[Freeciv-Dev] Re: [PATCH] More explicit message when a unit is killed by barbarians upon entering a hut.

[Big Gaute <gs234@xxxxxxxxx>]

Daniel Burrows <Daniel_Burrows@xxxxxxxxx> writes:

> On Mon, Jul 03, 2000 at 11:05:04PM +0200, Big Gaute <gs234@xxxxxxxxx> was 
> heard to say:
> > Your Settlers was killed by barbarians!
> > 
> > and
> > 
> > Your Settlers were killed by barbarians!
> > 
> > The latter reads much better.
> 
>   Actually, I think that the first one is better in this context
> (believe it or not!)  And I'm a native English speaker :P

I'll bow to your wisdom, then. 8-) (Wah, wah, English != American...)

> It's not a "Settler" unit; it's a "Settlers" unit.  That's my
> excuse, anyway.

>   OTOH, eliminating the ambiguity (as much as possible) is probably better
> anyway..
> 
>   I also think that "Barbarians have killed your %s" is probably a more
> concise and less akward way to phrase the message than your original
> suggestion (and it conveys the same information)..

I agree (though it doesnæt mention "hut" explicitly).

>   Until someone perfects Natural Language Processing, I don't think we can do
> much of anything about the word-gender issues :)

It's quite doable, but the only sane way to do it is at the gettext
level.  It's not something you'd want to mess around with for freeciv
alone.

-- 
Big Gaute (not to be confused with LG)
"There was a time when a guy who died at forty was revered as the toughest
and most doggedly ancient son of a bitch in Cow Ass Clearing, Shitoleshire,
Engalond, back in the year dot." - Spider Jerusalem, Transmetropolitan #25