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

[Marc Riddell]

on 9/8/07 12:03 AM, K P at kpbotany at gmail.com wrote:

> 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
> 
How about this:

'''John Smith''' was born on January 1, 1864, and died on January 1, 1899.

Born in London, he was a writer.

The last paragraph of the Article would read:

John Smith died in Tunbridge Wells, England from [cause of death].

The more common the name, the more important the full dates of birth and
death become. It makes further research on the person much easier.


Marc Riddell