Talk:matte

I have added the Request for Cleanup tag to this article, since I am aware that both of the noun examples are in actuality technically either adjectives or part of noun phrases deserving of their own entry. I am not familiar enough with the usage of "matte" to resolve the problem. GreetingsEarthling 06:56, 15 October 2005 (UTC)

RFC discussion: June 2007–November 2009
Tagged but not listed. --Connel MacKenzie 21:13, 3 June 2007 (UTC)


 * Looks good now --Volants 13:44, 16 November 2009 (UTC)

Error - confused a homophone?
This regards one of the Noun definitions.

Leaving aside that "decorative border for a picture" is not quite accurate/specific enough (that leaves out that it is a separate item that generally must physically overlap the picture, as opposed to a decorative border included in the design), the ONLY other source I have found so far that includes the spelling "matte" for this usage, is Encyclopedia.com...which includes this text:

"a sheet of cardboard placed on the back of a picture, either as a mount or to form a border around the picture."

Which has, itself, a notable error I'd like to add, or at least omission, in that it leaves out that it can overlap the front of a picture, and isn't just "placed on the back" of a picture (in fact, most "mats" in this usage of the word are placed on the front, not back, with a hole, generally referred to as a "window", cut in the front)

Now, in fairness, Encyclopedia.com claims that it got its definition from "The Oxford Pocket Dictionary of Current English" 2009 edition. However, again, there's an error of omission in that definition; also concerning is the simple fact that no (American English?) source I have found so far agrees with that being a proper spelling of the word "mat". (Which, sidebar: kudos to whomever included the appropriate noun definition's phrasing on that page, it's much better)

Further, I work with mat boards in the art/picture framing sense regularly, including having access to catalogs for the things. Everywhere/everyone that I have ever seen it spells it as "mat", not "matte". Now, I work in the US, so it is not completely impossible that there's an obscure British-only alternate spelling of "matte" given that even words like "gray/grey" and "color/colour" have different spellings over there and that alternate spellings do exist for various words to begin with. However, the fact that most sources I've seen don't seem to even list it in their entries on "Matte", even as a dictionary, not even with "chiefly British" for that particular usage, implies to me that it is a rare usage at best (and possibly exclusively British if it does exist? But very rare), and either way, it should be corrected to reflect this, surely?

I don't have access to that particular dictionary at the moment, so I can't even check if "The Oxford Pocket Dictionary of Current English" 2009 edition has that entry - though frankly, a later edition of OED is probably preferable, as it may have been corrected? Either way though, if nothing else the wording feels off. But I feel like it should probably be removed unless someone can prove that that's even a common spelling of it, with dictionary sourcing - I'm reluctant to do so without discussion, but I wanted to point out this potential issue. 97.102.79.98 03:05, 21 February 2017 (UTC)