Talk:graffiti

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A couple of edits ago now, I did a google for "a graffiti" and "a graffito" and concluded that graffiti was the prevalent singular form.

I then actually looked at the hits, and realized that "a graffiti" was always part of a phrase like "a graffiti font" or "a graffiti-covered wall".

So I then tried "a small graffiti" and found (drumroll) "a small graffiti-covered" etc. etc.

So I tried "a graffiti is" and found mostly "(a) Graffiti is a major problem here" or "Q: What is graffiti? A: Graffiti is ...". There were also some legitimate singular uses, but I didn't count them.

On the other hand, "a graffito is" got about 50 hits, most of which looked good, but many of which related to the archeological sense.

Thus the current form of the usage note.


In answer to the query why I've added hip-hop to the See also section, it's because graffiti is frequently cited as one of the four elements of hip-hop, along with "Mcing, Djing and Breakdancing" as taken from this page chosen from the top of the Google hits.

Hmm . . . that account seems a bit mythologized, but it's certainly enough to associate the words. -dmh 16:56, 12 Jan 2005 (UTC)

But I'm still unsure what spelling variants are usual for "hip-hop". — Hippietrail 12:20, 12 Jan 2005 (UTC)

Pronunciation[edit]

How do you pronounce the word anyway?

grah-FEE-tee, in my dialect. -- 130.194.13.105 01:51, 20 September 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Verb forms[edit]

Not really anything special, but I have noticed graffiti being used as a noun (ie "Those damn kinds are graffiti-ing the entire neighborhood!).

Of course, inflecting graffiti still doesn't look right... -- 130.194.13.105 01:51, 20 September 2006 (UTC)[reply]

That's a verb use you're pointing out, not a noun. And I certainly hear it used that way here in Australia too. — Hippietrail 00:30, 1 January 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Now there is the use like this: The place has been graffiti - ed. Makes sense to me, and I think this use would be as a transitive verb.

Archaeological use[edit]

Wikipedia's article, I think, supports the usage in question of verification. That's how I interpret it, at least--I'm equating "informal" to the vandalism definition. Galenus 23:43, 17 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Kept. See archived discussion of September 2007. 17:01, 8 February 2008 (UTC)

Vandalism???[edit]

I guess that graffiti (art or not art) are not necessarily always vandalism! The word vandalism should be changed!--Popopp 18:13, 10 January 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Pronunciation of graffiti in Polish?[edit]

Is there a geminated /f/ in Polish pronunciation of this word? I always pronounce it with a single /f/ thus IPA(key): /ɡraˈfi.ti/. Tashi (talk) 11:59, 19 January 2022 (UTC)[reply]