Proposal talk:Prohibit people from using the word "whilst" in English Wikipedia
Whilst is a perfectly acceptable word. As is any other word in the language. Its archaic nature is moreover open to contest. While, moreover, does not mean exactly the same thing as whilst in certain contexts and vice versa. You can't just merrily erase words from the English language, this isn't 1984 you know. Sjc 05:09, 1 December 2009 (UTC)
- On my side of the pond (North America), we don't get exposed to the word "whilst" outside of the Holy Bible and Shakespeare. It would be nice if everyone used the more familiar word "while" instead of the archaic and possibly British English word "whilst." GVnayR 04:16, 2 December 2009 (UTC)
- Again, I would contend with your definition of whilst as being archaic; it isn't, it's a figure of everyday speech of many people in many countries besides the UK. It is not a word like thee or thou which has lapsed almost entirely from usage. It has somewhat more formal connotations than while, albeit (I wonder when the word police will be round for that one...) that the two are fundamentally synonymous.Sjc 12:42, 3 December 2009 (UTC)
- None of the books that Mom and I have read ever had the word whilst in it. We always buy our books from Canadian book stores and they always use the world while. Even my favorite authors like Raymond Kurzweil and Vernon Vinge use the world while instead of whilst. If it's a figure of speech for more than half the world's English population to say whilst, then us North Americans must be undereducated by the rest of the world's standards. GVnayR 04:37, 6 December 2009 (UTC)
- This way madness lies. -- Philippe 05:26, 6 December 2009 (UTC)
- None of the books that Mom and I have read ever had the word whilst in it. We always buy our books from Canadian book stores and they always use the world while. Even my favorite authors like Raymond Kurzweil and Vernon Vinge use the world while instead of whilst. If it's a figure of speech for more than half the world's English population to say whilst, then us North Americans must be undereducated by the rest of the world's standards. GVnayR 04:37, 6 December 2009 (UTC)
- Again, I would contend with your definition of whilst as being archaic; it isn't, it's a figure of everyday speech of many people in many countries besides the UK. It is not a word like thee or thou which has lapsed almost entirely from usage. It has somewhat more formal connotations than while, albeit (I wonder when the word police will be round for that one...) that the two are fundamentally synonymous.Sjc 12:42, 3 December 2009 (UTC)
"Whilst is too hard for younger people and North Americans to understand." I laughed when I saw that. Do you mean to insult the intelligence of an entire continent, or should I just read it between the lines as saying "AMERICANS R STUPID". (regardless of whether you meant it that way, I still find it funny.) Then I read the next bit, and laughed again. --Ephemeronium 16:45, 30 June 2010 (UTC)
- Do you view blocks as preventative or punitive? The idea of blocking people for using legitimate words whilst using Wikipedia runs counter to the principles of "Assume good faith", "Be bold", and "Ignore all rules". How can people jump in and edit without familiarizing themselves with policy if they risk being blocked for using a real English word? Kansan 16:48, 30 June 2010 (UTC)