Talk:The size of Wales
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I'm not entirely clear why this article has been marked for speedy deletion within minutes of being created. It doesn't, to my mind, obviously meet any of the criteria for speedy deletion - have I missed something? If so, happy to be educated.
The use of "the size of Wales" as a unit of measurement in British news media is well-established. From a memetic viewpoint, it merits study - why should it, rather than "the size of Scotland", for example, have gained a foothold as a conventional unit of measurement for news media.
Try a google search to gain an appreciation of its cultural significance - as well as many pages which refer to areas "the size of Wales", you'll find a number of pages which specifically examine "the size of Wales" as a subject in its own right.
Certainly encyclopaedic, in my view. (unsigned contribution from SP-KP)
- The speedy tag has now been removed. It's fairly obviously not a candidate for speedy deletion. However, any user has the right to argue for its deletion through the Votes for deletion process. PS - it's advisable to sign your name when contributing to talk pages - you can do this by inserting four tildes like this '~~~~'. Dbiv 22:57, 16 Apr 2005 (UTC)
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[edit] reason
- The origin of and reasons for the choice of Wales (rather than England, Scotland, etc.) as a unit of measurement is unknown
I strongly suspect that a reason why the phrase is so commonly used is in order to convey an exaggerated impression of size, by playing on people's tendency to overestimate the size of Wales. The Wales-England border is actually somewhat concave from the point of view of Wales, and I suspect that if people were asked to draw the Welsh border onto an outline of the British coastline, most people would make Wales too wide.
Of course, this is just my speculation and so not article-worthy. But if there happened to be anything appropriately sourced on people's perception of the size of Wales, it would be good to include in the article.
Foobarbaz 18:15, 3 April 2006 (UTC)
[edit] MicroWales
I added the comment about the microWales, but I can't for the life of me remember where I came across the idea (possibly the BBC online's magazine monitor?) If anyone can find the source... Grutness...wha? 10:00, 21 April 2006 (UTC)
[edit] plurals
Shouldn't it be "Belgia"? --moof 11:33, 8 June 2006 (UTC)
- That doesn't feel as obvious as "Belgiums" to me, but if it is correct then replace it. Is there an official pluralisation for country names? Thryduulf 17:02, 6 July 2006 (UTC)
[edit] Waleses
What is meant by Waleses? Surely if it's intended as a plural, then it should remain Wales - as it's a plural in itself?--Nunners 10:20, 10 August 2006 (UTC)
- It's not a plural in itself though. While the name may be derived from the Germanic Walsch – which is a plural – as a country it's singular. GeeJo (t)⁄(c) • 16:18, 11 August 2006 (UTC)
- Should be noted that the name is commonly given as meaning "foreigners" in English, "compatriots" in the native tongue. Already plurals both. The term 'Wale' has been heard in pubs in England on numerous occasions as an alternative to "welshman" ("Andrew the Wale"), indeed wikipedia redirects from that term to the country. Graldensblud 12:30, 2 November 2006 (UTC)
