Was the Mexican Navy ship crash into the Brooklyn Bridge in May a “collision” or an “allision?”

It depends whom you ask among the more than two dozen Wikipedia editors who debated the distinction for months after a training ship hit the iconic bridge in May. In the maritime world, a “collision” technically refers to two moving objects striking each other. An “allision” involves a moving object striking something that’s stationary, like a bridge.

“Yes, it's an allision,” user The BushRanger wrote on a “talk” page about the incident, where volunteer editors hash out how they’ll handle contentious notes and questions. “But everyone will call it a collision.”

User Cromwell, EarlofEssex wasn’t having it: “That's not a reason to use the terminology incorrectly, which degrades the public's

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