Talk:Victorian Turkish bath

2nd meaning of Victorian Turkish bath(s)
Hi Equinox. Thanks for your interest in my still incomplete page. I'm in the process of writing the explanation of this complicated issue as clearly as I can. Please allow me (as a newbie) a little time before you revert or change again. It would be much appreciated and avoid my posting something which is still not entirely clear, or even less clear.Ishpoloni (talk) 00:14, 26 May 2024 (UTC)

Hello again. Arising from undertaking the current page revision outlined at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talk:Victorian_Turkish_baths I concluded (after discussion) that though it is normal practice to use the singular form of nouns when naming Wikipedia pages, in this instance the plural would be more appropriate. This is because although the singular form 'Victorian Turkish bath' accurately names the bath as a procedure, the term is also widely used, though not consistently, in the plural form to name specific establishments, eg, Cork Turkish Baths, and Dover Turkish Baths, but Hartford Turkish bath and Easton’s Turkish bath. So, in a sense, ‘Victorian Turkish baths’ names both a set, and a member of that set.

While I would not claim that Collins English Dictionary is necessarily better than Wiktionary, I do believe that their definition of Turkish bath (which has been included from the 9th to 14th editions) is a good one—and Collins is the only English dictionary which defines the so-called “Turkish” bath correctly. The entry reads:

Turkish bath n 1 A type of bath in which the bather sweats freely in hot dry air, is then washed, often massaged, and has a cold wash or shower. 2 (sometimes plural) an establishment where such a bath is obtainable.

It was hoped that using the plural form as the Wikipedia article title would be a more accurate description of the content of the article, and tend to discourage the setting up of a separate page to deal with groups of specific establishments. I think we should continue with the present version for a while and see whether there are any other objections.

By the way, unless you are already involved in hot-air baths you may be interested in the discussions over the past few years which led to the split between Hammam and VTb at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talk:Hammam All the best Ishpoloni (talk) 00:55, 26 May 2024 (UTC)