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I was just about to comment about some of the first posts on "why 'information' can't be pluralised" And was rather annoyed as one of the first answer that went on about something in the shape of "you should learn English better before you post" I thought it was so rude and opinionated....

I also recognised the site for using it once before, I think, so looked for my login details...

This is when I discovered that I was "in grave danger" of being blocked! What a pedantic attitude it is! But I have to grant you that this is your site and you run the way you see fit.

So no debate, no criticism, no alternative, no ... hmm!

Why then I can read such elements in that thread?

As said earlier I,also, wanted clarification on the possibilities to pluralise the word information.

I was born and raised in France the first 27 years of my life and was in Australia for the following 48 years... I do not have a great aptitude to use languages correctly yet I am and always have been keen to find out the why and how (Could I pluralise these too?) of words and their meaning.

I also researched the usage and form of same word in French. It was confusing as it seems to be used mostly in its singular form but appears often in a plural form. I forgot the French ruling on such words.

But I think I do understand I break all your rules and thus I'm unwanted here; so do what you have to do! I'll transfer my queries to more appropriate sites for my enjoyment.

To end with my "rant" I wonder why I never did get an email about it and why when one logs in it does not show somewhere in your opening page. Something like a greeting or other form of acknowledgement one is actually logged in?

Well whatever you do with my, I guess, annoying prose...you're welcome to it! I'm not sure I'll even attempt to log in again, but this is my prerogative, isn't it?

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  • I believe the question referred to is Why can't we say "informations", which is around four years old.
    – Andrew Leach Mod
    Commented Jul 22, 2017 at 9:28
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    If you are angry about something, it may help to specify what you are angry about instead of letting people guess. I can't imagine why anyone would take this rant seriously or try to give any kind of constructive reaction without anybody being sure what on earth you are referring to.
    – oerkelens
    Commented Jul 22, 2017 at 9:59
  • Well I may have had a knee jerk reaction to find my last post (i had forgotten) was in "peril" to have me blocked, then found all these rules and regulations. But to answer you, I did not realise I did not mention it. Nevertheless If this is going to be such a fuss. I'm sure I won't be missed that much since I had one post quite a while ago and this one could very much be the last...But thank you for caring.
    – Michel Munier
    Commented Jul 22, 2017 at 12:20
  • Oh I missed Andrew's comment! Does it matter how old is that question? Not that you said it does, but this is the web when you search you find things all over the whole chronological span. I feel what matters is the relevance rather the time. And for me it was relevant because I have used "informations" thinking it was ok but being 'web' corrected me and I wanted to know more about it. I'm sure in French we listened to "les informations" however it seems that in both languages the singular form is preferred. I confess I have trouble with 'fora' and the like of them and navigation and rules
    – Michel Munier
    Commented Jul 22, 2017 at 12:32
  • Possible duplicate of rudeness, belligerence, and dishonesty in this forum
    – Mari-Lou A
    Commented Jul 22, 2017 at 18:03
  • I'm not saying I agree with the title of the older question, but the answers are helpful and relevant.
    – Mari-Lou A
    Commented Jul 22, 2017 at 18:04
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    I think you must have run into one of these automated warnings. The entire purpose of having them is so that you have a chance to change your behavior before getting blocked. However, you may want to check out ELL, which is geared towards English Learners.
    – Laurel Mod
    Commented Jul 23, 2017 at 4:17
  • RE: But I think I do understand I break all your rules and thus I'm unwanted here. That bit about you being unwanted is nonsense – an erroneous conclusion. If you're not following site norms and standards, we want you to learn more about them, not go away.
    – J.R.
    Commented Jul 24, 2017 at 17:33

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Reset to default
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Welcome back to the site!

As I said in the comments, I think the message you ran into was this one, which is a warning that you are in "in danger of being blocked from asking any more [questions]". The exact formula of when this message appears is a secret, as is the formula for the bans themselves. The message itself is intended to be helpful, so that you have a chance to ask better questions.

Some advice for this site: It's very important to search for an answer before you post. A simple search like this one would have brought up the answer to your first question. Even if you don't find an answer, you should include what research you've done towards finding an answer (otherwise your question will likely be closed). We have an entire page dedicated to resources that you can look at.

However, you might be more interested in another site on the network, ELL, which is geared specifically towards people learning English. They're more tolerant towards "basic" questions, and don't have a research requirement like we do here on ELU. In other words, it's easier to post there.

As for the answer, if you are referring to this one, it's not rude. Is it a good answer? I'd say no; you can dismiss pretty much any "why" question on this site like that, even if there's a good answer out there. (However, the question is probably a duplicate of this one, although the answers there aren't very satisfying to me either—I may have to write my own.)

You will get more tools (i.e. privileges) to handle answers like that when you get more rep: at 50 rep you will be able to comment on the answer, and at 125 rep you will be able to downvote it.

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    I wouldn't say that ELL "has no research requirement." In fact, ELL's highest-voted meta question asks for three things: Explain why you're confused, provide as much context as possible, and show your research. Rather than saying ELL has no research requirement, I'd say that ELL is more understanding toward issues that might confuse a learner. Both sites encourage all participants to try to solve their own issues, but ELL tends to be a little more lenient about things that a native speaker would readily understand, but a learner might not.
    – J.R.
    Commented Jul 24, 2017 at 17:30

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