Not a bug Smilies or Smileys?

[xffutureuser]

Affected version

2.1.2

Correct me if i am wrong, English is my third language. But I always try to write as correctly as I can. And these "Smilies" kind of confuses me a bit. According to my research, it should be Smileys, not Smilies. Even my spellcheck is telling me so.

 

[Max Taxable]

To my recollection going back 15 years or so ago, originally these were referred to as "smilies." But that's an archaic way to spell it, now.

 

[Ozzy47]

This was marked before as "as designed", https://xenforo.com/community/threa...of-smiley-in-acp-phrases.141577/#post-1215407

 

[Max Taxable]

The plural form "smilies" is commonly used,[4] but the variant spelling "smilie" is not as common as the "y" spelling.

 

[xffutureuser]

Well, smiley is one word, just a new word in English language, not a word built from smile with a suffix. Smiley is a name given to this: . Common sense. So smiley is a noun and smileys is the plural and that XF person is incorrect and just misleading many people.

In that Wikipedia article they are also using smileys. Dictionary is also using smileys. Almost everybody is using smileys.

 

[Chris D]

So smiley is a noun and smileys is the plural and that XF person is incorrect and just misleading many people.

"Misleading". Hmm. I'm not sure about that.

I agree that the spelling is debatable, but in English, there's quite a lot of precedent for the plural of smiley (as a noun) to be smilies.

What is the plural of Berry? Berries, not Berrys.
The plural of Possibility is Possibilities, not Possibilitys.
The plural of Lady is Ladies, and not Ladys.

And so on.

Ultimately, while we know it is up for debate, this is what we've settled on and something we have been using now for around 9 years so not something we feel inclined to change at this point.

 

[xffutureuser]

"Misleading". Hmm. I'm not sure about that.

I agree that the spelling is debatable, but in English, there's quite a lot of precedent for the plural of smiley (as a noun) to be smilies.

What is the plural of Berry? Berries, not Berrys.
The plural of Possibility is Possibilities, not Possibilitys.
The plural of Lady is Ladies, and not Ladys.

And so on.

Ultimately, while we know it is up for debate, this is what we've settled on and something we have been using now for around 9 years so not something we feel inclined to change at this point.

Yes, misleading. Because of one person from XF, XF is teaching me and millions others wrong English. It is different when I make a mistake in a chat compere to making a mistake in a software that millions of people are using. You guys have a bit more responsibility there.

Actually there is nothing much to debate at all. It's simple:

For words ending in “y”, the general rule is if there is a vowel before the “y”, just add “s” to pluralize the word. When there is a consonant before the “y”, change the “y” to “ies”.

Example:
valley - valleys
monkey - monkeys
pulley - pulleys
attorney - attorneys
journey - journeys
smiley - smileys

And so on. See the dictionary:

 

[Chris D]

With all due respect, we're not trying to teach you English. This is just, in our interpretation, the correct plural.

Though I need to add that I slightly misspoke earlier.

We do not recognise "Smiley" to be the singular of "Smilies". We don't actually use the word "Smiley" anywhere in the software. We use the word "Smilie". While it is not the most common way to spell it, it is valid, and it is our chosen way. The correct plural for "Smilie" is "Smilies".

 

[xffutureuser]

With all due respect, we're not trying to teach you English. This is just, in our interpretation, the correct plural.

Though I need to add that I slightly misspoke earlier.

We do not recognise "Smiley" to be the singular of "Smilies". We don't actually use the word "Smiley" anywhere in the software. We use the word "Smilie". While it is not the most common way to spell it, it is valid, and it is our chosen way. The correct plural for "Smilie" is "Smilies".

I understand, you guys do that unintentionally.

Just for your interest "smilie" is not an English word. It would have been nice if you could use English language in the software. Thanks.
The English name for this is smiley.

 

[Martok]

Just for your interest "smilie" is not an English word. It would have been nice if you could use English language in the software. Thanks.
The English name for this is smiley.

Language is a wonderful thing in that it is constantly evolving. Things change over time including the different usage of words ('gay' today vs 'gay' in the early 20th century) and spelling. Yoghurt and yogurt. Organisation and organization.

XenForo is software developed in the UK but has US English as its base language. So we have to put up with color instead of colour and center instead of centre

I guess at the end of the day it doesn't really matter; it's not spelling mistake as such, just a spelling variant with increasing usage over the years.

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[xffutureuser]

I beg to differ. Smilie is incorrect spelling. Completely fictitious word that doesn't exist in US English, Canadian English, not even in UK English. Color - colour and center - centre, on the other hand, are words used in English language. I do have for that reason several spell-checkers none of them accept smilie as a word. So it is misleading to use fictitious ford when English language has a correct word for it and that is smiley.

 

[Snog]

 

[xffutureuser]

View attachment 202910

That is a page where anybody can write anything. I wouldn't count on those kind of pages much. There are more reliable sources than that:

 

[Chris D]

I don't think we'll be reaching an agreement here, so all I can recommend is that you change it on your own installation if you feel that the word "Smiley" and "Smileys" is more appropriate. There's little point in discussing it further as I'm sure we all have better uses for our time

 

[djbaxter]

There are many inconsistencies in the English language, regardless of whether you are talking about US or UK English, and a lot of the language is based on convention and historical usage rather than necessarily logic. This is especially true in the technical arena.

Here is another well-known inconsistency:

HTTP referer - Wikipedia

en.m.wikipedia.org

The HTTP referer (originally a misspelling of referrer) is an optional HTTP header field that identifies the address of the webpage (i.e. the URI or IRI) that linked to the resource being requested. By checking the referrer, the new webpage can see where the request originated.

The reality is that since the advent of the little cartoon "smiles" they have always been called smilies (plural) or smiley (singular).

To be honest, I find it rather humorous that of all the things one might complain about in the English language you are choosing to focus on the word smilies.

 

[Kevin]

Well, heck, if we're only going to go by "reliable sources" definitions then let's go by the Encyclopedia Britannica and properly call them "emoticons" and "emoji"!

What’s the Difference Between Emoji and Emoticons?

Learn about your favorite modern-day hieroglyphs.

www.britannica.com

 

[beerForo]

Edit your language and call it a dai. I mean day.

 

[Max Taxable]

To be honest, I find it rather humorous that of all the things one might complain about in the English language you are choosing to focus on the word smilies.

But hey, I give him/her points for the stylish, only slightly snotty, staccato, "Seven of Nine" type posting! That's a rarity from someone who clearly means well.