Misplaced Pages

Revision as of 17:36, 9 January 2008

This guideline is a part of the English Misplaced Pages's Manual of Style. It is a generally accepted standard that editors should attempt to follow, though occasional exceptions may apply. Any substantive edit to this page should reflect consensus. When in doubt, discuss first on the talk page.

Shortcuts WP:PEACOCK WP:APT WP:PCK WP:PEA

This page in a nutshell: Instead of telling the reader that a subject is important, use facts to show the subject's importance.

In Misplaced Pages articles, try to avoid peacock terms which merely promote the subject of the article without imparting real information. Examples include describing people as "important" or "among the greatest" in their field without explaining why. Peacock terms often reflect unqualified opinion, and usually do not help establish the importance of an article. They should be especially avoided in the lead section.

Examples

Consider the following examples.

Peacock term:

• William Peckenridge, 1st Duke of Omnium (1602? - May 8, 1671) is considered, by many people, to be the most important man ever to carry that title.

Better:

• William Peckenridge, 1st Duke of Omnium (1602? - May 8, 1671) was personal counselor to King Charles I, royalist general in the English Civil War, a chemist, poet, and the director of the secret society known as The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen. He expanded his family's possessions to include the proprietorship of the Province of New Hampshire and the hereditary Lord High Bailiffship of Guernsey and Sark.

The first example simply tells the reader that the Duke of Omnium was important. The second example shows the reader how he was important, without directly saying so. Show, don't tell.

Peacock term:

• Brazil has a vigorous economy.

Better:

• According to the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank, Brazil has the ninth largest economy in the world by purchasing power parity (PPP)

The first example simply tells the reader that the Brazilian economy is important. The second example shows the reader that it is. Show, don't tell.

Words and phrases to watch for

You do not have to be great to be notable

Even relatively unsuccessful subjects can still be notable, though perhaps for less glamorous reasons: the discredited scientists, the bankrupt companies, the backwater cities. Not everything is the best, the most important, or the most influential. There's something to be said for ugly ducklings, too.

A general guide of what is appropriate to include in Misplaced Pages is accessible at Misplaced Pages:Notability.

Don't hide the important facts

The opposite fallacy is to underplay the importance of a topic. Thus it is appropriate to write: "The Pacific Ocean is Earth's largest ocean," "World War II was among the most important wars of the century." Peacock terms can be avoided when dealing with the third longest river in Rhode Island. But when it comes to the Amazon River, Misplaced Pages readers should be told just how big it really is. When a person or event is in fact important, the reader must be told that—tell them how important and why.

In some contexts, the fame or reputation of a subject may be an objective and relevant question, better supported by a direct source than by drawing inferences indirectly based on other facts (which would constitute original research or synthesis). A sourced statement that the subject is "famous", "well known", "important", "influential", or the like may be appropriate, particularly for purposes of establishing a subject's notability in an introductory sentence or paragraph.

Inappropriate subjects

Conversely, if you are trying to dress up something that doesn't belong in Misplaced Pages— your band, your Web site, your company's product—think twice about it. Misplaced Pages is not an advertising medium or home page service. Wikipedians are experienced in recognizing inappropriate pages, and if an article is for personal promotion or blatant advertising, it will be speedily deleted or subjected to the articles for deletion or proposed deletion processes.

Tagging articles that have peacock terms

If you find an article making use of peacock terms, and you don't want to fix it yourself, you can add the template {{peacock}} to the beginning of the article, an article section, or an article's talk page to call other editors' attention for this article.

See also

• Misplaced Pages:Avoid weasel words
• Misplaced Pages:Words to avoid
• Misplaced Pages:Writing better articles

1. "World Economic Outlook Database". International Monetary Fund. 2007-04-01. Retrieved 2007-08-15. Gross domestic product based on purchasing-power-parity (PPP) valuation of country GDP {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
2. "World Development Indicators database" (PDF). World Bank. 2007-07-01. Retrieved 2007-08-15. PPP GDP 2006 {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)

• Misplaced Pages guidelines