On 11/12/05, Delirium delirium@hackish.org wrote:
I'm kind of uncomfortable with this for the same reason, and it applies more generally. In particular, [[Category:Statutory rapists]] sounds more accusatory than [[Category:People convicted of statutory rape]], which, to my ears at least, sounds more neutral and matter-of-fact. Of course in non-controversial situations the plain term is fine ([[Category:Physicists]]), but in potentially controversial categories I'd prefer we word things a bit more carefully.
Consider, for example, this case: -- [[Category:Traitors]] -- [[Category:People convicted of treason]]
I think in almost all cases the 2nd is preferable.
I agree completely on this. If I were to speculate wildly, my guess is one of the reasons it sounds more neutral is that describing of people completely by crime committed merges the identity of the person and the crime (they become one and the same). In cases where there is considerable doubt or a lack of legal standing behind the accusation that a person committed the crime, we should opt for the least problematic category name.
FF