Hello - sorry for the multiple pings today - it's been a great day for me to catch up on a lot of things.

As some of you know, there have been some recent concerns regarding foreign words in items. I wanted to both acknowledge this, as well as present a poll for you guys to decide the fate of foreign words in item names going forward.

First and foremost, I apologize for any confusion that has been caused by this. I already went over this quite a bit, but some languages are hard for me because I know/speak them, so my brain doesn't read them 100% as foreign words. I go "Oh, I know what that means!" and I accept it. I am trying to do better.

Second, it is literally impossible for me to know every single name I've accepted in the past. At the time I'm writing this, there have been 55,445 CWs reviewed (and 45,438 approved, for those of you that are curious). I would say I've had a hand in at least 75% of those 55,445 items. That is a lot of items and a lot of names! If something was denied in the past and is accepted now, or vice versa, please know that it is in no way an intentional decision to hurt someone. I always welcome feedback! You can submit a ticket to discuss things with me, and I promise it will in NO WAY have any impact on your account or your standing with CWs.* I honestly love talking to you guys, whether it's on the forum, via ticket, in Discord, etc. I love constructive feedback. I welcome it! (*The exception to this is if you submit a ticket that is literally just screaming and swearing at me with personal insults. This is not tolerated by any member of staff, and will result in your ticket being closed without response.)

Third, I'm giving you guys a choice on how to handle this in the future. The queue is already done for today, so I have created a poll that will close this Sunday, March 21st prior to working on the queue that day. The poll can be found below:

Essentially, you have two options:

1. No foreign words will be accepted in CW names going forward. There will be no exceptions to this. While past items will not have their names changed, all future submissions, including recolors, will not be able to contain foreign words. We will allow recolors of items to be submitted with a different naming convention to accommodate this. (NOTE: No exceptions means exactly that. There will be no exceptions. Even if it is something that exists on-site in an official capacity. Only words recognized by the Merriam-Webster US English dictionary will be accepted.)

2. Foreign words will continue to be allowed in CW names, and you are acknowledging that these will be decided on a case-by-case basis. There will not be a list of pre-approved words, since such a list would be essentially impossible to make. You are acknowledging that because of the sheer number of CWs already on-site and submitted every day, that some items that may have been accepted in the the past are denied now, and vice-versa. If this happens, you are more than welcome to make a ticket and discuss it, and we will consider allowing exceptions.

** Regardless of which option you chose, we will not be renaming old items. **

I am not locking this thread in case there are general questions. However, please note that the two options above are the only two we are presenting at this time. This thread is not to be used to argue about what has or hasn't been accepted in the past or to call out specific items. I will announce the results of the poll (with a screenshot) on Sunday morning.

Sorry to have to do this, but I received word that a few people were voting multiple times in the poll. I've unfortunately had to reset all the answers and make it so you can only respond once. To do this, you will have to be logged into Google to vote. The poll will not record your e-mail, google information, or give me any sort of insight into who you are. I promise. I'm sorry I've had to do this.

[edit] I want to just say a few additional things:

1. If option one wins, there will be a rule likely simplified as "If it is in the American English version of the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, then it counts as an English word and can be used". "No exceptions" means you can't go "It was used before, so I'm going to use it" or "But everyone knows Aka is red in Japanese, so that's okay".
2. I am going to be 100% open and honest: I don't particularly like having to do this. I don't like being a bad guy. I don't like having to turn CWs into something serious when they should be fun. But I'm not sure how else to stress that I am human and make mistakes. I have truly been put into a corner here, and this is what the end result is.