Talk:Mount Colden

"Trap Dike"

I note that on 14 November 2007 someone corrected the spelling of "Trap Dyke" to "Trap Dike." But within a month someone else had reverted it to "dyke", commenting "no spelling errors" (whatever they meant by that).

The fact is, the structure is called a trap dike. Dictionaries that include a geological definition of "dike" spell it that way. "Dyke" has always had a different meaning, and indeed by the 21st century is most commonly a slur against lesbians. Not only does the dictionary support that, but googling "trap dyke Colden" will find that the predominant usage in the resulting hits is "dike." (Googling "trap dike Colden" produces no hits using "dyke.")

Some spelling errors eventually become the accepted usage. But, given the tendency to offend by referring to dykes, whether it's "trap dike" or "finger in the dike" or whatever, any trend toward using "trap dyke" ought to be resisted.

That is why today I edited it back to "dike" in two places in the article.