Spelling mistakes / Rechtschreibfehler

Quote from Clara

Yeah, that's a good idea, 'them' would be a better choice than 'it' I think

Very much so.

Quote from blobber

'They' or 'them' is plural. There is only one pixie at a time.
You can't say 'a xxxxx pixie invites you to follow they' .

Actually, they and them are not just used in plural situations. They and them are also used when one chooses not to apply gender to themselves or others.

Quote from EmeraldsLyn

but you could put "one of the pixies invites you to follow them" or

A shy pixie invites you to follow

I like this idea, too. Instead of debating back and forth over which pronouns to use, you can use this wording and nix the entire pronoun altogether.

"Them" as in "This post was deleted by the author themselves"?
But I think I'd prefer "it", seems acceptable for a pixie.
Or use a different phrase, like "The pixie lures you to another part of the garden" or something like that.
BTW, in German, it's usually "der Kobold" (i.e. male form).

Quote from walkinslow

BTW, in German, it's usually "der Kobold" (i.e. male form).

That's probably where it all started. With the translation. German and French (and possibly other languages) have male and female nouns for inanimate/ungendered objects while English doesn't.
I have always thought of pixies as male though, and fairies as female, when in fact they are neither.

This has been mentioned several times in this thread since the first female looking pixie appeared and has never been changed, probably for the reasons Mia gave several posts back, and we've just accepted it. It's not important, it makes no difference to the game.

Actually, using "they" or "them", while commonly done on the internet, is NOT grammatically incorrect. Correctly, it should be he/she or him/her. But it looks awkward, and people don't like doing it, so they usually use "them" when they want to hide the gender of a character in a story, or when they don't know the gender of an individual. But because "they" and "them" is plural. It is NOT correct. Ever.

"It" would be more correct or, as used to be commonly done, using "one". Because the site was translated from German to English for those of us who speak English, "one" wouldn't have been considered. (I don't think any non-English languages use it.) But here's an example.

When leaving the house, one puts on shoes.

That's a sentence where you don't know the gender of the individual, or where the gender is irrelevant. But very few English speakers know about this rule, so very few do it.

Yes, I am VERY picky about my own grammar and I notice whenever people use it incorrectly, although I rarely correct others because it can seem rude and insulting to do so all the time. (Don't get me started on when "less" and "fewer" should be used, or the various "lay", "lie", "lain", etc. And the confusion between "lose" and "loose" or "lightning" and "lightening"! Those are amongst my pet peeves!)

And it actually is perfectly acceptable, even in English, to use the male pronoun when gender is unknown. It's leftover from when the society was patriarchal and misogynist.

actually i prefer using "they" and "them" because society still is patriarchal and misogynist. regardless of whether or not using that is incorrect, assuming that male is default (as opposed to neutral or unknown, which is implied by "they") is extremely hindering to the feminist movement and advancement of women's rights.

as for the "one" thing, french has a version of it:

"il faut qu'on mange."

literally translates to:

"one needs to eat."

here is more information on (heh) the use of "on" in french. it is very almost the equivalent of the english "one."

Quote from Emeraldis

actually i prefer using "they" and "them" because society still is patriarchal and misogynist. regardless of whether or not using that is incorrect, assuming that male is default (as opposed to neutral or unknown, which is implied by "they") is extremely hindering to the feminist movement and advancement of women's rights.

That's why I prefer using s/he instead. That's also why to me, at least, saying "it" for the pixies would be acceptable. I can, however, see others having a problem with it, even though I don't. But they ARE pixels, after all. Pixel pixies. Not living things that would actually care.

Because the programming might be problematic for them changing the gender depending upon the image (which I'm sure is randomly generated), then it's up to whoever programs the site to decide about the wording. Since "him" has been used since the beginning, it's certainly easier just leaving it alone, and no matter what they change it to, someone is bound to be annoyed.

Quote from MiaSkywalker

"It" would be more correct or, as used to be commonly done, using "one". Because the site was translated from German to English for those of us who speak English, "one" wouldn't have been considered. (I don't think any non-English languages use it.) But here's an example.

Both French and German use "one" in this sense (French "on" and German "man"), but you'd have to (one would have to ;)) rephrase the current description to use it.

But I agree with blobber that the whole pixie gender thing is only a minor detail, and it doesn't really bother me.

Well normally,I guess almost all languages use male form to represent vague things or the cases which refer to both he and she, just like using man instead of human. Both "one" and "it" are acceptable to me.

This whole thing doesn't bother me anyway.

Wow, the discussion one little word can generate! So, I'll just add my two cents worth...

While I thought it odd when the first female pixie appeared to read "A diligent pixie invites you to follow him." now I just look for the word "follow" so I can click on it. However, that being said, if they were to change the word "him" to "them" it wouldn't hurt my feelings any and new players wouldn't wonder if the programers didn't know the difference between the two. (Sorry, Mia!)

-Arum Lily

• The arum lily is a genus of the Aracea family and comes from South Africa, where it grows at the edges of swamps. As these dry up frequently during the summer months, you should also allow your arum lily this break.

As the swamps dry up frequently during the summer months, you should also allow your arum lily to have this break. (Or maybe this sentence should be completely rephrase.)

• The leaves of the Arum lilies tend to guttation, which means that the plant gives off excess water through their leaves.

I guess it should be a verb here, but have no idea what the word should be. Or perhaps Guttation, a phenomenon of exudating excess water through leaves in plants, happens to Atum lilies.

actually i don't think that sentence needs to be changed at all; the swamps are the only plural noun in the sentence, so there's no need for any additional clarification.

the second sentence could be, "Guttation, the phenomenon of the exudation of excess water through the tips of a plant's leaves, occurs in Arum lilies."

i still think it sounds rather awkward, though; maybe someone could clear it up for me??

Quote from Emeraldis

actually i don't think that sentence needs to be changed at all; the swamps are the only plural noun in the sentence, so there's no need for any additional clarification.

I agree.
In the other sentence perhaps transpiration could replace guttation. Guttation, here, is more associated with a nasty skin condition.
Arum lilies exude excess water by transpiration. ??

Although I grow them in my pond and I've never seen that.

actually transpiration and guttation are two different things. transpiration is the evaporation of water from all parts of a plant when the stomata open to take in carbon dioxide, and guttation is the exudation of liquid through the tips of leaves, often in the night, when water enters the plant and increases root pressure and pushes water (actually xylem) out. they are inversely related; guttation happens less when transpiration can occur, and when guttation is occurring, it's usually because transpiration is not.

it generally happens during the nighttime, and dries up in the morning, so if you are looking at them in the afternoon, you won't see it.

and guttation has at least two different meanings, one in dermatology and one in botany.

*shuts mouth*

"I've collected enough gold to travel back to ireland, so i'm abandon you garden. I'm leaving you my wintergarden, it is a little dilapidated, but it will useful for you."

"I've collected enough gold to travel back to Ireland, so I'm abandon you garden. I'm leaving you my wintergarden, it is a little dilapidated, but it will be useful for you."

I don't really understand, what does "so i'm abandon you garden" mean?

Something like 'so I'm going to leave your garden.' (oh and there is a 'r' missing).

Or maybe 'so I will discard your garden' if it should sound acerb.

Quote from Myon

"I've collected enough gold to travel back to ireland, so i'm abandon you garden. I'm leaving you my wintergarden, it is a little dilapidated, but it will useful for you."

"I've collected enough gold to travel back to Ireland, so I'm abandon you garden. I'm leaving you my wintergarden, it is a little dilapidated, but it will be useful for you."

I don't really understand, what does "so i'm abandon you garden" mean?

"I've collected enough gold to travel back to Ireland, so I'm abandoning your garden. I'm leaving you my wintergarden; it is a little dilapidated, but it should prove useful to you."

Well, that's how I would put it.

Quote from Emeraldis

actually i prefer using "they" and "them" because society still is patriarchal and misogynist. regardless of whether or not using that is incorrect, assuming that male is default (as opposed to neutral or unknown, which is implied by "they") is extremely hindering to the feminist movement and advancement of women's rights.

as for the "one" thing, french has a version of it:

"il faut qu'on mange."

literally translates to:

"one needs to eat."

here is more information on (heh) the use of "on" in french. it is very almost the equivalent of the english "one."

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I agree, I think 'them' or just abandoning the pronoun all together would look more grammatically correct on the website c:

When I told my friend how to register...

Captcha will only contain numbers and noncapital letters. There is no 0, o, t, f, l oder i.
Captcha will only contain numbers and noncapital letters. There is no 0, o, t, f, l or i.

You forgot to translate it into English.

There are several spelling errors (I think they were translation errors) in the English version of the treasure hunt.

Didn't want to spoil it for anyone who is still working the puzzle.

If these count, I also found some when I was walking through the event.