Misplaced Pages

Revision as of 06:35, 24 January 2005

Part of the Style and How-to Series

There are no words that should never be used in wikipedia articles. However, there are many words and phrases that are good flags for text that is inappropriate for an article, either because it breaks NPOV or for some other reason. In general, prefer nouns and verbs before adjectives and adverbs.

In general, words or expressions should be avoided that are

1. Ambiguous or non-specific. See also Misplaced Pages:Avoid weasel terms

2. Pejorative or offensive

3. Condescending towards the readers or because they "spoonfeed" the reader

4. Flattering or very positive. See also Misplaced Pages:Avoid peacock terms

Obvious, etc.

Of course, obviously, clearly, etc. can all sound very condescending. If what you're saying is too obvious to include in the text, then don't include it. If some readers may not know or understand it, don't make them feel uncomfortable using these terms; it is as if you are saying that they are stupid.

Occasionally "of course" can be useful in a step of an explanation if it is really easy to understand, yet, for clarity, useful not to skip. In such a case it avoids that the reader wonders whether the step is as simple as it looks or that there is something behind it.

Subtly advancing certain POVs

Well-meaning, so-called

Well meaning and so-called could be used to smear without actually including any facts. Note that the alternate use of so-called in introducing a new term does not have this problem.

However

Text like "A asserts Y. However, according to B, Z." implies that the latter assertion is truer or better than the former one. Avoid this construction in favor of simply stating: "A asserts Y. Others, including B, believe Z.", although even the simple order of presentation raises concerns about neutrality.

Fundamentally

Against use: Statements about what X "fundamentally is" ignore the fact that we create all categories and can do with them as we please. People who prefer different category schemes (i.e. any two people) may disagree about the "fundamental nature" of X, and unless they share some arbitrary set of definitions they can never settle the question.

Naturally

Use naturally for "in a natural manner," such as:

• Plutonium may occur naturally.
• Obsidian is a type of naturally occurring glass.
• Cultural anthropologists assume that human beings are naturally social.

or to indicate an artificial but convenient conceptualization:

• Machiavelli's life falls naturally into three periods.

Do not use naturally for "wouldn't you just know it," such as:

• "Naturally, Protestant critics have jumped on this bandwagon."

Do not use naturally for "without a doubt," such as:

• The point of Brahms's work has naturally been lost by critics.

In certain areas, especially mathematics, the words "natural" or "naturally" have precise technical meanings, which do not carry any other of the usual connotations of the word. For example, one might say that two objects are "naturally isomorphic". This has nothing to do with "words to avoid".

Additionally in mathematics, "natural" and "naturally" are used to indicate a criterion of intuitive quality that a particular definition or theorem possesses, a criterion that is widely considered to be an important way of judging mathematics (cf. Lakatos, MacLane, Rota, Maddy). Attributions of naturality in this sense are at risk of being POV, but may equally be perfectly uncontroversial statements of mathematical consensus; discretion is the key here, but a danger sign is if a claim is made supported only by an appeal to naturalness, and without reference to an external, published authority.

Linked - relationship

"Linked" is often used to describe terrorist groups, e.g. "the al-Qaeda-linked Jama'at Islamiya", but it is curiously devoid of meaning and may hide lack of information. Describing two phenomena or entities as "linked" unnecessarily obfuscates their relationship - if more information is available, the relationship should be clearly spelled out; if information is tenuous this should also be made clear. "Linked" may describe a broad range of relationships between two groups, and therefore may make that relationship seem unrealistically strong. Correlated may be a good alternative in case statistical data of two variables has been analyzed.

A similar obfuscating effect sometimes results from the use of the word "relationship", which besides the unclarity contained in the term "linked" adds many more when speaking without further detail about the relationship between human beings. see Lytton Strachey - Dora Carrington example

Statistics

Be careful when presenting and in particular interpreting statistics. Avoid mixed phrases such as "30% of British households have pets; 1.5 million of these are dogs". This doesn't tell you about the proportion of dogs to other pets; neither does it tell you the actual amount of households with pets. This should not be a problem if you cite your sources.

Another problem phrase is constructions such as "Nazi Germany had set up 300 concentration camps or prisons", or "2,000 civilians killed or injured". In the first, the truth could be 20 concentration camps and ~280 prisons; it is also ambiguous, suggesting that concentration camps are prisons and vice versa. In the second, the truth could be (and sometimes is) 1 killed and ~2,000 injured.

Misnomers

Myth

The word myth in sociology is a story that is important for a group but not verifiable. Lack of verifiability does not necessarily indicate falsehood; "Hindu myth" may refer to historic events for which no objective record exists.

In common use, myth refers to a story which is believed to be false.

Except in rare cases (e.g. urban myth), the common meaning should neither be used, nor assumed. Myth is perfectly valid in an article about religious beliefs; however, do not use phrases such as "evolution is a myth." One might say "The Descent of Man was one of the central myths in 20th century biology."

Sometimes people object to the use of myth to describe stories which they believe strongly in. One should be careful to avoid implying that a myth may be invalid.

Theory

Theory is a word which has similarly lost its precise meaning in common use. In science, a theory is an explanation of nature which is consistent with the available evidence and supported by repeatable experiments. Theories predict the outcomes of specific situations. Except in mathematics, a theory cannot be proven to be correct. A theory may be disproven if it is contradicted by observations.

A common misperception is that a theory is "only a guess", which is mainly a misunderstanding about the development of theories. A theory is not only an educated guess, but the best explanation according to available knowledge.

Do not use theory to mean guess or speculation.

Categories

Cult

The word 'cult' itself is very controversial, and has several different meanings and has very negative connotations. In general it should be avoided--don't say "X is a cult", say "so and so has called X a 'cult' because...". If the author wants to indicate that there is something wrong with a group by applying the cult label then the article in Misplaced Pages should focus on the question what is wrong with the group.

Some of the exceptions to this rule of the thumb is the technical use this term has in sociology, which is quite neutral (i.e. small religious group with novel religious beliefs and a high degree of tension with the surrounding society). However, the author shouldn't use the term in that sense without explaining exactly what you are doing, since that meaning is unfamiliar to most people.

A good alternative would be to use the term new religious movement, coined by Eileen Barker, though some groups that are accused of being a cult are not religious.

The word 'sect' is far more neutral and inoffensive, as it doesn't imply novelty or tension but has a different meaning. There are lots of sects: Sufis, Quakers, Mennonites, Amish, etc., who aren't very novel (some, in fact, avoid novelty altogether) and don't make anyone else very tense. Often, sects follow guidelines that undergo some slow modification over time while cults follow charismatic leaders or doctrines in writing that never change, giving all power to the person currently editing the dictionary.

Some people assert that yesterday's cults are today's mainstream religions. Christianity was considered a cult by the Roman Empire in the 1st Century. Falun Gong and some branches of Christianity are considered cults to the Chinese government. Scientology was a cult in the USA at one time and is still considered a cult by many in and outside the USA. The German national government has imposed measures on scientology's freedom. In general, any new belief system clashes with the "tried and true" extant system in place within a social or religious order. (However, some relatively young Evangelical and Fundamentalist Christian denominations call the Catholic Church a cult. What's at stake is the power to pass judgement on what beliefs are considered "mainstream" or "true".)

For interest's sake, in French, culte means worship, and secte means both sect and cult. The same applies to Dutch and German languages with the words cultus, sekte, Kult(-us) and Sekte. See false friend. -m

Legends

"As legend has it..." is often a screen for lazy research or bogus invented "legends" (some of which are harmless in intention). Pin down your source: "An early legend in Favola's life of St. Sancta..." etc. Unattributed passive voice is a slippery substitute for "legends": "Dumbo is thought to have..." This is a special case of weasel words.

Fundamentalist

The word means "one who rejects ritual and follows the fundamentals (main beliefs) of their religion", rather than "religious fanatic" as the word is often used in the media and by attackers of specific religions. A fundamentalist (depending on which religion) is not necessarily an extremist, or even particularly morally strict.

Hard and Far

As political descriptors; for example, "Jörg Haider's Far-Right 'Freedom Party'" or "Derek Hatton, the Hard-Left 'Militant' politician". The two words are relative value judgements, and do not in themselves describe a political party's policies or viewpoint; merely that they are, or are perceived to be, greatly at variance with the imagined neutral point of the writer.

Bad Form

Controversy

Separating all the controversial aspects of a topic into a single section results in a very tortured form of writing, especially a back-and-forth dialogue between "proponents" and "opponents". It also creates a hierarchy of fact - the main passage is "true" and "undisputed", whereas the rest are "controversial" and therefore more likely to be false, an implication that may often be inappropriate.

Since many of the topics in an encyclopedia will inevitably encounter controversy, editors should attempt to write in a manner that folds debates into the narrative rather than "distilling" them out into a separate section.

"Amusingly" / "Ironically"

These words are often used as declarations, in the context of a quote by a historical figure, or as an observation on the perceived humour or irony of a historical consequence. In both cases they tend strongly to be a statement of opinion rather than of objective fact; in the former case, who is amused? And in the latter case, how is the statement or event ironic? Was the humour or irony intentional? Was it perceived as amusing or ironic at the time, or only in retrospect? All of these factors must be borne in mind.

Words that mean the opposite in UK and US English

A small number of words mean the opposite in UK English to what they do in US English. These should be avoided where possible. Where this is not possible, a brief explanation of which meaning of the word should be given.

Examples of this include:

public school: In the UK this is a traditional fee pay school, such as Eton or Harrow. In the US this means a school funded by the taxpayer.

to table: In the UK this verb means to list for discussion. In the US it means to remove from discussion.

trapezium: In the UK this is a quadrilateral where one pair of opposite sides is parallel. In the US this is a quadrilateral where none of the sides are parallel.

See also

• Misplaced Pages:Manual of Style especially Misplaced Pages:Manual of Style (dates and numbers).
• Misplaced Pages:Words to use
• Power word