[WikiEN-l] Being bold doesn't work anymore, or why our prose is so bad.

[K P]

On 9/7/07, Steve Bennett <stevagewp at gmail.com> wrote:
> On 9/8/07, K P <kpbotany at gmail.com> wrote:
> > Use of parenthetical remarks in the intro paragraph is leading to
> > these streams of other language words so long you can't find the
> > introductory sentence--although they look less paranthetical when
> > they're 27 words longer than the containing sentence.
>
> I guess I find this elegant:
>
> John Smith (1864-1899) was a....
>
> but you're right, this becomes heavy:
> John Smith (born 1864 London, died 1899 Tunbridge Wells, England) was a...
>
> Birth and death dates are fundamental to any biography. Birth and
> death locations can wait till later in the article.
>
> Steve
>
I could compromise on years alone, but it's a give em 8 digits and a
dash, and they'll take a dozen locations and alternative spellings
situation.

KP