Should computer and computers be merged? Which one should be used? computers is used the most.
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1\$\begingroup\$ Nice work @BG100! Feel free to ask questions or post E&R-meta question links in the E&R chat room. Although most regulars are in N.A. timezones, we sometimes have odd hours (such as Mr. Atwood there who post that at 4AM :P ). \$\endgroup\$– tybluJan 6, 2011 at 12:59
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\$\begingroup\$ N.A. timezones...? Do I take that as meaning North America? I think there are quiet a few of us from the UK as well though, as I've noticed that lots of posts refer to 230v when talking about mains supply! \$\endgroup\$– BG100Jan 6, 2011 at 13:44
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\$\begingroup\$ I mean regular users of the chat feature. \$\endgroup\$– tybluJan 6, 2011 at 13:54
2 Answers
In general we favor the plural version when choosing to make synonyms of the form
word
and
words
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\$\begingroup\$ Thanks.... I'll use my new retagging powers to get rid of computer, and change it to computers. \$\endgroup\$– BG100Jan 6, 2011 at 12:01
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\$\begingroup\$ @BG100 - Be sure to use the synonyms feature so that future uses of 'computer' get changed, and so that we don't flood the front page with trivial retagging edits. Thanks for taking this initiative! \$\endgroup\$ Jan 6, 2011 at 17:13
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\$\begingroup\$ @reemrevnivek - ok... I didn't realise there was a synonyms feature. Where can I find it?? \$\endgroup\$– BG100Jan 6, 2011 at 17:20
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\$\begingroup\$ @reemrevnivek - don't worry, I found it... but I don't have enough rep to do this... I'm a long way off 2500!! \$\endgroup\$– BG100Jan 6, 2011 at 17:28
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\$\begingroup\$ @reemrevnivek - Actually, is that right? 2500 is way above even mod tools.... surely suggesting synonyms isn't that dangerous is it? \$\endgroup\$– BG100Jan 6, 2011 at 17:32
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\$\begingroup\$ @BG100 not to say that you aren't capable of doing it, but I have seen people on this site with much more rep then you that still don't have a great idea of what makes sense for the operation of this community. I think it is good to try to narrow down to fewer people for things like this. \$\endgroup\$– KellenjbJan 6, 2011 at 17:54
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\$\begingroup\$ @Kellenjb - ok... I understand. Just a suggestion but maybe reducing the required rep, but increasing the number of votes needed to accept the synonym would work better? Like the computer(s) tag example, I can only fix this by retagging which bumps the question, and would be impractical if there were lots of questions to fix. \$\endgroup\$– BG100Jan 6, 2011 at 18:10
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\$\begingroup\$ @bg100 in reality this site is far too small (yet) to have any serious synonym needs.. \$\endgroup\$ Jan 7, 2011 at 5:36
I was about to ask a question if we should even have the computer tag at all.
Computers is a very broad term.
Also 3 of the 14 questions that have been tagged with it have been closed.
EDIT:
I don't mean to start a discussion here about if the question should be opened or closed. I am focusing more on if the tag is good or not.
I think @reemrevnivek hit the nail on the head in a comment:
The single [computers] tag is probably not the right thing for this question, and makes it look off-topic. Any device which is plugged into AC power and has a power rating like an AC motor, light, or heater/air conditioner would have a very similar question. A PC just has the issues of the switching power supply and varying load requirements to differentiate it. I'd add the [power], [power-supply], and [power-meter] tags to the question (but only if we want to reopen it).
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\$\begingroup\$ Right, the fact that it's a computer is irrelevant. The question seems on-topic to me. \$\endgroup\$ Jan 6, 2011 at 18:47