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

[Rich Holton]

Anthony wrote:
> On 9/9/07, K P <kpbotany at gmail.com> wrote:
>> On 9/9/07, Anthony <wikimail at inbox.org> wrote:
>>> On 9/9/07, K P <kpbotany at gmail.com> wrote:
>>>> On 9/9/07, Anthony <wikimail at inbox.org> wrote:
>>>>> On 9/9/07, Vee <vee.be.me at gmail.com> wrote:
>>>>>> On 09/09/2007, Anthony <wikimail at inbox.org> wrote:
>>>>>>
>>>>>>> Well, I'd say in that situation you already knew why Peter Lorre was
>>>>>>> notable while having no idea who he was.  He was notable because he
>>>>>>> was mentioned in Year of the Cat.
>>>>>> People are notable for being mentioned in songs now?
>>>>> If the song is notable, then yeah, I think so.
>>>>>
>>>> Uh, no, I think that was a joke.  He's mentioned in the song because
>>>> he's notable.
>>>>
>>> My comment wasn't meant as a joke.  He's mentioned in the song because
>>> he's notable, but he's also notable because he's mentioned in the
>>> song.  A person can be notable for more than one reason, you know.
>>>
>> Oh, I thought it was.  I don't think just being mentioned in a song
>> makes you notable.  It would depend upon other factors, such as how
>> notable the song is.
>>
> Fair enough, however my initial comment was that he's notable for
> being mentioned in Year of the Cat, and I never said anyone mentioned
> in *any* song is notable.
> 
> Anyway, my point is that I don't care why or whether someone is
> notable when I look them up on Wikipedia.  If I'm looking them up,
> then obviously I think they're notable.  And I think most readers
> would agree with this, and couldn't care less about why Wikipedia
> decided a particular article was worthy of inclusion.
> 
> I guess I was just nit-picking the use of the term "notable".
> 

I guess my example wasn't quite a clear-cut as I thought it was. There 
are times when I encounter a name used in a context where the assumption 
is that I already know who the person is, but I don't know. Consider if 
someone simply told me that I look like Peter Lorre (or someone else--I 
sure don't like like Peter Lorre!). Is Peter Lorre notable simply 
because someone may have told me I look like him? Yet I certainly might 
want to find out who Peter Lorre is, to find out if I'm being 
complimented or insulted.

It seems to me we've gotten off the main point here. The sub-point 
though I think is clear: people sometimes look up someone in an 
encyclopedia (including Wikipedia) knowing virtually nothing except the 
name.

-Rich