Subject: EDQ #9: It's a Wide World
Posted by: looney_tunes
Date: Jun 29 13
As an editor in Humanities and Literature, I frequently encounter situations in which both authors and players seem unaware of exactly how much variation exists among the international members of the FunTrivia community. As someone who grew up in the United States, but has spent most of my adult life in Australia, I have been forced to internationalise (or internationalize, which my current spellchecker prefers) my understanding of some of these differences. I would like to share some of the points that arise regularly in the categories in which I edit, and mention a few others which I have encountered as I have written quizzes for other categories. Editors in other categories will be adding category-specific information.
Most people are aware of the numerous examples of words that are spelled in different ways - color/colour, theater/theatre, grey/gray - but it is still worth mentioning again. As a player, you may be surprised to see a word spelled in an unfamiliar fashion, but before you send a correction note you should check a good dictionary to make sure you are not just seeing an accepted variant.
A similar issue is the use of different words for the same thing. When I moved to Australia I started walking on a footpath instead of a sidewalk. I had a lot more difficulty handling the fact that students in my classroom asked each other for rubbers to correct their mistakes in written work. If you are aware of a common difference in usage, it is a courtesy to indicate the alternative name that some players may use for the object you are describing. But please don't send a correction note saying that you don't use that word where you live. If you would like to point out the variance to an author, that it better done by way of a direct message. They may choose to add the information to their quiz as a matter of interest, but what they originally wrote was a regional variant, not incorrect.
Also related is the issue of the different ways in which phrases are constructed. I grew up saying that A was different from B, emphasizing the separation between the two with the preposition 'from'. When I moved to Australia, I was informed that I should say that A is different to B. This is because the Latin word "differens" takes the dative case, which is usually translated by using the preposition 'to'. They are both reasonable arguments, and both are right, in context. Before you send a correction note on what seems like a misused word, do some research to see if what you learned is in fact universal. (So few things in English are!)
Which brings me to punctuation. No matter what you learned in school, or what the style guide you use says, there are many different ways to punctuate correctly. Apostrophes, while one of the most misused punctuation marks, are actually one of the least ambiguous. Commas, on the other hand, are slippery little suckers! The only aspect of punctuation on which I want to spend some time is the use of punctuation at the end of quotations. Some of you will have learned that the final punctuation belongs inside the quote marks, some that it goes outside. We accept both conventions, but please be consistent throughout your quiz. There is, however, one point that confuses many, and that is handling the quotation marks we ask you to use to denote a title. Since the punctuation is being used to show that the enclosed text would normally be printed in italics, they are firmly attached to that text, and punctuation goes outside. You also do not need to have a comma before them, as you would for a quotation, because it is not a quotation, but a different use of the symbol.
What was the name of the first book in the "Harry Potter" series, or the first album released by the Beatles? The answer depends on where you live. "Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone" was released in the UK in June, 1997; "Harry Potter and the Sorceror's Stone" was released in the US in 1998. The Beatles released "Please Please Me" in the UK in March, 1963; "Introducing the Beatles" was released in the US in 1964, a week before another company released "Meet the Beatles". Obviously, you cannot meaningfully ask the questions I just posed, you need to have a more focused question in order to be sure there is only one correct answer. Many books have different titles when released in different countries, and sometimes the titles are changed over time - a number of Agatha Christie titles, such as "And Then There Were None" (whose original title is not one I am even comfortable writing here, although it was not seen as offensive in the time and place of original publication), spring to mind in this context. It is important to be aware of this, and be specific in the way you ask your questions.
Different releases of books also often have other significant differences, which is why we don't allow questions about the name of the publisher, the date of publication, the name of a chapter, the cover art or internal illustrations, etc. While it is possible to word your question to be specific (What color was the triangle on the cover of the 1965 edition published in The United States by Scholastic Press?), it is a question that cannot be answered by players from other countries, who have a reasonable expectation that they should be able to answer the questions in the quiz based on their familiarity with the edition they happen to have read. There are much more interesting things to ask about any book that is worthy of a ten-question quiz.
It is easy to write phrases such as "the President", "our government" or "the Civil War" as if the one where you live were the only one. Many countries have presidents, most have a government, and far too many have had at least one civil war. Inserting a country tag removes the apparent assumption that the country where you live is the only one.
When you are writing about anything that involves measurement, you should be aware that there are many different systems in use around the world, and they are all correct. As is the case for spelling, you should be consistent, and use one system of measurement in your quiz. I like to use the metric system, because all metric units are internationally consistent, which is more than can be said for Imperial units. My mother taught me "A pint's a pound the world around" as a way to remember that a pint is 16 fluid ounces. Then I moved to Australia and discovered that a pint here was 20 fluid ounces, because it contained 5 cups, not 4. This made a quart and a gallon proportionately larger, too. And I discovered the long ton, the short ton, and the metric tonne. We won't get started on the different kinds of mile. As a courtesy to players, you might like to show your measured values in both the system you are using and the other most common one, so they can get an idea of what you are talking about without having to resort to a unit converter. After all, 30C is much more comfortable for swimming than is 30F (let alone 30K)! This might be clearer to those who are only familiar with one temperature scale if I write that 30C (86F) is better swimming weather than 30F (-1C).
Enough from me, it's time to discuss some other specific international differences of which authors and players need to be aware.
Posted by: looney_tunes
Date: Jun 29 13
As an editor in Humanities and Literature, I frequently encounter situations in which both authors and players seem unaware of exactly how much variation exists among the international members of the FunTrivia community. As someone who grew up in the United States, but has spent most of my adult life in Australia, I have been forced to internationalise (or internationalize, which my current spellchecker prefers) my understanding of some of these differences. I would like to share some of the points that arise regularly in the categories in which I edit, and mention a few others which I have encountered as I have written quizzes for other categories. Editors in other categories will be adding category-specific information.
Most people are aware of the numerous examples of words that are spelled in different ways - color/colour, theater/theatre, grey/gray - but it is still worth mentioning again. As a player, you may be surprised to see a word spelled in an unfamiliar fashion, but before you send a correction note you should check a good dictionary to make sure you are not just seeing an accepted variant.
A similar issue is the use of different words for the same thing. When I moved to Australia I started walking on a footpath instead of a sidewalk. I had a lot more difficulty handling the fact that students in my classroom asked each other for rubbers to correct their mistakes in written work. If you are aware of a common difference in usage, it is a courtesy to indicate the alternative name that some players may use for the object you are describing. But please don't send a correction note saying that you don't use that word where you live. If you would like to point out the variance to an author, that it better done by way of a direct message. They may choose to add the information to their quiz as a matter of interest, but what they originally wrote was a regional variant, not incorrect.
Also related is the issue of the different ways in which phrases are constructed. I grew up saying that A was different from B, emphasizing the separation between the two with the preposition 'from'. When I moved to Australia, I was informed that I should say that A is different to B. This is because the Latin word "differens" takes the dative case, which is usually translated by using the preposition 'to'. They are both reasonable arguments, and both are right, in context. Before you send a correction note on what seems like a misused word, do some research to see if what you learned is in fact universal. (So few things in English are!)
Which brings me to punctuation. No matter what you learned in school, or what the style guide you use says, there are many different ways to punctuate correctly. Apostrophes, while one of the most misused punctuation marks, are actually one of the least ambiguous. Commas, on the other hand, are slippery little suckers! The only aspect of punctuation on which I want to spend some time is the use of punctuation at the end of quotations. Some of you will have learned that the final punctuation belongs inside the quote marks, some that it goes outside. We accept both conventions, but please be consistent throughout your quiz. There is, however, one point that confuses many, and that is handling the quotation marks we ask you to use to denote a title. Since the punctuation is being used to show that the enclosed text would normally be printed in italics, they are firmly attached to that text, and punctuation goes outside. You also do not need to have a comma before them, as you would for a quotation, because it is not a quotation, but a different use of the symbol.
What was the name of the first book in the "Harry Potter" series, or the first album released by the Beatles? The answer depends on where you live. "Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone" was released in the UK in June, 1997; "Harry Potter and the Sorceror's Stone" was released in the US in 1998. The Beatles released "Please Please Me" in the UK in March, 1963; "Introducing the Beatles" was released in the US in 1964, a week before another company released "Meet the Beatles". Obviously, you cannot meaningfully ask the questions I just posed, you need to have a more focused question in order to be sure there is only one correct answer. Many books have different titles when released in different countries, and sometimes the titles are changed over time - a number of Agatha Christie titles, such as "And Then There Were None" (whose original title is not one I am even comfortable writing here, although it was not seen as offensive in the time and place of original publication), spring to mind in this context. It is important to be aware of this, and be specific in the way you ask your questions.
Different releases of books also often have other significant differences, which is why we don't allow questions about the name of the publisher, the date of publication, the name of a chapter, the cover art or internal illustrations, etc. While it is possible to word your question to be specific (What color was the triangle on the cover of the 1965 edition published in The United States by Scholastic Press?), it is a question that cannot be answered by players from other countries, who have a reasonable expectation that they should be able to answer the questions in the quiz based on their familiarity with the edition they happen to have read. There are much more interesting things to ask about any book that is worthy of a ten-question quiz.
It is easy to write phrases such as "the President", "our government" or "the Civil War" as if the one where you live were the only one. Many countries have presidents, most have a government, and far too many have had at least one civil war. Inserting a country tag removes the apparent assumption that the country where you live is the only one.
When you are writing about anything that involves measurement, you should be aware that there are many different systems in use around the world, and they are all correct. As is the case for spelling, you should be consistent, and use one system of measurement in your quiz. I like to use the metric system, because all metric units are internationally consistent, which is more than can be said for Imperial units. My mother taught me "A pint's a pound the world around" as a way to remember that a pint is 16 fluid ounces. Then I moved to Australia and discovered that a pint here was 20 fluid ounces, because it contained 5 cups, not 4. This made a quart and a gallon proportionately larger, too. And I discovered the long ton, the short ton, and the metric tonne. We won't get started on the different kinds of mile. As a courtesy to players, you might like to show your measured values in both the system you are using and the other most common one, so they can get an idea of what you are talking about without having to resort to a unit converter. After all, 30C is much more comfortable for swimming than is 30F (let alone 30K)! This might be clearer to those who are only familiar with one temperature scale if I write that 30C (86F) is better swimming weather than 30F (-1C).
Enough from me, it's time to discuss some other specific international differences of which authors and players need to be aware.
7 replies. On page 1 of 1 pages. 1
Christinap 
|
I think royalty questions are something that need to state which country. I have seen questions along the lines of "Which King was deposed in....." without saying which Country. Many countries have had or still have monarchies, and many of those have had monarchs who were deposed, or abdicated, or were assassinated. Many still have a monarchy system. I think us Brits. are guilty of tending to assume we are the only ones that monarchy questions can apply to when in fact they can apply worldwide. Reply #1. Jun 29 13, 5:35 AM |
agony
|
In Music, it's not only the names of the record albums which can change from country to country. It's also the cover art, the order the songs appear, which songs are included, and sometimes even the actual performance. This is one of the reasons we don't allow questions about track order in the Music category (the other is that it's not a very interesting question). These days, when music can be bought online, singles tend to be released all over the world at the same time. This was very much not the case in the past. Many singles were only released regionally, so that by the time the band became a worldwide sensation and their music was heard everywhere, a song could be their first single in the US, their second in Europe, and their fifth or sixth in their home country. Questions about singles releases for anything older than the last few years need to include some reference to *where* you are asking about. Probably the biggest international difference in Music is the hit song. "It was Number One on the charts!" your quiz says - well, not really. It was Number One on the specific chart you are referencing - it may not even have charted somewhere else. If your question depends on chart position - if the only difference between the correct answer and the incorrect ones is chart-related - you must include the entire name of the exact chart in the body of the question. If you mean the Billboard Hot 100, you must say "Billboard Hot 100". There's more than one Billboard chart, there is more than one US chart. The British chart situation is also complex, though in a different way. Be specific. If your question also includes bits of lyric, or is the only option from that band, or in some other way gives more clues, then it's all right to say "topped the charts" without being more specific, if you like. It's a good idea to get in the habit of specifying the chart though, just on general principles. Reply #2. Jun 29 13, 7:58 AM |
Aussiedrongo
|
In regards to music, I think people should also be mindful of the many cover versions of songs that exist. I copped a question about a month ago in the New Question game which asked along the lines of: Which of these songs did not have an accompanying video clip? The correct answer was given as 'Ring My Bell' which, for some Australians who are brave enough to admit remembering it, was covered circa late 80's/early 90's by Collette and a video clip was certainly made for it. There was nothing within the question's text indicating which versions of the songs were being referenced and even if the Interesting Info explained it, to me, and all others familiar with Collette's cover, the answer is still wrong. Reply #3. Jun 29 13, 3:27 PM |
kyleisalive
|
I see a few regional differences in my categories as well (aside from the ever-pressing Music Charts issue, which comes up a lot). In Video Games it's important to note not only the console you're playing the game on (in case of variations), but in the case of famous regional specificity, whether or not you're talking about the Japanese/EU version of the game or the North American version. Pokemon names in Japan are not the same as elsewhere. In 'Final Fantasy VII', one major character is Aerith in Japan and Aeris in North America. These types of differences can be a bit unfair for players; in some cases they may be seen as incorrect when really it's all because of the regions. The best way to avoid the problem is simply by noting the region in the intro (or title if applicable, like a quiz called 'Japanese Pokemon Names' instead of just 'Pokemon Names'). TV faces this a bit too. There is more than one version of "The Office" and of "The Amazing Race" and "Hell's Kitchen" (even if both have been hosted by Gordon Ramsey before) and "The Voice". Someone should not go into a quiz about "The Voice" (Hong Kong) expecting to answer a question about Blake Shelton. In a lot of cases, with TV, the subcategories are split up enough (eg. 'The Amazing Race' is split into U.S., China, Asia, AUS, Canada, etc.) but this won't always be the case. Reply #4. Jul 01 13, 2:47 PM |
guitargoddess
|
Another point for TV: shows don't necessarily air at the same time in various parts of the world, so we typically don't accept "What year did this show start?" type questions, unless very specific and if there's a good reason to do so. Even if it's not a regional difference issue, there are usually many much more interesting things to ask. Reply #5. Jul 01 13, 3:16 PM |
| kyleisalive
|
This is one of the reasons we don't accept questions about release dates in VG as well. Reply #6. Jul 01 13, 3:17 PM |
spanishliz
|
Ditto for release dates in Movies. Reply #7. Jul 01 13, 3:21 PM |
7 replies. On page 1 of 1 pages. 1
Legal / Conditions of Use
|
|
: