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Talk:Terry Pratchett

Society of Authors
Sir Terry has been for a long time involved with the Society of Authors, including being Chair. The article should mention this. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 121.44.189.150 (talk) 09:58, 2 January 2010 (UTC)

"frequently comical"?
"Known for his frequently comical work in the fantasy genre"? Quite a misleading understatement. This suggests that at least some of his work in the fantasy genre is deadly serious. That's not true. All of his output is consistently comical, with jokes coming reliably at least once in five sentences, although he is, of course, trying to combine this with suspense, drama, message, and conworld merits.--91.148.159.4 (talk) 18:19, 7 January 2010 (UTC)

 * I would argue that many of his works aren't comical; some of the Tiffany Aching books, as well as many Watch (or Ankh-Morpork in general) books play the tropes as straight as possible(and in the case of one Tiffany Aching book, veer strongly toward gothic horror). Also, Pratchett writes satire, which isn't always 'comical' in the standard sense (witness Gulliver's Travels, which Swift wrote as a satirical indictment of English high society). 2001:569:BD76:EA00:D24:C194:918F:8CA7 (talk) 09:07, 3 February 2016 (UTC)

 * Monstrous Regiment, and The Truth have strong elements other than comedy. He was serious about some things.  Midgley (talk) 18:12, 14 November 2019 (UTC)

list of books
A list of published books should be added to this article. The same type of list can be found in articles for other authors. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Mccon012 (talk • contribs) 14:46, 16 February 2010 (UTC)
 * the Bibliography is detailed enough. rdunn  albatross  12:53, 23 February 2010 (UTC)
 * Not its not, for example the Book "Shaking Hands with Death" by TP is not mentioned at all. 2A01:599:618:5DA1:C84D:DB9C:DDD0:1D9F (talk) 23:06, 29 February 2024 (UTC)
 * plus the fact that #Bibliography is not working at f* all... 2A01:599:618:5DA1:C84D:DB9C:DDD0:1D9F (talk) 23:07, 29 February 2024 (UTC)

Literary trainspotting.
It is so ironic that an article about a successful literary professional is itself so ploddingly and tediously written, and so bogged down by dreary minutiae, that one suspects some kind of earnest, literary trainspotter was behind its laboured construction.

It is so leaden, and there is too much of it, so one cannot contemplate any attempt to breathe some style into the great, lardy thing, therefore, this remains Pratchett's uninspired Wikipedia legacy. --174.16.20.36 (talk) 08:39, 17 April 2010 (UTC)

 * So fix it. WLU (t) (c) Wikipedia's rules: simple/complex 13:42, 17 April 2010 (UTC)

 * Why should I? There's too much of it. It would require a time-consuming, wholesale rewrite. It would also be tedious; I couldn't be arsed, frankly. --174.16.20.36 (talk) 20:42, 17 April 2010 (UTC)
 * Well then chances are it will never get done, but thanks for bringing it to everyone's attention. WLU (t) (c) Wikipedia's rules: simple/complex 15:22, 18 April 2010 (UTC)

Film
there have been 2 feater films made now color of magic and the hog father if someone could update would be good thing Lurch42024 (talk) 08:45, 8 May 2010 (UTC) i know i cant spell but i thought i would say something about the lack of menchen of the 2 movies that have been made and released Lurch42024 (talk) 08:47, 8 May 2010 (UTC)

Hello - they aren't "feature films" since they weren't shown at the cinema, they were television adaptations, and as such they ARE mentioned in that capacity under "Adaptations". Stephenb (Talk) 18:44, 8 May 2010 (UTC)

The Arms Currently Displayed
I see, several months ago, someone replaced my copyright-free svg image of Terry's arms with a non-free image. That's cool if that's what the page wants, but Terry owns the right to the image that is there now. (I don't see anything that indicates he released it into the public domain.) My rendering of the arms only showed the shield because I don't have the skill to show any of the other elements, but when depicting arms, the shield is the only part that must be shown. There are many examples of this throughout wikipedia. Sorry for the long delay in commenting on this. Cheers. A1 Aardvark (talk) 21:59, 2 December 2011 (UTC)

Ancient vs Modern stuff
"Discworld novels often include a modern innovation and its introduction to the world's medieval setting, such as a public police force (Guards! Guards!), gun (Men at Arms), submarine (Jingo), cinema (Moving Pictures), investigative journalism (The Truth), the postal service (Going Postal, although the narrative describes a previous service that collapsed), or modern banking (Making Money). The resulting social upheaval serves as the setting for the main story and often inspires the title."

There are several errors here. While polices are depicted as rather modern in his works, it is far from a modern phenomena. Investigating journalism was around in the Roman empire, and possibly before that. The most efficient postal service documented is the one implemented by the Aztecs using stationed runners, that could deliver messages from border to border within a day. Modern banking is often considered invented by the Knights Templar, but there are evidence of baning dating back much further. In fact the earliest known laws (the Code of Hammurabi) incorporate regulations of banking. Of course Terry is known to give these services a modern look and feel, but they are far from modern innovations. Also there was guns around at the medieval period, but in Europe they was considered blasphemous and anyone using them would have been subject to a witch hunt. However after the Mongol empire of Genghis Khan spread into Europe using firearms, Europe realized that without firearmes there was no way to resist invading armies from outside the Christian world and even the popes personal guard was armed with the weapon. And on a side-note there was awesome hand-held flamethrowers utilizing "greek fire". —Preceding unsigned comment added by 213.112.38.78 (talk) 22:32, 22 December 2010 (UTC)

 * The use of 'modern' is accurate both scientifically and linguistically; in a historical context, 'modern' refers to events that occurred following the end of the Middle Ages (with the accepted start date being sometime in the 16th century). The most-accepted 'end date' for what we consider 'ancient history' is the fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476 CE.  The first firearms were invented in China in the 13th century, which places them firmly in the modern era, with Europe seeing them in the early 14th century (and they weren't blasphemous, they were dangerous -- a misfire could remove limbs if it didn't kill the user outright).   The Mongols and Aztecs were again 13th and 14th-century societies.  The first 'bank' that wasn't simply a money-changer or a kingdom treasury was established in 1157 in Venice and   the first civil investigative forces were employed in Ancient China (c. 1200-c. 1600 BCE) (both of which are pre-Modern Era, so I won't quibble on those points :)) 2001:569:BD76:EA00:D24:C194:918F:8CA7 (talk) 10:05, 3 February 2016 (UTC)

I concur that many of the things mentioned here like banking, guns, and post were possibly/probably in existance during the medieval period, or before, however i think it is accurate to say that modern connotations were given to his work. also the use of these things were not widespread. i think it should remain as it is. 52.212.145.55 (talk) 00:19, 12 February 2017 (UTC)

Where he lives?
If you look at the article for Broad Chalke, nr Salisbury, it's stated that Terry Pratchett lives there, and it's west-south-west of Salisbury. This article says he lives in a village north-west of Salisbury - which is correct? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 92.238.100.56 (talk) 22:46, 2 March 2011 (UTC)

Coat of Arms
I've added Sir Terry's personal coat of arms. Cheers. A1 Aardvark (talk) 09:32, 7 May 2011 (UTC)

Error of Arms
I'm no expert on heraldry, but the image of Pterry's arms looks *nothing* like the blazon (there's a joke in there somewhere, I know). Is there anyone qualified in the heraldic art that can verify that the image is correct? 207.216.8.30 (talk) 18:14, 7 May 2011 (UTC)

Correction in References
Hi I can't edit this myself I don't know why. Reference 115 '''^ "Saurio interviews Terry Pratchett". laideafija.com.ar. no date. Retrieved 15 March 2008.''' has an old link. The new one is http://www.laideafija.com.ar/especiales/pratchett/PRATCHETT_interview.html

Also, the date of the interview is January 2002, in La Idea Fija #4. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Ignatzniemand (talk • contribs) 05:14, 19 November 2011 (UTC) Thanks — Preceding unsigned comment added by Ignatzniemand (talk • contribs) 05:09, 19 November 2011 (UTC)
 * I've edited the reference. You can edit a reference by editing the text it first appears in (the publishing history section). Jarkeld (talk) 08:08, 19 November 2011 (UTC)

Movies based on Discworld books
It says in the wikipaedia article on Terry Pratchett that he has shied away from "feature films". Perhaps that means that they have not been released in theaters, but I have seen four movies based on Diskworld novels, that I borrowed from the Minneapolis, MN central library. Soul Music and Wyrd Sisters were animated. Colour of Magic and Hogfather were made with live actors. Perhaps these were made for TV or direct to DVD, and thus don't qualify as "feature films" but I don't understand why they are not mentioned in the article. They are all worth seeing if you like Pratchett's work. ```` 11/23/2011 — Preceding unsigned comment added by 170.135.241.46 (talk) 18:54, 23 November 2011 (UTC)

 * A bit late but: They are mentioned in the section "Television" and were mentioned also by the time you asked that question (cf. ). Regards  So Why  13:55, 10 July 2012 (UTC)

Writing career

 * second of two sections posted at once

Writing career (now sec. 3) comprises two subsections without any general preface. The first is Awards, essentially a prose list. The second is Fandom. The heading "Writing career" is both misleading and odd when considered beside the next section heading "Writing".

Considering the contents I wonder whether "Writing" (now section 4) belongs in advance of both Interests (2) and "Writing career" (3).

--P64 (talk) 19:42, 18 August 2012 (UTC)

Can we get a bibliography?
Honestly, though I found a lot of fascinating tangential information, all I really came to this article for was a simple bibliography - a list of everything Pratchett has written. Isn't this standard Wikipedia procedure? -Jatopian (talk) 10:23, 4 November 2012 (UTC)

 * Sure - I'll just go and get the full list off Wikip ... ahh ... errr hmmm ... Roly (talk) 11:42, 4 November 2012 (UTC)

 * Not sure if there's sarcasm here, but the section "Works" in this article lists all the non-Discworld novels, and the Discworld article has the, um, Discworld ones. Stephenb (Talk) 13:15, 4 November 2012 (UTC)

 * You may be interested in
 * —which includes about three dozen "shortfiction" and twice that many "essays".
 * ISFDB does have completeness within-genre (speculative fiction) as a goal and it does list some non-genre works. I suppose it is directed by the time and interest of volunteer editors, same as Wikipedia. But bibliography its purpose so it achieves something much closer to completeness.
 * ISFDB does have completeness within-genre (speculative fiction) as a goal and it does list some non-genre works. I suppose it is directed by the time and interest of volunteer editors, same as Wikipedia. But bibliography its purpose so it achieves something much closer to completeness.

 * Complete lists of works are not common in Wikipedia biographies nor are standalone author bibliographies common. A complete list of books is common within biographies, but so are lists of books that are incomplete in different ways and organized on different principles. (Eg, Piers Anthony bibliography is almost nothing but a title/date list of books organized by series name.)
 * There is a project WikiProject Bibliographies concerned with our coverage.
 * It's possible that Pratchett does merit some standalone bibliography.
 * --P64 (talk) 20:35, 25 November 2012 (UTC)

Snuff
'His latest Discworld book, Snuff, is the third-fastest-selling novel since records began in the United Kingdom, selling 55,000 copies in the first three days.'

The record is now redundant and should be changed to past tense (The Casual Vacancy sold 125,000 in three days), although I find the original claim itself dubious, since the later Harry Potter books sold millions in their first 24 hours, let alone three days.--Allthestrongbowintheworld (talk) 18:52, 30 November 2012 (UTC)

 * It can be reliably sourced (see ) but your point is correct in that the wording is misleading - the source for it says third-fast selling "hardback adult-audience novel" (which obviously excludes Harry Potter since those are children-targeted books even if adults read them). I'll change it but you need to provide a source for that The Casual Vacancy claim since the current source in that article does not back that. Regards  So Why  19:05, 30 November 2012 (UTC)

 * Fair enough. There we go. The Casual Vacancy sold 124,603 copies in three days, to be exact. --Allthestrongbowintheworld (talk) 19:38, 30 November 2012 (UTC)

 * Thanks, I changed it :-) Regards  So Why  09:43, 1 December 2012 (UTC)

File:Arms of Sir Terry Pratchett, OBE.jpg
File:Arms of Sir Terry Pratchett, OBE.jpg has been nominated for deletion -- 65.92.180.137 (talk) 02:24, 6 March 2013 (UTC)
 * Why? --Roly (talk) 08:50, 6 March 2013 (UTC)
 * See Possibly_unfree_files/2013_March_4, but it seems to have been recreated as own work at File:Terry Pratchett COA.svg, which seems fine, as COAs design is, I think, not copyrightable, only the particular rendering is. --Piotr Konieczny aka Prokonsul Piotrus| reply here 03:40, 12 October 2013 (UTC)

Signature

 * The infobox includes |signature = Terrys-signature.jpg --now hidden-- which previously generated redlink [[File:Terrys-signature.jpg]]. Perhaps it's another file that has been deleted. If not then perhaps corrupted by a vandal. --P64 (talk) 00:08, 12 October 2013 (UTC)
 * Regarding the signature, it's deemed copyrightable according to US law - even if you own a book with a signature, you don't own the right to reproduce it, and so on, not unless Terry has signed an appropriate waver for you... see Commons:Commons:Deletion_requests/File:Terrys-signature.jpg. --Piotr Konieczny aka Prokonsul Piotrus| reply here 03:40, 12 October 2013 (UTC)

Influences/influenced
Infobox writer no longer supports the fields influences and influenced. Its template documentation now instructs (twice): "No longer supported. Please move cited/citable instances into prose."

Here are the current parameter values (cut and paste except bullet points): See Talk: Ray Bradbury for some more explanation with cross-references.
 * | influences  = P. G. Wodehouse, G. K. Chesterton, Lloyd Alexander
 * | influenced  = Natasha Rhodes, Catherine Webb, Samit Basu

--P64 (talk) 23:58, 11 October 2013 (UTC)

Adaptations
Could some fan look into the adaptations here and in Discworld, especially radio plays, and decide what belongs where, sort it, and provide references? Based on what i found at radiolistings.co.uk, the BBC plays could even be expanded into separate articles so that their titles no longer refer to the books... (Not sure if a stand alone articles are worth it, though). Thanks WikiHannibal (talk) 23:57, 1 November 2013 (UTC)

 * Some (all?) of the BBC radio adaptations: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b03mz1wb/episodes/guide —80.192.180.160 (talk) 20:05, 13 May 2014 (UTC)

Just wondering why the adaptations section makes no mention of the several Boardgames? (dont have an account and have never posted before so unsure how to sign??? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 90.215.173.242 (talk) 00:37, 11 October 2014 (UTC)

 * If you leave an edit unsigned then a robot will usually do it for you, but you can always sign yourself by typing four tildes (~ 4 times) or by clicking on the signature and timestamp button at the top of the edit window. Both methods, I believe, work even if you have no account; they use your IP address. As for your question, I'm not sure if boardgames count as adaptations; I suppose they do but I don't know anything about them. --Roly (talk) 08:50, 11 October 2014 (UTC)

Dodger is for children?
I just finished reading Dodger and was a bit surprised to find it listed under "Children's novels". I don't know Terry's intention of the target audience, but without underestimating children's capabilities, I would think that many points within the story won't just be understood by children. Geziefer (talk) 09:56, 6 November 2013 (UTC)
 * It's certainly intended as a "Young Adult" novel and is stocked in bookshops in the Children's section Stephenb (Talk) 10:47, 6 November 2013 (UTC)
 * We don't routinely distinguish "young adults" in the sense of teens or adolescents from children. It's done in some articles, not in others, and this article is one of the nots. Where we do distinguish in biographies, I know from experience that we often rely on the author's own presentation online.
 * By default "children's novels" include all that might be submitted for the Carnegie Medal (literary award), whose judges have recommended many finalists for ages 14+ on the one hand or for ages 8+ on the other. ... The 2007 winner Just in Case by Meg Rosoff was recommended for ages 14+. ... She won the annual young-adult book award from U.S. librarians (Printz Award, distinguished from the children's Newbery Medal in 2000) for How I Live Now. Pratchett has been a Printz finalist for both Nation and Dodger and he has won the corresponding lifetime Edwards award ...
 * Now for a grain of salt, or three. For that YA lifetime award the US librarians cited Amazing Maurice, Nation, and The Colour of Magic among others. The first two were recommended for ages 10+ and 11+ by UK Carnegie Medal juries and the latter is generally or universally considered adult fantasy. --P64 (talk) 18:39, 6 November 2013 (UTC)
 * Book articles should be more informative, perhaps even in the lead; our Nation (novel) and Dodger (novel) should be revised. Here those two might be called young-adult literature, within the children's section, relying on those American honors for support.

 * We call the 1989–1990 Nome trilogy "for young readers", which implies young primary schoolchildren to me, a la the 6–8 years Smarties Prize.
 * --P64 (talk) 18:24, 6 November 2013 (UTC)

Spider named for Pratchett
I am not sure if it is worth mentioning, but there is a species of spider named for Terry Pratchett, Anelosimus pratchetti. (Full disclosure, I just wrote that article). I am not sure if it warrants mention in this article, but thought it might be worth consideration. --TeaDrinker (talk) 02:24, 25 November 2013 (UTC)

Long Mars or Long childhood?
I saw that Amazon use two different names for the The Long Earth #3. Both "The long childhood" and "The long Mars" are used. Is there anyone who knows which one is official, or is there a US/UK difference in the naming? Haaninjo (talk) 14:02, 3 January 2014 (UTC)

 * No, there is no link with the country, they just changed the title, if I remember well. It was first The Long Childhood, now it is The Long Mars . — Preceding unsigned comment added by 83.202.59.204 (talk) 12:33, 8 February 2014 (UTC)

Announcement of Terry Pratchett's Death
Section "Life", subsection "Alzheimer's disease and death", Please change "Pratchett died on 12 March 2015 from final complications with Alzheimers, according to his publisher. Tweets from his account just after his death included one saying "Terry took Death’s arm and followed him through the doors and on to the black desert under the endless night."" to: "Pratchett died on 12 March 2015 from final complications with Alzheimers, according to his publisher. Through his tweeter account, it was announced with three tweets: AT LAST, SIR TERRY, WE MUST WALK TOGETHER. Terry took Death’s arm and followed him through the doors and on to the black desert under the endless night. The End. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Dimitris.m.stathis (talk • contribs) 16:50, 12 March 2015

✅ by someone else - this page has had over 80 edits in the last 3.5 hours - Arjayay (talk) 18:41, 12 March 2015 (UTC)

 * As he pointed out in a talk or essay published in A Slip of the Keyboard, he advocated control of the circumstances of one's death, and noted at one point that in Oregon State, something like half of the people who purchased medications related to "assisted suicide" never used them - he inferred from this that it was the sense of control, of power, that mattered, the realization that they were there to be used if they were needed- they were not always purchased by people with a morbid insistence on dying immediately, far from. (I mention this I hope unnecessarily, detecting some implication of irony read from the fact that this advocate of "assisted suicide" died of natural causes. It's clear from how he understood what he was advocating, that there was no contradiction/irony/whathave involved at all. Might not need to be said, of course :) ) Schissel | Sound the Note! 18:57, 12 March 2015 (UTC)

Reference # 161. (atm)
to the mp3 with [John Mullan] tells as Date the 18 December 2009, but the Guardian Website there says: 18 June 2010, the url seems to proof the 18 Dec 2009-Date but... I have learned, that this sometime is wrong -- Hartmann Schedel  cheers  20:11, 12 March 2015 (UTC)
 * This video from the same event has a publication date of 19 December 2009. -- Nick RTalk 22:34, 12 March 2015 (UTC)
 * thank you for your fast response and for the Link to the Video -- Hartmann Schedel  cheers  23:11, 12 March 2015 (UTC)

Final tweets
Currently the Wiki page has it that Pratchett's daughter posted the tweets announcing her father's passing. According to this page, they were actually posted by his assistant, Rob Wilkins (the article mentions a statement from Pratchett's literary agent): http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/blogs-trending-31859675 --62.49.5.196 (talk) 03:25, 14 March 2015 (UTC)
 * Since the tweets appear on both Rhianna and Terry(and Rob)'s Twitters, it's likely that both are true. Rob posted on @terryandrob, and Rhianna posted on @rhipratchett (with shaking hands and tearful eyes, as she later mentions). I believe the tweets were posted on Terry's twitter before they were on Rhiannas, if that's considered worth mentioning. The difference seems to be about 4 hours, but I'm not sure how to precisely date/time tweets. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 82.9.181.181 (talk) 09:56, 14 March 2015 (UTC)

Reference #53.
Reference #53 appears cited as a source for a quote from Pratchett, but the cite is only a link to the Wikipedia page of the "Front Row" radio program. Please cite a verifiable source!

Cpt. Samuel Vimes (talk) 08:49, 15 March 2015 (UTC)

Pratchett, the BBC and a Choosing to Die
Sorry but, instead of a fair and balanced view, this article appears to read more like the Terry Pratchett fan club. For there is little mention of his involvement in the BBC documentary Choosing to Die - nor the complaints that followed:

"This is pro-assisted suicide propaganda loosely dressed up as a documentary. The evidence is that the more you portray this, the more suicides you will have." Alistair Thompson, a spokesman for the Care Not Killing Alliance pressure group

"I think an opportunity had been bypassed of having a balanced programme – the thousands of people who use the hospice movement and who have a good and peaceful death, there was very little about them.” Rt Rev Michael Nazir-Ali, the former Bishop of Rochester

“As for the BBC, I wonder what the moral status is of exploiting a writer with a degenerative brain disease to nudge us towards a creepy change in the law – at our expense, of course.” Damian Thompson, Editor of Telegraph Blogs

Could not this article make more of this BBC 'documentary' and related issues? Might not this article address the issue of whether or not Terry Pratchett's brain disease had a negative impact on his views about death and dying? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 80.41.134.111 (talk) 20:08, 15 March 2015 (UTC)
 * Sounds like you're the one with the agenda, not the article. "Pro-killing agenda"? A bit sensationalist, wouldn't you say?
 * The article describes Pratchett's involvement in the the documentary and links to the Wikipedia article about it, Terry Pratchett: Choosing to Die, which goes into lots of detail about the documentary's reception. This article isn't the place for that information.
 * There is no evidence that Pratchett's disease impaired his judgement on these issues, which are consistent with what we know about Pratchett's general worldview before the illness. Popcornduff (talk) 20:37, 15 March 2015 (UTC)

 * I've changed the section heading. BLP still applies to TP, and to this talk page. Dougweller (talk) 21:53, 15 March 2015 (UTC)

 * Pratchett observed that several thousand complaints were received before the broadcast ('preactions' not reactions, as he described them); he felt that social media traffic after the broadcast largely welcomed the programme. BBC Radio4 'Front Row' 20 Oct 2011 Hackneymartian (talk) 19:18, 19 March 2015 (UTC)

GNU Terry Pratchett
A movement has started to honor him via reference. An initial Reddit thread spawned a wide variety of ways to add the header after one redditor mourned the loss, quoting Going Postal. The BBC wrote a short article about the phenomenon. Indrora (talk) 09:32, 17 March 2015 (UTC)

 * I think the article could do with coverage of the effect of Pratchett's death, the people who wrote and spoke about him, memorials, fan reaction, the "bring back Terry Pratchett" petition and so on. Popcornduff (talk) 11:28, 17 March 2015 (UTC).

 * I second this idea. Also a website gnuterrypratchett.com has been set up with instructions on how to set this up for a variety of server platforms. The movement has also started to be picked up by various news outlets The Guardian, The Telegraph. Leeraven172 (talk) 23:20, 17 March 2015 (UTC)

 * I would love for someone who knows the code to do this. Google search results already has a "GNU Terry Pratchett" in their overhead when you look up his name! Here are the GNU Instructions, to any soul who might find them...I wish I could do it myself but it's all Klatchian to me.    --GymLeaderRebecca (talk) 15:39, 16 October 2018 (UTC)

Getting Lost in Magic?
As with people that attempt to avoid real world upsetting their private lives, Terry Pratchett appears to display a certain dis-like of realism - or seeing the world as it is. Might not a section on any such lack-of-realism add depth and insight into Terry Pratchett's view of the world? Might it even highlight his Death Fixation? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 80.44.109.90 (talk) 21:47, 17 March 2015 (UTC)

 * I’m guessing you did not read Pratchett? Rgds ✦  hugarheimur 22:33, 17 March 2015 (UTC)

 * Pretty obviously, and of course unsourced. The IP seems here only to attack TP without sources. Well sourced criticism is of course fine. Dougweller (talk) 06:41, 18 March 2015 (UTC)

Semi-protected edit request on 17 March 2015
Please change After his death, Pratchett's daughter Rhianna wrote in three tweets from her father's Twitter account: to After his death, Rob Wilkins wrote in their joint Twitter account @terryandrob:

Colin Smythe Personal knowledge as Sir Terry Pratchett's agent.

92.30.19.66 (talk) 23:33, 17 March 2015 (UTC)
 * Red information icon with gradient background.svg Not done: please provide reliable sources that support the change you want to be made. EoRdE6(Come Talk to Me!) 00:29, 18 March 2015 (UTC)
 * Here's a source (BBC): —  Midgrid  (talk)  11:21, 18 March 2015 (UTC)
 * The confusion seems to have arisen because Rhianna posted the same three tweets on her own account.— Midgrid  (talk)  11:50, 18 March 2015 (UTC)
 * Thanks for the source. Done. Popcornduff (talk) 15:19, 18 March 2015 (UTC)

How many power stations
"Press Officer for the Central Electricity Generating Board in an area which covered three nuclear power stations."

The source cited for this paragraph says 4 stations not 3. As did TP on BBC Desert Island Disks at 23:15. As does the author's bio in (UK) editions of the first dozen or so Discworld novels. Hackneymartian (talk) 17:07, 18 March 2015 (UTC)
 * I've made the edit, thanks. -- John of Reading (talk) 17:43, 18 March 2015 (UTC)

Why 'Pratchett' instead of 'Sir Terry' throughout?
Is using surnames only a US affectation? Sir Terry was English, and that is the more usual way to refer to him in non-US English — Preceding unsigned comment added by Chrisboote (talk • contribs) 10:10, 19 March 2015 (UTC)
 * This is part of the Wikipedia "Manual of style", specifically the section MOS:LASTNAME. This encourages consistency across the encyclopedia. -- John of Reading (talk) 10:46, 19 March 2015 (UTC)

Little Britain

Apart from the die-hard Royal supporters, most modern Brits in 2015 find the idea of calling anyone 'Sir' a totally out-dated affectation. It is mainly the reactionaries that tend to believe titles impress the 'lower orders'. Since the title 'Sir' is out-of-step with the modern world, is not Wikipedia wise to avoid using it? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 92.17.178.238 (talk) 21:47, 19 March 2015 (UTC)
 * If he's a knight he's a "Sir". Please do not presume to speak for about fifty million people. We do tend not to use the "Sir" repeatedly as after the first time the point has been made. Britmax (talk) 12:01, 25 March 2015 (UTC)
 * Quite. I am certainly a diehard Royalist and even I would find use of "Sir Terry" instead of "Pratchett" throughout the article to be overly obsequious. -- Necrothesp (talk) 16:16, 28 April 2015 (UTC)

Escaping to Fantasy Island
“Is this the real life? Is this just fantasy? Caught in a landslide. No escape from reality. Open your eyes, Look up to the skies and see…” Bohemian Rhapsody, Queen

Since Pratchett said he focused on fantasy because, "It is easier to bend the universe around the story", might it not be useful to highlight the ways people use fantasy to bend others to there views on the universe? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 92.20.255.60 (talk) 10:42, 27 March 2015 (UTC)

 * Interesting idea but I don't see how. This is meant to be an encyclopaedia article about this one person, not a repository for literary theory or criticism, or a comparative piece on other writers. If you could find a reliable source which addresses this issue and specifically with regard to Pratchett then maybe, yes, but I think your proposal above possibly too broad and unlikley to be reference-able - sorry to be so negative! Best wishes DBaK (talk) 11:01, 27 March 2015 (UTC)

Formatting a quote obviously written in the character of Death
The article contains a quote from Twitter:"AT LAST, SIR TERRY, WE MUST WALK TOGETHER.

Terry took Death's arm and followed him through the doors and on to the black desert under the endless night.

The End."

Since the first part of that quote is clearly intended to be Discworld's Death "speaking" to Pratchett, I argue that it should be rendered in the typographic style used for Death's words in the Discworld books. As such, the first line should be: or perhaps:

MOS:QUOTE states that "a quotation is not a facsimile" and that formatting should be changed without comment when doing so does not obscure the meaning of the text. In this case, special formatting is, in a sense, part of the meaning of the text--in the Discworld stories, Death "speaks" in unquoted small-caps. That limitations of Twitter prevent the original from having that formatting should not prevent us on Wikipedia, where we can do such formatting, from using it. Pathore (talk) 23:03, 11 April 2015 (UTC)

 * Well argued. I'm persuaded, go ahead. Popcornduff (talk) 23:15, 11 April 2015 (UTC)

 * Which leaves one question: which variant is more appropriate for the encyclopedia, all small-caps or some letters fully capitalized?  (I hadn't thought of this at first.)  Pathore (talk) 23:29, 11 April 2015 (UTC)

 * Presumably whichever the books use? Popcornduff (talk) 23:47, 11 April 2015 (UTC)

 * Alas, that's a good question.  My knowledge of Discworld is second-hand--I have yet to actually read any of the books.  I'll use the all small-caps version, if someone else thinks the more complex markup is appropriate, it can be copied from here easily enough.  Pathore (talk) 00:04, 12 April 2015 (UTC)

On a quick look at a couple of novels, I see that it looks like it's all small caps, not caps-and-small-caps. Having said that, my personal view - not that I am going to edit war over it - is that it is wrong, in an encyclopaedia article which is quoting Twitter, to attempt to reproduce the typeset style of a book. I don't think Wikipedia is under any obligation at all to have its typography dictated to it by an external publication, let alone to try too hard to reproduce what we think would have been done if Twitter's technical limitations permitted it. It seems a bit - uh, I hate to say this, and please excuse the apparent disrespect - it seems a bit fanboyish (sorry) of us to try to make the article look like the book - I'm just not clear why, exactly, an encyclopaedia would want to do this. I honestly think it would be wiser to just quote what Twitter said. And - I really should shut up in a minute! - on a completely separate tack I don't think it looks good in small caps. It looks - well, small, in a way that Death actually doesn't seem to in the books, so I think it's missing its target a bit anyway. Should we have a note to non-Pratchett-expert readers to explain the apparently strange typography? Erkkkk, I think not. They can read about it at Death (Discworld) if they are that riveted; I think the principle of least astonishment, or confusion, or something, means stick to all caps. But, as I say, no fisticuffs from me over this, and I am shutting up right now. Cheers DBaK (talk) 12:27, 12 April 2015 (UTC)
 * Your original rationale was my first position, too. Now I'm torn. (Which is unlike me.) Popcornduff (talk) 12:47, 12 April 2015 (UTC)
 * Hmmmm - sounds almost like a cue for a song?? :) DBaK (talk) 12:50, 12 April 2015 (UTC)
 * Clearly only a good edit war can resolve this. Who's in? Popcornduff (talk) 14:09, 12 April 2015 (UTC)
 * Let's not have a lame edit war like the one at Leonard Nimoy over capitalizing a quoted Instagram message. Pathore (talk) 22:04, 12 April 2015 (UTC)

 * Death's unusual voice (and the oddball typography that expresses it in the Discworld books) is notable enough to be the first thing we mention about the character itself. We also use unquoted caps-and-small-caps in that article when quoting Death.  Further, the tweet is in all-caps--the closest to the typeset style possible on Twitter.  Since the intended meaning is obvious, I argue that we should carry the style the rest of the way, because we can.  You are right, however, that we shouldn't make an excessive effort to follow Pratchett's style--if caps-and-small-caps is more appropriate for the encyclopedia, then we should use that, regardless of the exact typography used in the books.
 * As for fanboyism and the note to readers, we already use Pratchett's style for the quotes in Death's article and we already had notes in both places where the tweets are quoted: The use of block capitals is a reference to how the character of Death speaks in Pratchett's works.  Now that I look at it, that article also quotes these tweets--I'll make the same change there after we build consensus on whether all-small-caps, caps-and-small-caps or all-caps is most appropriate for the encyclopedia.  Pathore (talk) 22:04, 12 April 2015 (UTC)
 * Surely small caps are used for the Death of Rats? Britmax (talk) 20:13, 28 April 2015 (UTC)
 * From the article section you linked: The Death of Rats, like Death, speaks in, but has a vocabulary consisting of words such as ' and '.  Both use small-caps in the books (or so people say here), but Death uses actual words while the Death of Rats has speech that is only understood by the other character's responses.  Consensus seems to be that, regardless of the exact typography used in the books, mixed caps-and-small-caps is most appropriate for quoting Discworld's Death in the encyclopedia.  Pathore (talk) 23:47, 28 April 2015 (UTC)

Terry's contributions to Oblivion mod "Companion Vilja", et al
Hi, I found a mod for a game called Oblivion, whose info page states that Terry Pratchett contributed very much to it (http://www.nexusmods.com/oblivion/mods/28977/?). The info page was written by the mod author, and unfortunately it thus counts as a primary source. I was wondering if a podcast of the mod author mentioning Sir Terry's work on the mod, such as in the Morrowind Modding Interview series (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FhUNP1i3k44), would be a valid reference?

Thanks for any input!

Solistide (talk) 23:45, 19 May 2015 (UTC)

 * If this isn't described in independent reliable sources, it isn't of encyclopaedic significance. This article isn't an exhaustive list of everything Pratchett ever did... AndyTheGrump (talk) 23:50, 19 May 2015 (UTC)

Non-fictional influences?
Need a few more of his reference influences here, such as Brewers, Straight Dope, Phrase and Fable and Charles Panati. There are influences such as T H White and Lovecraft etc. not mentioned. Slightnostalgia (talk) 17:33, 21 July 2015 (UTC)

External links modified
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Scholarship
Pratchett left a $100,000 scholarship to the University of South Australia - http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-09-28/sir-terry-pratchett-scholarship-uni-sa/6809714. It's probably worth mentioning in the article. Perhaps a new "Legacy" section? Mitch Ames (talk) 02:59, 28 September 2015 (UTC)

Quality improvement project - Lie-to-children
I've embarked on a Quality improvement project for Lie-to-children, first introduced as a phrase in The Science of Discworld.
 * Lie-to-children

If you've got recommendations for additional secondary sources that could be utilized to further improve the quality of the article, please suggest them at Talk:Lie-to-children.

Thank you for your time,

— Cirt (talk) 02:34, 26 February 2016 (UTC)

Nickname obvious from title of article
Unfortunately, the practice of adding an article subject's nickname in quotes within the first mention of his/her full name has become common enough that many editors believe it is proper WP procedure. It is not, and it's a trend that is in need of reversal. If you look at WP:MOSBIO (and more specifically, MOS:FULLNAME) you will notice that that construction is never used, in any of the numerous examples. It is acceptable to add a professional name separately, after the dates, when that name is completely different from the birth name (example: Eric Arthur Blair (25 June 1903 – 21 January 1950), better known by his pen name George Orwell). It is even acceptable to add a nickname after the dates in the same manner if the origin of the nickname is not obvious (example: William Alexander Abbott (October 2, 1895 – April 24, 1974), known professionally as Bud Abbott); but it's rarely necessary if that version of the name already appears as the article title. Readers are not idiots, and should not be treated as such; in this case, we don't need to explain to them that "Terry" is short for "Terence". DoctorJoeE review transgressions/ talk to me!  05:23, 5 March 2017 (UTC)
 * I find it a helpful feature and do not think that it needs reversal or that it treats people as stupid. Let's see what others think. Britmax (talk) 13:44, 5 March 2017 (UTC)

 * What you think of as helpful or not helpful is not the point really. Many of our articles use this convention (e. g. Bill Clinton, Bill Gates, Terry Gilliam, Jack London etc.) for years now and afaik no reader ever complained about how that made them think we treat them as stupid. Quite the contrary, it allows them to understand that the first name used is really just an abbreviation and has no other reason. I understand that you believe it's wrong but if you disagree, then get consensus to change / amend WP:MOSBIO accordingly, not make changes that have no basis in consensus. PS: You are experienced enough to know reinstating an edit after multiple people disagreed and told you to discuss it first, constitutes edit-warring and if you do it again, I won't hesitate taking you to WP:ANEW, no matter if you break 3RR or not. Regards  So Why  16:57, 7 March 2017 (UTC)
 * I'm not sure whether you think my opinion is that the "Name" should be left in the article. I feel it should be. Britmax (talk) 17:07, 7 March 2017 (UTC)
 * Sorry, wrong indent. I wanted to reply to . Fixed now. Regards  So Why  17:23, 7 March 2017 (UTC)

"Page names are hardly suitable to clarify, explain or in any other way elaborate on the composition of a name. Notable distinctions can be explained in the article, but avoid (for example) adding a nickname, or a contracted version of the original given name(s), in quotes between first and last name. For example: Bill Clinton, not William 'Bill' Clinton."
 * Pardon me, SoWhy, but there is no change to effect in MOSBIO. As mentioned above, there is nothing there to suggest that the inclusion of a nickname in the first mention of a full name is proper WP procedure.  Quite the opposite, actually -- here is a direct quote from WP:NCP:
 * (The emphasis is mine.) They could have cited a better example, frankly, since "Bill Clinton" is one of the notable exceptions, where the man's nickname is in far more common usage than his full, given name -- but the point is the same: Nicknames are not supposed to be added within full names at first mention.  That is why I changed it back before coming here to discuss it. Regards.  DoctorJoeE  review transgressions/ talk to me!  22:31, 7 March 2017 (UTC)
 * This is where you are wrong, I'm afraid. WP:NCP is a guideline that governs the title of a page, not its content, so it does not apply to the content of the lede. In many examples, Pratchett included, the nickname is more prominent than the real name and we almost always use the GivenName "Nickname" LastName format in the lede; I mentioned a few above and there are countless others (e. g. Jack Nicholson, Jack Straw, Terry Callier, Terry Fox, Hank Aaron, Hank Greenberg etc.). In fact, the examples in the WP:NICKNAME section of the guideline you cite explicitly use this format, such as Dizzy Gillespie, Scotty Bowman and H. G. Wells. So no, there is no reason to assume that your interpretation is correct. Feel free to suggest a change of the guideline to explicitly state that nicknames are not necessary in the lede but until then, there is no reason to change the way we handle this from the way we do in many many many other articles.
 * As for the edit-warring, the whole point of that policy is that you don't reinstate your preferred version before discussion takes place and you should know that. Once your edit has been undone because of a disagreement, you should never redo it again but start discussing the proposed change. Making the same edit twice despite knowing that your edit is controversial constitutes edit-warring, no matter how good you think your reasons are. Regards  So Why  07:48, 8 March 2017 (UTC)
 * Hi, to put this back on track, using WP:NCP is indeed wrong for the matter here but DoctorJoeE originally used, and I quote "WP:MOSBIO (and more specifically, MOS:FULLNAME)", which specifically mentions the example of Bill Clinton:  "(from Bill Clinton): William Jefferson Clinton (born William Jefferson Blythe III, August 19, 1946) ..." - as you all can see, it is used without the short form "Bill". It can be inferred that the short form that appears now in the article Bill Clinton: "William Jefferson "Bill" Clinton (born William Jefferson Blythe III; August 19, 1946)" (and many others), is in coflict with the aforementioned MOS:FULLNAME. (Personally, I do not have an opionon on this matter.) Cheers, --WikiHannibal (talk) 10:59, 8 March 2017 (UTC)
 * I think that argument does not really work. We can use WikiBlame to determine that this example was added on 6 August 2005. The nickname was added to Bill Clinton on 23 April 2007, so of course the example in MOSBIO does not include a change that was made later and thus it cannot be argued that the example means we should omit nicknames. On the contrary, per WP:SILENCE we can assume that a change that has not been reverted for ten years on one of the probably most-read articles - just like the fact that nicknames are added to almost any such biography, see above - reflects consensus and thus its reversal needs to be discussed first. Regards  So Why  08:32, 9 March 2017 (UTC)

[Followups to Wikipedia talk:Using nicknames, please. — SMcCandlish ☺ ☏ ¢ ≽ʌⱷ҅ᴥⱷʌ≼  06:50, 13 March 2017 (UTC)]
 * When the subject is overwhelmingly known by a nickname (as is the case here), I prefer to give the nickname first, and then the full name in parentheses. It may not be "standard", but it is acceptable. Blueboar (talk) 20:11, 11 March 2017 (UTC)
 * (I've given some version of this stock response so often I'm going to save this as a personal template or an essay. [Done: WP:NICKUSE.] And Talk:Terry Pratchett is not a good venue for a continuing discussion of how to handle nicknames on Wikipedia anyway.) Let's just cite WP:COMMONSENSE on this, and say a) do what our other articles do, and b) when in doubt, do what the majority of general-audience reliable sources do, while c) opting for clarity for those unfamiliar with the subject. There is no need to try to "explain" conventional nicknames like Bill and Liz with quotation marks ('William "Bill" Clinton'), or to insert them parenthetically into the name ('William (Bill) Clinton'), or to add a note about it. There are multiple obvious approaches to leads when editors feel some kind of annotation is warranted, e.g.: 'Xenia Youill Zounds, best known as Xen Zounds', and 'Xen Zounds (born Xenia Youill Zounds)'.  Reserve quotation marks for actual  in the strict sense, not diminutives: 'Xen Zounds, nicknamed "The Amsterdam Slugger", is a professional kickboxer".  Do not insert them into the name ('Xen "Slugger" Zounds') unless the WP:COMMONNAME is that exact form, with the nickname added mid-name, which is quite rare (I've only encountered on example here that I can recall). Otherwise, use something like 'Xenia Youill Zounds, known professionally as Slugger Zounds', or whatever the context dictates. The parenthetical insertion approach can be done in running prose (passing mention, not the subject's own lead) when a diminution is unusual ('Albert Berman (Abie) Carson'), and one could probably get away with the quoted style for a nickname (again, not in the subject's own lead): 'Albert Berman "Ferret" Carson', as we might use at an article on mobsters. Finally, do not add bogus nicknames that are actually just single journalist's (usually sports journalists) turns of phrase; if a Guardian writer's headline happens to refer to some Australian player with something like "Melbourne Menace Takes Title", that does not magically make the player's nickname "the Melbourne Menace". If a dozen sources call him that, then you have a case for inclusion.  — SMcCandlish ☺ ☏ ¢ ≽ʌⱷ҅ᴥⱷʌ≼  01:07, 13 March 2017 (UTC)
 * The nickname should appear in the lead. My preference would be to follow the Encyclopedia Britannica practice: "Jimmy Carter, in full James Earl Carter, Jr." ... "Babe Ruth, byname of George Herman Ruth, Jr., also called the Bambino and the Sultan of Swat ..." Cbl62 (talk) 05:52, 13 March 2017 (UTC)

 * Thank you,  SMcCandlish, for taking the time to post an essay on this subject. I agree, quotation marks should be reserved for actual nicknames in the strict sense, not diminutives or abbreviations.  As you said, there is no need to "explain" short names that are common and conventional (to English speakers), like Bill and Liz -- and in this case, Terry.  As an aside, SoWhy, I argued the other side -- your side -- of this discussion with another editor some time ago.  I thought I was right, too -- until I couldn't find a single example in MOSBIO, or anywhere else, to support my position.  (If you have any such examples, suggesting that diminutives or abbreviations should be added within full names at first mention, please share them.)  But I have come around to the view that the primary goal is clarity -- and as SMcCandlish put it, "browbeating readers as if they are idiots is not a tactic for achieving it."  If we go back to this specific example: When the article title is "Terry Pratchett", do we really need to explain that Terry is short for Terrence?  Does Britannica, or any other classic encyclopedia that you know of, do so?  No, and no.  DoctorJoeE  review transgressions/ talk to me!  17:17, 14 March 2017 (UTC)

 * SMcCandlish also says that per WP:COMMONSENSE we should do what our other articles do and as I have pointed out, almost all articles where the subject's better known first name is a diminutive use this way. As I noted above as well, consensus can exist without being codified in MOSBIO or anywhere else in the MOS; on the contrary, if a huge majority of editors see no problem with this way of handling diminutives, this itself demonstrates consensus per WP:SILENCE. I personally am opposed to such removals as I don't share the "it treats readers as morons" POV since not everyone might be familiar with the various diminutives, especially if English is the reader's second language (like it is mine); those arguing this point seem to forget that en-wiki is used by many non-native speakers because it's the largest edition and thus has articles on many subjects that other languages might not have. But if this is supposed to be the "correct" way to handle such cases, then the guideline should explicitly say so. But this is, as SMcCandlish notes, not the right place to argue such a change and until such a change has been made, I see not much support here for your removal. Regards  So Why  17:55, 14 March 2017 (UTC)

 * Well, then we will have to agree to disagree; I've been here long enough to know that when 2 or 3 editors think they agree on something, nothing -- even facts -- will change their minds, at least publicly. I don't expect you to change your mind, but I do hope that your mind is not completely closed to other viewpoints.  I'll point out again that that construction is used nowhere in MOSBIO -- which means, if I understand WP:SILENCE correctly, that there's already consensus that diminutive nicknames should not be included within full names -- hence, there is no need to change anything.  Furthermore, you have provided no evidence that a "huge majority" of editors see no problem with it, and it's certainly not true that "almost all" articles have that construction, nor even that the mere fact that something is being done necessarily means it's reasonable, or correct.  I'll ask once again: do we really need to explain that Terry is short for Terrence?  Really?  I hope you'll think about that, but I've spent too much time on this small point, and I'm moving on. Cheers,  DoctorJoeE  review transgressions/ talk to me!  18:20, 14 March 2017 (UTC)
 * It doesn't just explain the obvious, it tells us that this variation of name is used in the case of this person. In one word. As I said to the person arguing against this in the other article, find something useful to do. There's plenty about. Britmax (talk) 18:51, 14 March 2017 (UTC)
 * But the title already tells us that, as does the infobox beginning "Sir Terry Pratchett, OBE" followed immediately with "Born: Terence David John Pratchett". It's redundant and reader-unhelpful to have the lead begin with an ugly and harder-to-parse "Sir Terence David John (Terry) Pratchett, OBE". (Even worse, it was originally 'Sir Terence David John "Terry" Pratchett, OBE', using "scare quotes" around Terry as if it's a weird nickname like "Scarface" or "The Buckinghamshire Strangler".)  — SMcCandlish ☺ ☏ ¢ ≽ʌⱷ҅ᴥⱷʌ≼  19:13, 14 March 2017 (UTC)

 * Exactly -- thank you. The title already tells us that.  My precise point, from the beginning. d DoctorJoeE  review transgressions/ talk to me!  00:17, 15 March 2017 (UTC)
 * Trying, again, to put some sense into this. What about using WP:ALTNAME: "If a person has a well-known common hypocorism, used in lieu of a given name, it is not presented between quote marks following the last given name or initial, as for Tom Hopper which has just Thomas Edward Hopper. Also acceptable are formulations like "Alessandro di Mariano di Vanni Filipepi, better known as Sandro Botticelli", when applicable." ? WikiHannibal (talk) 01:16, 15 March 2017 (UTC)

 * Yes, of course. There's no problem with including hypocorisms (good word!) after the individual's dates -- but it's rarely necessary if that version of the name appears as the article title.  DoctorJoeE  review transgressions/ talk to me!  02:16, 15 March 2017 (UTC)
 * The title of the article is not part of the body of the article. If a person is commonly known by a nickname, diminutive, or hypocorism, then that common name should be stated in some fashion in the lead of the person's article. It really does seem to me that the Britannica format, referenced above, is best: "Jimmy Carter, in full James Earl Carter, Jr." Cbl62 (talk) 05:01, 15 March 2017 (UTC)
 * The title is, however, the first thing that any reader looks at -- so readers already know the most commonly-associated name before they get to the article itself. Reference once again to WP:ALTNAME, which is pretty unambiguous.  DoctorJoeE  review transgressions/ talk to me!  17:57, 5 April 2017 (UTC)

No, you'll have clicked on a Wiki or Google link to get to the article, so won't necessarily be looking at the title first. It's patently ridiculous to expect the reader to have to look at an infobox for the first mention of Terry's name being Terry, rather than having the name Terry used every day be right there in the lead sentence. ALTNAME and MOS:NICKNAME need some common sense applied! Bastun Ėġáḍβáś₮ŭŃ! 11:16, 7 June 2017 (UTC)

Today's punctuation edit
While I agree with the movement of the punctuation today - and it appears to be correct for the Engvar in which this article is written - the previous punctuation inside quotation marks was correct for American English lol. Newimpartial (talk) 01:18, 27 May 2017 (UTC)
 * Not according to the Manual of Style. See MOS:LQ. Nitpicking polish (talk) 14:12, 28 May 2017 (UTC)
 * Kewl. I didn't know there was a house style on that point, much less one I agree with. Colour me enlightened. ;). Newimpartial (talk) 01:23, 28 May 2017 (UTC)
 * I did not know about MOS:LQ either. A good find... — Gamall Wednesday Ida (t · c) 21:58, 7 June 2017 (UTC)

Death announcement on Twitter

Terry took Death's arm and followed him through the doors and on to the black desert under the endless night.

The End.

The use of small capitals is a reference to how the character of Death speaks in Pratchett's works.

The tweet in question does not use small capitals, it uses normal capitals. Small capitals may well have been used in the books, but they were not used in the twitter announcement. This is incorrect.

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Day release?
the wiktionary entry linked to defines this term as a temporary release from imprisonment. really? imprisonment for what? when? if this isn't facetiousness or vandalism, the lack of detail is a significant omission.Toyokuni3 (talk) 19:19, 27 December 2017 (UTC)
 * I'd say it was carelessness. I've clarified it. It was the 2nd definition, day release from work, which is this case was a strict apprenticeship. Thanks for spotting it. Doug Weller  talk 20:16, 27 December 2017 (UTC)

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 * Added archive https://web.archive.org/web/20130702191408/http://upcoming4.me/news/book-news/terry-pratchett-jack-dodgers-guide-to-london-cover-art-and-synopsis-reveal to http://upcoming4.me/news/book-news/terry-pratchett-jack-dodgers-guide-to-london-cover-art-and-synopsis-reveal
 * Added tag to http://www.playbill.com/news/article/125200-Hytner_Will_Direct_Bennett_Play_and_Still_Will_Direct_Nation_at_London%27s_National
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 * Added archive https://web.archive.org/web/20070927210839/http://www.douglasadams.se/forum/viewtopic.php?t=12162 to http://www.douglasadams.se/forum/viewtopic.php?t=12162

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Parody in Terry Pratchett - a source
"Seriously Relevant: Parody, Pastiche and Satire in Terry Pratchett’s Discworld Novels" a chapter in a 2018 Springer book  Critical Approaches to Children's Literature. Note that it doesn't say that his early novels were parody, but " that the development of the Discworld novels is marked by a movement away from straightforward pastiche towards parody and travesty. Over time, the emphasis has shifted from the source text to the new text, and pastiche has been replaced by increasingly sophisticated parody and satire, which Pratchett uses to create a fantasy world with a very real and relevant edge to it."

Some but not all of the text is here. Doug Weller talk 14:29, 6 September 2018 (UTC)
 * Thanks for the source. For those interested, most of the book can be accessed on GBooks by appending the page number you need, e.g. https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=_t9LDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA145 will display page 145, PA146 will display 146 etc. Do that to read all pages. Regards So  Why  14:46, 6 September 2018 (UTC)

'Gender Criticial' controversy
Recently, Pratchett has become embroiled, posthumously, in a controversy where 'gender critical' activists have attempted to co-opt Pratchett as an assumed supporter of their cause; close associates and even his daughter have rebuked this claim. It's reached the media mainstream and op-eds and such have arisen. How, if at all, should this be included in the article? It's worth reminding of recency bias and our implicit drive to avoid it. DMT Biscuit (talk) 16:19, 3 August 2021 (UTC)
 * I’m not convinced this is in any way relevant to this particular article (as opposed to, perhaps, our Feminism-Appropriating Reactionary Transphobia article). Cheers ⌘  22:58, 3 August 2021 (UTC)

Tiffany Aching : children - Young adult
I was surprised by the absence of the early Tiffany Aching books in the Children section. 173.178.67.88 (talk) 19:46, 18 September 2022 (UTC)

 * Added. Dan Bloch (talk) 19:11, 11 October 2022 (UTC)

Reorganisation
I've just reorganised the article, with minor edits to certain paragraphs to avoid repetition. Main thing is moving his interests under the "Personal life" section (save for the award he sponsored in his final years, moved to "Career," and the posthumous one which is now under "Death and legacy") and the "Works" section which is now entirely under "Career." I notice there's several discussions going back many years that echo issues I have w/the article as it currently stands, and a couple no-one's mentioned yet, such as the introduction leaving a lot of key things out (Good Omens isn't mentioned at all in the article until the "desparately needs editing" list of collaborations.) Lot more work to be done, but this is a start, I feel. FreeBard42 (talk) 15:49, 18 October 2023 (UTC)

VirusTotal on www.terrypratchettbooks.com
Excuse me for bad english, I am not native speaker.

I would like to draw your attention to the fact that two antiviruses from the web service VirusTotal recognize the official site of Terry Pratchett as malicious, and one antivirus recognizes this site as a phishing one. Please keep this in mind and do something if necessary. Jet Jerry (talk) 16:25, 27 May 2024 (UTC)

 * This has nothing to do with Wikipedia; I'd recommend contacting Penguin Books, who run the the site mentioned. There's nothing we can do about it. (VirusTotal frequently has false positives, by the way). Bastun Ėġáḍβáś₮ŭŃ! 16:53, 27 May 2024 (UTC)
 * I meant that you could just remove the URL from the section Terry Pratchett, if you think it might make it safer for people to click on it. Jet Jerry (talk) 17:57, 27 May 2024 (UTC)

title: Talk:Terry Pratchett


text:
Gor

Gor is the fictional setting for a series of sword and planet novels written by philosophy professor John Lange, writing as John Norman. The setting was first described in the 1966 novel Tarnsman of Gor. The series is inspired by science fantasy pulp fiction works by Edgar Rice Burroughs, such as the Barsoom series. It also includes erotica and philosophical content. The Gor series repeatedly depicts men abducting and physically and sexually brutalizing women, who grow to enjoy their submissive state. According to The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction, Norman's "sexual philosophy" is "widely detested", but the books have inspired a Gorean subculture.

The series has been variously referred to by publishers with several names, including The Chronicles of Counter-Earth (Ballantine Books), The Saga of Tarl Cabot (DAW Books), Gorean Cycle (Tandem Books), Gorean Chronicles (Masquerade Books), Gorean Saga (Open Road Media) and The Counter-Earth Saga (DAW Books, for novels with a protagonist other than Tarl Cabot).

Background

In an interview with the speculative fiction anthology Polygraff, John Norman spoke at length about the creation of the Gor universe and his influences.

The Counter-Earth, or Antichthon, is from Greek cosmology. Speculation on such a world, you see, is ancient. One of the premises of the Gorean series is that a race of aliens, whom we might speak of as the Priest-Kings, have a technology at their disposal compared to which ours would be something like that in the Bronze Age.

I think, pretty clearly, the three major influences on my work are Homer, Freud, and Nietzsche. Interestingly, however obvious this influence might be, few, if any, critics, commentators, or such, have called attention to it.

In the same interview, he said "one of the pleasures of writing science fiction is the development of, and characterization of, alien life forms".

Setting
Gor is described as a habitable planet in the Solar System that shares the same orbit as Earth, but it is linearly opposed to Earth and consequently always hidden by the Sun, making direct observation of it from Earth impossible. The flora, fauna and customs of Gor are intricately detailed. Norman populates his planet with the equivalents of Roman, Greek, Native American, Viking, Inuit and other cultures. In the novels, these various population groups are transplants from Earth brought there by spacecraft through the behind-the-scenes rulers of Gor, the Priest-Kings, an extraterrestrial species of insectoid appearance. The Gorean humans are permitted advanced architectural, agricultural and medical skills (including life extension), but are forced to remain primitive in the fields of transportation, communication and weaponry (at approximately the level of Classical Mediterranean civilization) due to restrictions on technology imposed by the Priest-Kings. The most advanced form of transportation is the riding of large predatory birds called tarns by masterful men known as tarnsmen. The limitation of technology is imposed to ensure the safety of both the Priest-Kings and the other indigenous and transplanted beings on Gor, who would otherwise possibly come to harm due to the humans' belligerent tendencies.

The planet Gor has lower gravity than the Earth (which allows for the existence of large flying creatures and tall towers connected by aerial bridges in the cities) and would have an even lower gravity if not for the technology of the Priest-Kings. The known geography of Gor consists mainly of the western seaboard of a continent that runs from the Arctic in the north to south of the equator, with the Thassa ocean to the west, and the Voltai mountain range forming an eastern boundary at many latitudes. There are also offshore islands in the ocean and some relatively sparsely settled plains to the east of the Voltai. The word "Gor" itself means "home stone" in the Gorean language, the native language of the "northern civilized cities of known Gor" (which resemble ancient Greco-Roman city-states in many respects), and a widely spoken lingua franca in many other areas.

Plotlines
Most of the novels in the series are action and sexual adventures, with many of the military engagements borrowing liberally from historic ones, such as the trireme battles of ancient Greece and the castle sieges of medieval Europe. Ar, the largest city in known Gor, has resemblances to the ancient city of Rome, and its land empire is opposed by the sea-power of the island of Cos.

The series is an overlapping of planetary romance and sword and planet. The first book, Tarnsman of Gor, opens with scenes reminiscent of scenes in the first book of the Barsoom series by Edgar Rice Burroughs; both feature the protagonist narrating his adventures after being transported to another world. These parallels end after the first few books, when the stories of the books begin to be structured along a loose story arc involving the struggles of the city-state of Ar and the island of Cos to control the Vosk river area, as well as the struggles at a higher level between the non-human Priest-Kings and the Kurii (another alien race) to control Gor and Earth.

Most of the books are narrated by transplanted British professor Tarl Cabot, master swordsman, as he engages in adventures involving Priest-Kings, Kurii, and humans. Books 7, 11, 19, 22, 26, 27, 31, 34 and parts of 32 are narrated by abducted Earth women who are made into slaves. Books 14, 15, and 16 are narrated by male abductee Jason Marshall. Book 28 is narrated by an unknown Kur, but features Tarl Cabot. Book 30 and parts of 32 are narrated by three Gorean men: a mariner, a scribe and a merchant/slaver.

The series features several sentient alien races. The most important to the books are the insectoid Priest-Kings and the huge, sharp-clawed, predatory Kurii, both spacefarers from foreign star systems. The Priest-Kings rule Gor as disinterested custodians, leaving humans to their own affairs as long as they abide by certain restrictions on technology. The Kurii are an aggressive, invasive race with advanced technology (but less so than that of the Priest-Kings) who wish to colonize both Gor and Earth. The power of the Priest-Kings is diminished after the "Nest War" described in the third book and the Priest-Kings and Kurii struggle against each other via their respective human agents and spies.

Early entries in the series were plot-driven space opera adventures, but later entries grew more philosophical and sexual. Many subplots run the course of several books and tie back to the main plot in later books. Some of these plots begin in the first book, but most are underway in the first 10 books.

Publication
DAW Books, which published the Gor series from the 8th volume (Hunters of Gor) through the 25th volume (Magicians of Gor), subsequently decided to cease publication of the books, citing low sales; Norman attributes the decision to feminist influences, saying in 1996:

"Tarnsman of Gor was published in late 1966. It has been reprinted 22 times...I have recently signed contracts for fresh French and German sales, and have recently been published for the first time in Czechoslovakia. There have been recent Spanish and Italian sales. There's no evidence that my books no longer sell...After DAW refused to buy any more Gor books, I sold a three-part Telnarian series to Brian Thomsen of Warner Books. The first book, The Chieftain, had a 67 percent sell-through. The second, The Captain, had a 91 percent sell-through, which is the sort of thing that would make Stephen King rush over to shake your hand...Brian Thomsen, my Warner editor for the Telnarian series...was replaced by an editor from one of the blacklisting presses, one that explicitly informed my agent they would not consider anything by John Norman. That new editor canceled the series despite its success and without waiting to see how the third book, The King, would do. That way things are made nicely clear..."

"Unfortunately for me, only about seven or eight publishing houses maintain a mass-market paperback line in science fiction and fantasy; this small, closely- [sic]knit group effectively controls the market. With such a group, a blacklist need not be an explicit, formal written or oral agreement subscribed to by a gathered cabal pledged to secrecy. It is an understanding that a certain individual is to be ostracized, excluded, methodologically overlooked or such."

Starting in 2001, John Norman's books were published by E-Reads as ebooks and print copies. According to their website, "they are among E-Reads' biggest sellers". Open Road Integrated Media acquired E-Reads in 2014.

Adaptations
Two films have been made, Gor in 1987 and Outlaw of Gor in 1989 (also known as Outlaw).

While not officially connected to John Norman's work, Fencer of Minerva is a Japanese animated series containing many of the elements and ideas discussed in Gorean philosophy.

During the mid-1990s, an attempt was made to publish an authorized graphic novel adaptation of the Gor series under Vision Entertainment. The project collapsed under a combination of financial issues and the nature of the imagery, which violated Canadian law, where the printer was located.

A Gor sim was established on Second Life in 2005, where users roleplay as characters based on the novels. In it, characters interact in standard Middle Age scenarios, combat, and sexual situations.

The Gor novels have inspired short fan fiction parodies freely available online, including "Houseplants of Gor" and "Gay, Bejeweled, Nazi Bikers of Gor".

Reception
The Gor novels have been criticized for their focus on relationships between dominant men and submissive women, the latter often in positions of slavery. The Encyclopedia of Fantasy has stated that the first several books are "passable exercises" of Edgar Rice Burroughs-style fiction while "later volumes degenerate into extremely sexist, sadomasochistic pornography involving the ritual humiliation of women, and as a result have caused widespread offence". Science fiction/fantasy author Michael Moorcock has suggested that the Gor novels should be placed on the top shelves of bookstores, saying, "I’m not for censorship but I am for strategies which marginalize stuff that works to objectify women and suggests women enjoy being beaten."

Subculture

A fandom has developed based on the series. Gorean subculture developed independently of Norman's involvement, particularly starting as a fan network after the publishing houses ceased printing new paperback editions of the novels. Fans allege that due to the controversy and pressure from feminist circles, the Gor books went out of print in the late 1980s (trade paperback and e-book sequel novels were subsequently published from 2001 to 2016). It does not have a uniform following but encompasses different groups of varying views and practices.

The Gorean subculture particularly focuses on the master-and-slave dynamic in sexual relationships and associated forms of female submission as portrayed in the novels. Therefore, although they are estimated to comprise less than 5% of the total female population on Gor, training and keeping a female slave (often known as a kajira) is central to Gorean subculture. Formal slave training, slave positions, and commands, as well as slave attire and beautification, are practices central to the Gorean subculture.

Literalists, otherwise known as lifestylers, incorporate elements from the Gorean culture and gender roles in their daily lives and some followers of an unofficial splinter group known as Kaotians who adhered to this approach were prosecuted for leading coercive sex cults. As opposed to literalists, the role players, divided into real-life sexual roleplayers (engaged or not engaged in BDSM practices) and online role-playing gamers (present particularly in Second Life) are not necessarily committed to Gorean philosophy and ideals.

Starting from the 1990s, the Gorean subculture has become attractive to a number of male teenagers through role-playing in chat rooms. The teenage role-playing Goreans who concealed many of their personal aspects such as age or lack of experience, thanks to anonymity, managed to appeal to a considerable number of married and middle-aged women as kajirae in role-playing contexts. Such notoriety caused by this profile and related practices in the virtual Gorean community succeeded in creating disdain among both feminists and the BDSM community. Nevertheless, scholars have discussed the way that Gorean subculture groups on media such as Second Life and Internet Relay Chat have influenced the development of online role-playing and even the MMORPG genre.

Norman's non-fictional sex manual Imaginative Sex presents a series of elaborate fantasy scenarios to be acted out in isolated scenes. He also recommends the use of symbolic substitutes, such as the sound of claps as a substitute for whippings and other physical punishments. Patrick Califia asserts that Norman was critical of the psychological and physical harm that non-stop BDSM slavery and corporal punishment might inflict. However, such views of Norman are not part of the Gorean canon and debate on Gorean practices' relationship to BDSM, focusing on aspects such as Total Power Exchange and further complicated by the community's diverse nature, continue. BDSM writer Michael Makai nevertheless asserts that Gorean fiction may be found responsible for shaping or otherwise popularizing many of today's established BDSM protocols and tenets.

license: Creative Commons - Attribution Share-Alike - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

title: Gor


text:
Nobel Prize in Physics

The Nobel Prize in Physics (Nobelpriset i fysik) is an annual award given by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences for those who have made the most outstanding contributions to mankind in the field of physics. It is one of the five Nobel Prizes established by the will of Alfred Nobel in 1895 and awarded since 1901, the others being the Nobel Prize in Chemistry, Nobel Prize in Literature, Nobel Peace Prize, and Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine. Physics is traditionally the first award presented in the Nobel Prize ceremony.

The prize consists of a medal along with a diploma and a certificate for the monetary award. The front side of the medal displays the same profile of Alfred Nobel depicted on the medals for Physics, Chemistry, and Literature.

The first Nobel Prize in Physics was awarded to German physicist Wilhelm Röntgen in recognition of the extraordinary services he rendered by the discovery of X-rays. This award is administered by the Nobel Foundation and is widely regarded as the most prestigious award that a scientist can receive in physics. It is presented in Stockholm at an annual ceremony on the 10th of December, the anniversary of Nobel's death. , a total of 224 individuals have been awarded the prize.

Background
Alfred Nobel, in his last will and testament, stated that his wealth should be used to create a series of prizes for those who confer the "greatest benefit on mankind" in the fields of physics, chemistry, peace, physiology or medicine, and literature. Though Nobel wrote several wills during his lifetime, the last one was written a year before he died and was signed at the Swedish-Norwegian Club in Paris on 27 November 1895. Nobel bequeathed 94% of his total assets, 31 million Swedish kronor ($2.9 million USD, or €2.7 million in 2023), to establish and endow the five Nobel Prizes. Owing to the level of skepticism surrounding the will, it was not until 26 April 1897 that it was approved by the Storting (Norwegian Parliament). The executors of his will were Ragnar Sohlman and Rudolf Lilljequist, who formed the Nobel Foundation to take care of Nobel's fortune and organise the prizes.

The members of the Norwegian Nobel Committee who were to award the Peace Prize were appointed briefly after the will was approved. The other prize-awarding organisations followed: the Karolinska Institutet on 7 June, the Swedish Academy on 9 June, and the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences on 11 June. The Nobel Foundation then established guidelines for awarding the prizes. In 1900, the Nobel Foundation's newly created statutes were promulgated by King Oscar II. According to Nobel's will, The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences would award the Prize in Physics.

Nomination and selection
A maximum of three Nobel laureates and two different works may be selected for the Nobel Prize in Physics. Compared with other Nobel Prizes, the nomination and selection process for the prize in physics is long and rigorous. This is a key reason why it has grown in importance over the years to become the most important prize in Physics.

The Nobel laureates are selected by the Nobel Committee for Physics, a Nobel Committee that consists of five members elected by The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences. During the first stage which begins in September, a group of about 3,000 selected university professors, Nobel Laureates in Physics and Chemistry, and others are sent confidential nomination forms. The completed forms must arrive at the Nobel Committee by 31 January of the following year. The nominees are scrutinized and discussed by experts and are narrowed to approximately fifteen names. The committee submits a report with recommendations on the final candidates to the Academy, where, in the Physics Class, it is further discussed. The Academy then makes the final selection of the Laureates in Physics by a majority vote.

The names of the nominees are never publicly announced, and neither are they told that they have been considered for the Prize. Nomination records are sealed for fifty years. While posthumous nominations are not permitted, awards can be made if the individual died in the months between the decision of the committee (typically in October) and the ceremony in December. Prior to 1974, posthumous awards were permitted if the candidate had died after being nominated.

The rules for the Nobel Prize in Physics require that the significance of achievements being recognized has been "tested by time". In practice, that means that the lag between the discovery and the award is typically on the order of 20 years and can be much longer. For example, half of the 1983 Nobel Prize in Physics was awarded to Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar for his work on stellar structure and evolution that was done during the 1930s. As a downside of this tested-by-time rule, not all scientists live long enough for their work to be recognized. Some important scientific discoveries are never considered for a prize, as the discoverers die by the time the impact of their work is appreciated.

Prizes
A Physics Nobel Prize laureate is awarded a gold medal, a diploma bearing a citation, and a sum of money.

Medals
The medal for the Nobel Prize in Physics is identical in design to the Nobel Prize in Chemistry medal. The reverse of the physics and chemistry medals depict the Goddess of Nature in the form of Isis as she emerges from clouds holding a cornucopia. The Genius of Science holds the veil which covers Nature's 'cold and austere face'. It was designed by Erik Lindberg and is manufactured by Svenska Medalj in Eskilstuna. It is inscribed "Inventas vitam iuvat excoluisse per artes" ("It is beneficial to have improved (human) life through discovered arts") an adaptation of "inventas aut qui vitam excoluere per artes" from line 663 from book 6 of the Aeneid by the Roman poet Virgil. A plate below the figures is inscribed with the name of the recipient. The text "REG. ACAD. SCIENT. SUEC." denoting the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences is inscribed on the reverse.

Diplomas
Nobel laureates receive a diploma directly from the hands of the King of Sweden. Each diploma is uniquely designed by the prize-awarding institutions for the laureate who receives it. The diploma contains a picture with the name of the laureate and a citation explaining their accomplishments.

Award money
At the awards ceremony, the laureate is given a document indicating the award sum. The amount of the cash award may differ from year to year, based on the funding available from the Nobel Foundation. For example, in 2009 the total cash awarded was 10 million SEK (US$1.4 million), but in 2012 following the Great Recession, the amount was 8 million Swedish Kronor, or US$1.1 million. If there are two laureates in a particular category, the award grant is divided equally between the recipients, but if there are three, the awarding committee may opt to divide the grant equally, or award half to one recipient and a quarter to each of the two others.

Ceremony
The committee and institution serving as the selection board for the prize typically announce the names of the laureates during the first week of October. The prize is then awarded at formal ceremonies held annually in Stockholm Concert Hall on 10 December, the anniversary of Nobel's death. The laureates receive a diploma, a medal, and a document confirming the prize amount.

title: Nobel Prize in Physics


text:
Fork

In cutlery or kitchenware, a fork (from furca 'pitchfork') is a utensil, now usually made of metal, whose long handle terminates in a head that branches into several narrow and often slightly curved tines with which one can spear foods either to hold them to cut with a knife or to lift them to the mouth.

History
Bone forks have been found in archaeological sites of the Bronze Age Qijia culture (2400–1900 BC), the Shang dynasty (c. 1600–c. 1050 BC), as well as later Chinese dynasties. A stone carving from an Eastern Han tomb (in Ta-kua-liang, Suide County, Shaanxi) depicts three hanging two-pronged forks in a dining scene. Similar forks have also been depicted on top of a stove in a scene at another Eastern Han tomb (in Suide County, Shaanxi).

In Ancient Egypt, large forks were used as cooking utensils.

In the Roman Empire, bronze and silver forks were used, many surviving examples of which are displayed in museums around Europe. Use varied according to local customs, social class, and the type of food, but in earlier periods forks were mostly used as cooking and serving utensils.

Although its origin may go back to Ancient Greece, the personal table fork was most likely invented in the Eastern Roman (Byzantine) Empire, where they were in common use by the 4th century. Records show that by the 9th century in some elite circles of Persia a similar utensil known as a barjyn was in limited use. By the 10th century, the table fork was in common use throughout the Middle East. Chronographers mention the astonishment that the Byzantine princess Theophanu caused to the westerners, because she was using a fork instead of her hands when she was eating (she moved to the west because she married the Holy Roman Emperor Otto II). In addition, according to Peter Damian, the Byzantine princess Maria Argyropoulina brought some golden forks to Venice, when she married Giovanni Orseolo, the son of the Doge Pietro II Orseolo in 1004. Damian condemned the fork as "vanity". The same story (with Maria Argyropoulina) was mistakenly said about the Byzantine princess Theodora Doukaina who came to Venice to marry the Doge Domenico Selvo and was confused with Maria Argyropoulina by later authors.

By the 11th century, the table fork had become increasingly prevalent in the Italian peninsula before other European regions because of historical ties with the Eastern Roman Empire and, as pasta became a greater part of the Italian diet, continued to gain popularity, displacing the long wooden spike formerly used since the fork's three spikes proved better suited to gathering the noodles. By the 14th century the table fork had become commonplace in Italy, and by 1600 was almost universal among the merchant and upper classes. It was proper for a guest to arrive with his own fork and spoon enclosed in a box called a cadena; this usage was introduced to the French court with Catherine de' Medici's entourage. Although in Portugal forks were first used around 1450 by Infanta Beatrice, Duchess of Viseu, King Manuel I of Portugal's mother, only by the 16th century, when they had become part of Italian etiquette, did forks enter into common use in Southern Europe, gaining some currency in Spain, and gradually spreading to France. The rest of Europe did not adopt the fork until the 18th century. The fork's adoption in northern Europe was slower. Its use was first described in English by Thomas Coryat in a volume of writings on his Italian travels (1611), but for many years it was viewed as an unmanly Italian affectation. Some writers of the Roman Catholic Church expressly disapproved of its use; St. Peter Damian seeing it as "excessive delicacy". It was not until the 18th century that the fork became commonly used in Great Britain, although some sources say that forks were common in France, England and Sweden already by the early 17th century.

The fork did not become popular in North America until near the time of the American Revolution. The four-tine design became current in the early 19th century.

Types of fork

 * Bread fork: A fork designed for serving bread from a basket or tray.
 * Carving fork: A two-pronged fork used to hold meat steady while it is being carved. They are often sold with carving knives or slicers as part of a carving set.
 * Chip fork: A two-pronged disposable fork, usually made out of sterile wood (though increasingly of plastic), specifically designed for the eating of french fries (chips) and other takeaway foods. Chip forks range from 7.5 to 9 cm long. In Germany they are known as Pommesgabel (literally 'chip fork') and 'currywurst fork'.
 * Cocktail fork: A small fork resembling a trident, used for spearing cocktail garnishes such as olives.
 * Crab fork: A short, sharp and narrow three-pronged or two-pronged fork designed to easily extract meat when consuming cooked crab.
 * Dessert fork (alternatively, pudding fork/cake fork in British English): Any of several different special types of forks designed to eat desserts, such as a pastry fork. They usually have only three tines and are smaller than standard dinner forks. The leftmost tine may be widened so as to provide an edge with which to cut (though it is never sharpened).
 * Dinner fork
 * Fondue fork: A narrow fork, usually having two tines, long shaft and an insulating handle, typically of wood, for dipping bread into a pot containing sauce
 * Ice cream fork: A spoon with flat tines used for some desserts. See spork.
 * Knork
 * Lemon fork for the tea service
 * Pastry fork
 * Pickle fork: A long handled fork used for extracting pickles from a jar. The fork has an overall length of 5.5 to 8 in and two or three narrow tines.
 * Salad fork: Similar to a regular fork, but may be shorter, or have one of the outer tines shaped differently. Often, a "salad fork" in the silverware service of some restaurants (especially chains) may be simply a second fork; conversely, some restaurants may omit it, offering only one fork in their service.
 * Spaghetti fork: A novelty fork with a metal shaft loosely fitted inside a hollow plastic handle. The shaft protrudes through the top of the handle, ending in a crank, that allows the metal part of the fork to be easily rotated with one hand while the other hand is holding the plastic handle. This supposedly allows spaghetti to be easily wound onto the tines. Electric variations of this fork have become more prevalent in modern times.
 * Sporf: A utensil combining characteristics of a spoon, a fork and a knife
 * Spork: A utensil combining characteristics of a spoon and a fork.
 * Sucket fork: A utensil with tines at one end of the stem and a spoon at the other. It was used to eat food that would otherwise be messy to eat such as items preserved in syrup. The tine end could spear the item, while the other end could be used to spoon the syrup.
 * Terrapin fork: A spoon with flat tines used for some soups. See spork.
 * Toasting fork: A fork, usually having two tines, very long metal shaft and sometimes an insulating handle, for toasting food over coals or an open flame.

title: Fork