== to ===Alternative spellings===

Examples of not-necessarily-obvious rewrites, which will not be performed except after reaching consensus after discussion here in the Beer Parlour:

1. ===Transitive verb=== to ===Verb===
2. ===Alternate spellings=== to ===Alternative spellings===

—scs 15:56, 5 July 2006 (UTC)

Support:

1. --Connel MacKenzie T C 16:07, 5 July 2006 (UTC)
2. — Vildricianus 16:24, 5 July 2006 (UTC)
3. -- SemperBlotto 16:25, 5 July 2006 (UTC)
4. --Enginear 01:36, 6 July 2006 (UTC)
5. — Hippietrail 20:05, 7 July 2006 (UTC)
6. Rod (A. Smith) 02:01, 8 July 2006 (UTC)

Oppose:

Comments:

• BTW, what was controversial about "=Alternate spellings=" --> "=Alternative spellings="? The controversy was "=Alternate forms=", IIRC. --Connel MacKenzie 21:50, 10 July 2006 (UTC)

  AIUI, it's another of these nuisancey little pondian differences. I was once told by a U.S. copyeditor that "alternative" is strongly preferred in this context and that "alternate" is simply Wrong; the latter, it is said, is reserved for phenomena that alternate periodically, like a light that flashes on/off/on/off, or a baseball team that alternates up/fielding/up/fielding. However, I recently read (I think somewhere here on Wiktionary) that exactly the opposite (er, alternate or alternative) interpretation prevails in the U.K. So while the issue looks inconsequential to the casual observer, "educated" U.S. editors (i.e. those brainwashed by prescriptivist U.S. copyeditors) badly want to change them all to "alternative", while correspondingly "educated" U.K. editors want to change them all to "alternate". —scs 17:35, 13 July 2006 (UTC)

  Actually, what you read was wrong. Educated usage in the UK is identical to what you describe for the US (see, eg, Compact Oxford Dictionary at ). I see our alternate follows Oxford at present. --Enginear 21:52, 13 July 2006 (UTC)

  Oh, good! I am happy to be corrected on this point. Thanks —scs 22:00, 13 July 2006 (UTC)

• Bot status now granted. Go for it! — Hippietrail 15:35, 25 July 2006 (UTC)