Talk:Bridge castle

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Is there such a term in English?[edit]

This article is translated literally from the German article. There seems to be no such term in English, and definitely not one corresponding precisely to the German definition. Wikipedia shouldn't try to redefine terms or introduce them from one language into another via literal translation. Our colleague, editor Bermicourt is in the habit of creating enWiki articles in this manner, which I consider to be misleading and the opposite of helpful. English has castellology, German hat Burgenkunde, and the two have their own, distinct and quite different sets of terms, which often have no mutual correspondent. Professional translators know that and know how to avoid mistakes and confusion.

If this term indeed proves not to exist in English, the article must be removed altogether. Arminden (talk) 19:17, 9 March 2021 (UTC)[reply]

You need to learn some manners per WP:CIVIL and avoid sweeping statements that don't bear scrutiny. For a start, only the title is a literal translation, the article as a whole is not. As it happens, 'bridge castle' is uncommon in English (just as Brückenburg is in German), not least because the British Isles did not have many. However, it is not unknown, for example there were bridge castles (sometimes written "bridge-castles") in Ireland and one is even called "Bridge Castle". The term "fortified bridge" is attested in the literature too.

I'm very familiar with German Burgenkunde and visited many German castles myself. You're right that that often there is no equivalent of a term; that's why we have bergfried, palas and angstloch, the last two of which I created. But there is no rule against translating a term either if it conveys the sense. I'm sorry if you don't like the translated title of this article, but that is not a valid reason for WP:AFD. You are welcome to suggest a better alternative.

In my experience professional translators frequently make mistakes in specialist areas and I've seen some real howlers. Meanwhile I'm very happy to have a civil discussion about how to improve the article if you're able to avoid huffing and puffing and make some concrete suggestions. Bermicourt (talk) 15:27, 10 March 2021 (UTC)[reply]