Talk:stonewall

You will find the spelling "stone wall" (a wall made of stone) more common in British English. The spelling "stonewall" seems to be mainly American, although I did find a website in Nigeria, of all places, using that spelling. An interesting piece I found, from New Hampshire, has both versions, "stonewall" and "stone wall". Mind you there are other typographical errors in this article. http://www.hampton.lib.nh.us/hampton/history/geography/milesofstonewallsHU20060221.htm At the moment there is no page set up for "stone wall". If there was I would be more than happy to contribute some translations. I certainly won't be adding any translations for "stonewall".

Don Hodgkinson. (email redacted)
 * I removed your email address to keep it from being used by spammers. There are automated programs that scour all the public websites for usable addresses.


 * As for the difference between stonewall and stone wall: is stone wall used for the idiomatic definitions given here, or is it just about walls made of stone? We don't do entries for phrases that are simply the sum of their parts (see WT:CFI). Chuck Entz (talk) 14:37, 16 February 2013 (UTC)

A stone wall is a wall made of stone, full stop. There may be figurative usage of the term, but the verb on the other hand is definitely stonewall. The spelling "stonewall" (for a wall) is certainly not used in British English. Even the American version of Oxford doesn't recognise this meaning for a wall. http://oxforddictionaries.com/definition/american_english/stonewall

You say that you don't do entries for two-word phrases, or three-word phrases even, but I'm afraid you're a bit wrong there - try looking up for example "Christmas pudding" and "brick wall". The entry for "brick wall" rather grudgingly tells users to look up "brick" and "wall", but that's no good when it comes to adding translations. Quite often a two-word phrase in English is a single (composite) word in another language. As for "stone wall", I have added this to the Swedish Wiktionary entry for "stenmur", but a link to the English Wiktionary could not be established as there simply is no page for "stone wall". It's high time there is one.

Don Hodgkinson.


 * I agree that the noun is stone wall for a physical wall. However, I can see uses like "he encountered a stonewall" (i.e. an act of stonewalling); I have changed it to "a refusal to cooperate". Equinox ◑ 16:45, 16 February 2013 (UTC)


 * By the way, "Christmas pudding" isn't a sum of parts because it's not any possible pudding you make at Christmas, but only one specific kind. "Brick wall", however, can be any wall made of bricks. Equinox ◑ 16:59, 16 February 2013 (UTC)

Hmm, we seem to be getting somewhere, but nowhere at the same time. You appear to have glossed over my point about translations, which is an important part of Wiktionary nowadays. I don't know whether the inclusion of translations was important in the early days. What argument do you have in favour of the entry for "police officer"? I could go on and on.

Don Hodgkinson.


 * The community is split on these issues. I only work in English for the most part. Try WT:BP for more active discussion. Equinox ◑ 18:01, 16 February 2013 (UTC)


 * Actually my New Oxford English Dictionary (2001) gives the verb as stonewall and doesn't gloss it as US. Mglovesfun (talk) 18:02, 16 February 2013 (UTC)

Maybe I'm being stonewalled. I don't think we are going to get any further here. I may have a go in the Beer Parlour, but it does look rather daunting.

Don Hodgkinson.

RFV discussion: January 2015
Rfv-sense: "A wall made of stone"

If we are going to have a misleading definition, we at least better show users that it is in use. DCDuring TALK 12:25, 10 January 2015 (UTC)
 * Easy to attest using . I propose this nomination is withdrawn to save resources. --Dan Polansky (talk) 12:29, 10 January 2015 (UTC)
 * Feel free not to be lazy about including citations in entries. DCDuring TALK 14:22, 10 January 2015 (UTC)


 * I've added four citations. —Mr. Granger (talk • contribs) 13:48, 10 January 2015 (UTC)
 * Thanks. Cited DCDuring TALK 14:22, 10 January 2015 (UTC)
 * Unclosing. Yes, cited, but as per Requests for verification/Header, we must wait one week before we can close the nomination (which includes striking out the header). That seems odd, hence my Beer_parlour/2015/January. --Dan Polansky (talk) 14:43, 10 January 2015 (UTC)