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On an web form, where a user can select one country or several, I want to use a label more concise than Country or Countries. Is Country(ies) correct?

herisson
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francois
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  • Not incorrect, but rather inelegant. Would stick to Country/Countries. – Jimi Oke Jan 04 '12 at 15:36
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    Or even just "Countries" and don't worry about "Country" since it is the exception in only one case. – Kit Z. Fox Jan 04 '12 at 16:15
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    Kith: I think that would be a bad idea, as it would imply to the user that more than one country is the expected input. – francois Jan 04 '12 at 16:44
  • @francois You're overthinking it. "How many children do you have?" does not in any way suggest that you're expected to have more than one child. You can argue that the singular suggests that only one country can be picked, but I wouldn't assume the same about using the plural. – Flater Oct 04 '17 at 15:01
  • Many other related questions: https://english.stackexchange.com/questions/tagged/parenthetical-plural – herisson Oct 04 '17 at 15:26

2 Answers2

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There is no universal rule for this.

There is plenty of precedent for "Country(ies)" (millions of Google hits)

There is also precedent for "Country/ies".

slim
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From a User Experience perspective, I'd say that a simple "Countries" would be best. It's less awkward than trying to cover all bases with slashes/brackets, and it doesn't mean that user absolutely has to pick more than one, it simply means that they should pick any and all that apply.

Rohaq
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    Never underestimate how easy it is to confuse a user. I can just picture someone complaining "It wants me to pick more than one country, but I only have one!" – slim Jan 04 '12 at 18:11
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    Yeah, I could see this confusing the heck out of some people. –  Jan 04 '12 at 20:05
  • @slim: that's a user who's not thinking, rather than a bad UI. You have to draw the line somewhere, there is supposed to be a basic level of understanding. And as a counterexample, does "How many children do you have?" really imply that you must have more than one? – Flater Oct 04 '17 at 15:04