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Manual of Style

This page falls within the scope of the Misplaced Pages:Manual of Style, a collaborative effort focused on enhancing clarity, consistency, and cohesiveness across the Manual of Style (MoS) guidelines by addressing inconsistencies, refining language, and integrating guidance effectively.Manual of StyleWikipedia:WikiProject Manual of StyleTemplate:WikiProject Manual of StyleManual of Style This page falls under the contentious topics procedure and is given additional attention, as it closely associated to the English Misplaced Pages Manual of Style, and the article titles policy. Both areas are subjects of debate. Contributors are urged to review the awareness criteria carefully and exercise caution when editing. For information on Misplaced Pages's approach to the establishment of new policies and guidelines, refer to WP:PROPOSAL. Additionally, guidance on how to contribute to the development and revision of Misplaced Pages policies of Misplaced Pages's policy and guideline documents is available, offering valuable insights and recommendations.

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RfC: First mention in the first sentence... (MOS:JOBTITLES)

Should the first mention of a position in the first sentence of the article about the position be de-capitalized? See collapsed just above this line. --- Coffeeandcrumbs 22:16, 9 November 2019 (UTC)

!vote "yes" or "no"

• Yes. —Eyer (If you reply, add {{reply to|Eyer}} to your message to let me know.) 22:29, 9 November 2019 (UTC)
• (moved from Discussion below) Yes. Where it appears in the article is irrelevant, and if it's capitalized early on in the lead, then people will capitalize it everywhere, per MOS:ARTCON.  — SMcCandlish ☏ ¢ 😼  22:30, 14 November 2019 (UTC)

  @SMcCandlish: Can you clarify if that is a "yes" to my comment or a "yes" !vote to the RFC question of de-capitalizing first mention of the position?—Bagumba (talk) 12:20, 15 November 2019 (UTC)

  It was a "yes" !vote to the RfC question; I didn't notice the intervening subhead. In response to your comment, part of the point of the wording of MOS:JOBTITLES is a compromise between "traditionalist" and "contemporary" styles. If the subject of the material is itself the title/position, then it can be capitalized, if it's a unique title that is often capitalized, and treating it that way makes some sense in the context. Thus, President of the United States should begin with "The President of the United States ..." (while Chief executive officer should not capitalize that title, being generic). In a genericized context, that same PotUS-related phrase would not be capitalized: "Tension levels between the president of the United States and the prime minister of the UK have varied considerably by who in particular has been in these offices. However, the two countries have been careful to maintain their alliance since the 19th century." It would be easier, "in a vacuum", to just never capitalize these things except when directly connected to a name. But it's not easy in practice; we're not going to get consensus to do that. Just getting consensus to not capitalize every f'ing occurrence has taken a decade+ and lots of proof that mainstream, off-site sources are no longer, in the main, rampantly capitalizing them.  — SMcCandlish ☏ ¢ 😼  03:04, 16 November 2019 (UTC)

• Yes per SMcCandlish reasoning. If this does go thru, MOS:JOBTITLE should distinguish it from the existing "Richard Nixon was the president of the United States" example, which is presumably not capitalized because "the" precedes "president" (?).—Bagumba (talk) 11:52, 24 November 2019 (UTC)

discussion

That's a yes in my book... Positions aren't capitalized... only titles are. I fear you've given me a to-do list. —Eyer (If you reply, add {{reply to|Eyer}} to your message to let me know.) 22:14, 9 November 2019 (UTC)

Eyer, I have hundreds, perhaps 2000+ more, if the rough calculation I did in my head is correct. --- Coffeeandcrumbs 22:20, 9 November 2019 (UTC)

I am going to cry. :). —Eyer (If you reply, add {{reply to|Eyer}} to your message to let me know.) 22:30, 9 November 2019 (UTC)

Here is a fun one Special:PrefixIndex/Secretary of. --- Coffeeandcrumbs 22:42, 9 November 2019 (UTC)

And Special:PrefixIndex/First Lad. —Eyer (If you reply, add {{reply to|Eyer}} to your message to let me know.) 22:49, 9 November 2019 (UTC)

MOS:JOBTITLES is pretty clear about not capitalizing titles or positions when they are "preceded by a modifier (including a definite or indefinite article)". So President of the United States currently seems OK with "The president of the United States (POTUS) is the ..."—Bagumba (talk) 08:38, 12 November 2019 (UTC)

This becomes more complicated when you consider Vice Presidents and Prime Minister. By this logic, there is no reason why Prime Minister of the United Kingdom is not titled Prime minister of the United Kingdom. Titles on en.wiki should use sentence case. --- Coffeeandcrumbs 08:53, 13 November 2019 (UTC)

See above. It's because the article Prime Minister of the United Kingdom is about the title/position as such.  — SMcCandlish ☏ ¢ 😼  01:21, 27 December 2019 (UTC)

This ngram shows that MOS:JOBTITLES is against common usage in corpus. --- Coffeeandcrumbs 09:06, 13 November 2019 (UTC)

Irrelevant. Our standard is to not apply a stylization, including capitals, unless current and actually reliable sources (in English and across genres, not just in specialist literature) apply that stylization to that specific case with near-uniformity. A simple majority isn't sufficient.  — SMcCandlish ☏ ¢ 😼  01:21, 27 December 2019 (UTC)

This is has gotten to the point where you've got two or three Wikipedians attempting to make Misplaced Pages use an entirely interpretation of English grammar as distinct from the entire rest of the language. We've got a situation at John Cain (41st Premier of Victoria) where every single source on the internet that uses that phrase ("41st Premier of Victoria") capitalises Premier, the Cambridge Australian English style guide says it should be capitalised, and we've got one editor insisting that it must be decapitalised because WP:JOBTITLES says so. These changes are ungrammatical and they're not supported by reliable sources either in practical usage (in any sense) or in authoritative style guide usage and they've slipped in because a very small number of editors (I count three on this talk page) have changed a guideline on their own whim with outcomes that are increasingly ludicrous. What Misplaced Pages says is defined by definition by what is written in reliable sources and not the passionate if completely unique interpretation of English grammar of Misplaced Pages users Eyer and Coffeeandcrumbs. The Drover's Wife (talk) 11:14, 29 December 2019 (UTC)

I've been frustrated with this topic, for a long time. GoodDay (talk) 14:51, 29 December 2019 (UTC)

MOS:JOBTITLES for "U.S. Secretary of Defense Penelope Penwinkle" and "U.S. Representative Felicia Filbert"

I have encountered an editor who seems to think these should be "U.S. secretary of defense Penelope Penwinkle" and "U.S. representative Felicia Filbert", based on the example of "Mao met with US president Richard Nixon in 1972." In my opinion, the reason "president" is lowercase in that phrase is because the proper form of the title is "President of the U.S." rather than "U.S. President". So I believe "U.S. Secretary of Defense Penelope Penwinkle" and "U.S. Representative Felicia Filbert" are correct. There does not seem to be an example in MOS:JOBTITLES that directly addresses this question. —BarrelProof (talk) 21:24, 10 November 2019 (UTC)

That should be US President Richard Nixon. Lowercase, if it were Richard Nixon, US president. GoodDay (talk) 21:26, 10 November 2019 (UTC)

@GoodDay: that's expressly counter to MOS:JOBTITLES which lists the example "Mao met with US president Richard Nixon in 1972", with "president" modified by "US". —Eyer (If you reply, add {{reply to|Eyer}} to your message to let me know.) 21:31, 10 November 2019 (UTC)

I agree with Eyer on that one. The proper alternative would be "Mao met with President of the United States Richard Nixon in 1972." —BarrelProof (talk) 22:04, 10 November 2019 (UTC)

@BarrelProof: we've already discussed my thoughts on this: "U.S." modifies "president", "secretary", "senator", and "representative". I'll wait for other editors to weigh in on your question. —Eyer (If you reply, add {{reply to|Eyer}} to your message to let me know.) 21:31, 10 November 2019 (UTC)

I disagree, as you know; the titles here are "U.S. Secretary of Defense" and "U.S. Representative". The "U.S." is part of the title. —BarrelProof (talk) 22:04, 10 November 2019 (UTC)

I am curious... Would the titles be "U.K. Member of Parliament" and "E.U. Member of Parliament"? Or would "U.K." and "E.U." describe the type of "member of parliament"? (Trying to extrapolate beyond just U.S. settings.) —Eyer (If you reply, add {{reply to|Eyer}} to your message to let me know.) 22:28, 10 November 2019 (UTC)

A better use of our time might be to review the number of articles that link to Members of Parliament using an uppercase "M", but here we are. —BarrelProof (talk) 22:47, 10 November 2019 (UTC)

Good point. No reason for plurals to be capitalized in that way. —Eyer (If you reply, add {{reply to|Eyer}} to your message to let me know.) 22:51, 10 November 2019 (UTC)

I think the more proper form in the E.U. case would be "Member of the European Parliament Elwood Ellison". For the UK case, I'm not sure. Perhaps "Member of the Parliament of the United Kingdom Priscilla Premington". —BarrelProof (talk) 22:55, 10 November 2019 (UTC)

I would have thought that the normal way to refer to such people in the UK would be Elwood Ellison MEP and Priscilla Premington MP, with links from MEP and MP to the relevant articles. MP being treated the same in Australia, not sure about Canada. MEP and MP don't seem to have an equivalent in the US, but aren't they generally referred to as Representative James Bloggs and Senator Jimmy Diamond? Peacemaker67 (click to talk to me) 07:52, 11 November 2019 (UTC)

That might be more a matter of whether the article is written in American English or UK English rather than whether it is referring to a person with a U.S. jobtitle or a non-U.S. jobtitle. Sometimes an article written in AmE may refer to someone who holds a non-U.S. title. Also, it is not uncommon to use "U.S. Representative" rather than just "Representative", e.g., in order to identify a member of the federal U.S. House of Representatives as contrasted with a member of the House of Representatives of a U.S. state. —BarrelProof (talk) 19:17, 11 November 2019 (UTC)

Note that American officials are often referred to as Representative Smith or Secretary Jones (or indeed President Trump) as though they are ranks. The UK does not do this. We do not say Prime Minister Johnson (although the American media often does) or Member of Parliament Smith or Minister Jones or Secretary of State Bloggs. We would simply say Mr Johnson or Ms Smith or Dr Jones or Mrs Bloggs, depending on what their usual honorific was just like anyone else. So the cases are slightly different. -- Necrothesp (talk) 11:08, 11 November 2019 (UTC)

To my mind, "US representative John Smith" would indicate that Smith is acting in some capacity to represent the US, perhaps on an international committee. "US Representative John Smith" indicates much more specifically that Smith is a member of the US Congress. So the capitalization carries important semantic information; it is not just an arbitrary style thing that we can change without changing the meaning. —David Eppstein (talk) 19:43, 15 November 2019 (UTC)

Yes, this is one reason why (per MOS:JOBTITLES, as in most other English-language style guides) such a title is capitalized when attached to a name.  — SMcCandlish ☏ ¢ 😼  01:22, 27 December 2019 (UTC)

“The late”

Should we remove uses of “the late” in articles? It seems to not be so neutral; one probably wouldn’t say “the late Stalin” or something—it implies respect.

Should uses of “the late” be removed for neutrality? DemonDays64 | Tell me if I'm doing something wrong :P 03:29, 16 November 2019 (UTC)

• I could see an argument that using “the late” is poor word choice (more appropriate in journalism than in encyclopedic writing), but I don’t see it as being non-neutral. Blueboar (talk) 04:40, 16 November 2019 (UTC)
• @DemonDays64: Could you show examples of where it's been used? I too am not sure that it shows respect: isn't it just a slightly euphemistic term for "deceased" or "dead"? PamD 06:15, 16 November 2019 (UTC)
• @PamD: here is one: https://en.wikipedia.org/search/?title=Post-truth_politics&diff=prev&oldid=926401419 is one—the man has been dead for 23 years, so I removed it. The problem is that there's not at all an objective threshold where we can say "oh this dude isn't late"—we just don't really have any ability to distinguish between a person who died in the last few years, in the last twenty years, and the 1600s. I think that the bigger problem than neutrality is that there's not a good way to determine if it is appropriate. DemonDays64 | Tell me if I'm doing something wrong :P 15:41, 16 November 2019 (UTC)

It doesn't add anything, in that example. If it's important to mention that someone was dead at the time under discussion, then (died 2012) or (1950-2012) after their name would be usually be better. I'm neutral between "late" and "deceased" in something like "She explained that the knife had belonged to her late husband", to invent an example. I don't think respect comes into it: it's just unnecessary verbiage unless we need to know that the person is dead. PamD 14:20, 24 November 2019 (UTC)

• Remove, if a death year exists it will be at the front of the biographic article, and in other cases 'the late' isn't encyclopedic. Randy Kryn (talk) 12:01, 24 November 2019 (UTC)
• Remove. I concur with Randy Kryn.  — SMcCandlish ☏ ¢ 😼  01:13, 27 December 2019 (UTC)

Including dead names

Trans people's dead names should not be referenced or included at all, unless the trans person in question has explicitly said it is okay. Imwahte (talk) 00:49, 22 November 2019 (UTC)

That is basically our style, expect in the case where the person was also notable under their "dead name" (eg the case of Caitlyn Jenner as Bruce Jenner) and the sourcing is clearly there to support it. --Masem (t) 01:13, 22 November 2019 (UTC)

@Masem: That is still somewhat ambiguous in the MOS:DEADNAME. Some Wikipedians are insisting on digging up Trans people's dead names in the Personal Life section of their articles because the guideline only refers to the lead sentences of an article. I tried for instance removing Peppermint's deadname from her article and that quickly got reverted by a VERY active wikipedian citing this technicality. Also refer to the talk page of Kim Petras where a similar argument ensued. I think removing the "in the lead section" bit from the guideline is therefore a necessary development, since I believe wikipedia should be held to the same journalistic standard of contemporary publications who have collectively agreed that digging up trans people's dead names when they were never known under that name serves no value besides that of undermining their identity, and is therefore a form of disparagement not only against the individual, but against the entire LGBT community. cave (talk) 13:30, 24 December 2019 (UTC)

I did review past discussions here, and there was an RFC to try to change the wording which did not successfully conclude anything, so I can't just strip "from the lede" here without more consensus. I will point out the draft MOS WP:GENDERID does have the specific advice to not include deadnames even if they can be sourced (as in the case of Peppermint), but that's only a draft. So unfortunately we can't offer stronger advice, but I would stress in arguments that WP editors are more aware of the troubles of deadnaming against the balance of verifyability. --Masem (t) 14:48, 24 December 2019 (UTC)

I would strongly support a change to strip "from the lead", if it is (re)proposed. (Please feel free to ping me, as I might not notice otherwise.) It is clearly implied by the existing wording that we do not regard deadnames as having encyclopaedic value except when the subject was notable under the previous name. The ambiguity allows people, who are often acting in bad faith, to Wikilawyer the matter in a disruptive way as they attempt to introduce confidential private information into our articles with the intent to harass, humiliate or otherwise distress the subjects. It is not hard to find the alleged deadnames of trans people online. There are people who delight in doxxing people and publishing the results. Their screeds are not WP:RS, and they don't even get the names right all the time. As such, I feel that respect for Misplaced Pages's values of notability and verifiability push us in the same direction as more general values of basic decency and lawfulness to eschew information of no encyclopaedic value which serves only to harass and annoy people. --DanielRigal (talk) 14:20, 25 December 2019 (UTC)

I agree that the policy should be to not include deadnames in the article at all (not just omitting them from the lede) unless the subject clearly gained notability under that name. For the record I'm trans myself and have written and given talks on this and related subjects; see my user profile. Funcrunch (talk) 18:31, 25 December 2019 (UTC)

Again,this is not the policy for other people born under names that they were never notable under...equality of inclusion is called for rather than bias toward a subject's preferences.--12.144.5.2 (talk) 20:21, 25 December 2019 (UTC)

Also keep in mind, that applies to living persons (WP:BLP). For long-deceased people, if the dead name is known, there's no restrictions on it (ala this edit ) --Masem (t) 01:15, 22 November 2019 (UTC)

I COULDN'T POSSIBLY DISAGREE MORE.I am deeply offended by attempts to suppress the original names of transgender persons from biographical articles...birth names should always be included in all biographical articles without exception as long as they can be verified.There is no special right to erase one's history attached to any class of person,be they actors,politicians (Robert C. Byrd was born Cornelius Calvin Sale,his article says so),authors (Anne Perry committed murder as a child when she was Juliet Hulme and her article says so)...you are not giving a proper or complete picture of anyone's life if you do not make sure to include the name the person was born with.To fetishize the preference of a particular population is a vicious attack on NPOV.--12.144.5.2 (talk) 07:58, 25 December 2019 (UTC)

You need to understand two things. Firstly, that we are not trying to offend you. Secondly, that whether or not we offend you is simply not a consideration for us. We are writing an encyclopaedia here and we can not allow you, or anybody else, to disrupt it or repurpose it as a vector to harass the people who are the subjects of our articles. You are, and you remain, on final warning for this very behaviour. You are venue shopping here after previously getting short shrift on Talk:Veronica Ivy and on your own Talk page (over a period of years). I have advised you to drop the stick and move on to other areas where you can contribute more constructively. I am disappointed that you have not done so. --DanielRigal (talk) 13:46, 25 December 2019 (UTC)

Agreed. As to the basic issue, perhaps we should treat this as we do full dates of birth at WP:BLPPRIVACY except that the reason isn't identity theft but simply privacy. In fact maybe this discussion should move here. My position is that unless we are sure that the link has been made in multiple reliable sources so that we know it's well known, we shouldn't link the names. Oddly enough I've just run into this issue where an editor was using material written by the subject under their deadname as sources for making the link. Doug Weller talk 17:17, 25 December 2019 (UTC)

My position is that you are fundamentally mischaracterizing the issue in order to allege an utterly unique form of "privacy" that for any other person would be regarded as collusion in hiding essential information.I have already cited counterexamples where people's birth names under which they attained no notability whatsoever have been duly included in their articles for good reason,and under which they incurred infamy they may want to avoid have been included in their article for good reason.But somehow,the subset of editors particularly concerned with the "trans" see the "trans" as entitled to a special special pass from having their articles be properly informative.We're not giving out people's phone numbers or street addresses...just their original names.Which is not "harrassment",even if they find it inconvenient (and it is blatant bias to prioritize their personal preferences over their articles telling their full stories.Bias most unbecoming people who want to "write an encyclopaedia").It is the advocates of suppression who need to "drop the stick",not go on a rampage to forbid any right to dissent from their interpretations in any venue.(I was in a discussion with Daniel on an article's talk page...this page seemed the best place to take the issue of moving policy in the direction of increasing disclosure.If this is not the best venue for engaging discussion on the need to move policy in the direction of increasing disclosure,could you please point me there?...and no,denying the right to advocate against your position is not satisfactory).--12.144.5.2 (talk) 17:37, 25 December 2019 (UTC)

IP, you should understand that the broad policy consensus at WP is in favor of MOS:GENDERID, which was developed through repeated RfCs with wide participation. So the "venue" that would be necessary for your idiosyncratic preferences and perceptions of ENC to become policy, would be one or more widely-participated RfCs. However, there is no reasonable likelihood that a new RfC would generate the result you are hoping for, given the prevailing direction of change for the last decade or more within the WP editing community. Newimpartial (talk) 17:58, 25 December 2019 (UTC)

I can't tell you how discrediting such a direction of change is.A biographical article is worthless if it conceals things because the subject wants them concealed...you might as well be writing an official biography of Phillip Musica as blameless F. Donald Coster and then pointing to his suicide when exposed as justification.A person's birth name is just about the very first thing a biography ought to include.Readers are entitled to expect warts-and-all portraits and writers and editors should do their best to provide them.--12.144.5.2 (talk) 20:21, 25 December 2019 (UTC)

The thing is, the WP consensus currently considers deadnaming to be simply in a different category from the inclusion of other birth names, and the reasons for this are discernable in repeated RfCs. You may disagree about this case being different, but there is a very clear body of policy and practice that disagrees with your preference, expressed over a decade and more. Newimpartial (talk) 00:04, 26 December 2019 (UTC)

I doubt very much that I would buy into this exceptionalism but can you link me to any of these discussions?--12.144.5.2 (talk) 00:23, 26 December 2019 (UTC)

Here is a fairly typical discussion of GENDERID, neither the first not the last. Newimpartial (talk) 00:59, 26 December 2019 (UTC)

@Masem: - any chance you could link to the last RfC? If it's from a while back then it might be worth revisiting that 'on the lede' wording. Thanks, The Land (talk) 18:06, 26 December 2019 (UTC)

Re 'you are fundamentally mischaracterizing the issue in order to allege an utterly unique form of "privacy" that for any other person would be regarded as collusion in hiding essential information': That really is the crux of the issue. And it has been the entire time. In more encyclopedia-pertinent terms, we are not here to either suppress basic and commonly-sought information that is encyclopedically relevant and is public knowledge (i.e., verifiable in reliable sources), nor are we here to rewrite history. Our super-massive RfC on this at VPPOL in 2015 came to the same conclusion, and the detailed close there even quotes the GLAAD guidelines on this as relevant to the prevailing reasoning in that RfC: "Unless a former name is newsworthy or pertinent, use the name and pronouns preferred ...". So, a handful of extremist trans-issues activists on WP are promoting a new privacy right for a small sliver of GLBT+ people (in turn only about 10% of the population in total) that even the leading advocacy organization for GLBT+ people doesn't advocate. Our current practice is entirely sufficient and proper; it is: not using old names that pre-date the person's notability, i.e. which are not encyclopedically relevant; not using purported old names at all if they cannot be reliably sourced; and writing in the present-tense using the present name and gender, but not faking history by applying the old name to old facts that pre-date the use of that name. We're already consistent with GLAAD's advice. While it could itself have been regarded at one time as just an advocacy position, the GLAAD approach has been adopted by AP Stylebook, and various other style guides with longer publication cycles; WP has thus shifted to this usage itself, because it's become a norm of how to write about trans people in professional-grade English. This entire discussion is a combination of rehash and tendentiousness (and the same responses thereto as last time, and the time before that, and the time before that, and ...).  — SMcCandlish ☏ ¢ 😼  00:15, 27 December 2019 (UTC)

GLAAD of course is an advocacy group dedicated to seeing that only its side of arguments is allowed respect.So an encyclopaedia seeking NPOV should depart from their recommendations on the side of less concessions to the transgendered,not more.--12.144.5.2 (talk) 01:19, 28 December 2019 (UTC)

Do you regard the AP style guide as also an advocacy group, IP? It is encumbent on an Encyclopaedia to recognize when a formerly activist stance has become mainstream and effectively NPOV. Newimpartial (talk) 17:30, 28 December 2019 (UTC)

When a change in a style guide is in specific response to the demands of an advocacy group I regard that as a departure from NPOV.(Is your username an allusion to the attitude you are advocating?)--12.144.5.2 (talk) 00:56, 29 December 2019 (UTC)

Also, I think the essential in that quote is pulling a lot of weight. We do allow a deadname (even in the lead) in situations where it is clearly essential, as the Chelsea Manning exception shows. But you have to actually have the sources to demonstrate that they were previously notable under that name - if the name is comparatively unknown, it seems hard to explain how it could be 'essential information'. At that point our WP:BLP requirements that biographies of living persons ("BLPs") must be written conservatively and with regard for the subject's privacy and that the possibility of harm to living subjects must always be considered when exercising editorial judgment take precedence. --Aquillion (talk) 20:28, 28 December 2019 (UTC)

How can an encyclopedia be encyclopedic and NPOV if it doesn't include the name that a person was born with? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 168.70.86.190 (talk) 09:18, 28 December 2019 (UTC)

There is nothing requiring us to include every detail about a person. We are actually supposed to summarize what reliable sources say. So if a transgender person's original name is not commonly found in sources, we are not bound to include it. --Masem (t) 17:34, 28 December 2019 (UTC)

• An encyclopedia is not an indiscriminate collection of information. We include the notable parts of people's biographies; as WP:BLP says, we still have to respect their privacy otherwise. In a case like Chelsea Manning, who was initially famous under her original name, we include the name in the lead because it's relevant information (and because the fact that it's already widely-known means there's little privacy risk.) But in the case of someone who transitioned before they were famous and whose birth name is therefore not important or widely-known, there isn't really any compelling reason to include it, and more potential harm to their privacy, so we should generally omit it. --Aquillion (talk) 20:33, 28 December 2019 (UTC)

I don't think "privacy" can legitimately extend to deliberately suppressing mention of a verifiable birth name.Actors and politicians who were never famous under their birth names have their birth names given in their articles.That Anne Perry murdered someone while she was Juliet Hulme,and kept that secret for decades,is duly mentioned in her article.Privacy concerns would apply to giving out things like someone's personal phone number,not a name that they are not now found under but wore (presumably blamelessly) for decades.There's no legitimate ground for a biographical article to omit it.--12.144.5.2 (talk) 00:56, 29 December 2019 (UTC)

It is not WP's place to dig to search for private info buried in limited sourcing such as the birth name of a trans individual. That's the essence of BLP, to respect the privacy of distributable individuals. --Masem (t) 01:03, 29 December 2019 (UTC)

Changing one's name due to being trans and/or having gender dysphoria is not in any way equivalent to changing one's name to evade the law. When I changed my name and legal sex in 2014, I had to stand before a judge in open court and publish an announcement in the newspaper to assert that I was not changing my name for fraudulent purposes. Since that time, a number of U.S. states have eliminated the courtroom declaration and publication requirements for trans individuals, recognizing that such actions violate our privacy and can cause undue distress. As far as cisgender celebrities and politicians who have changed their names, their birth-assigned names are typically covered extensively in reliable sources, unlike trans people who did not gain notability before their transitions. And cisgender people do not suffer from gender dysphoria when they read or hear their birth-assigned names. Bottom line: Eliminating deadnames from bios of trans people who were not notable under these names is in line with WP:BLP policy, which necessitates avoiding unnecessary harm to living people. Funcrunch (talk) 02:02, 29 December 2019 (UTC)

Allowing people to hide their former names rubs me the wrong way to an enormous degree.The claim that it makes the subject uncomfortable is open to endless abuse to conceal all sorts of things.Again,poor Phillip Musica shot himself after it was revealed he hadn't always been F. Donald Coster...would it have been respect for his feelings to keep that under wraps?If you want to learn about Gerald Ford,you learn that he was born Leslie Lynch King.All should be treated equally...I don't want to have to go to Kiwifarms in order to find out someone's birth name.--12.144.5.2 (talk) 02:36, 29 December 2019 (UTC)

Kiwifarms is a forum whose members take delight in deadnaming, mocking and misgendering trans people, including myself. That you are suggesting that you use them as an alternative to deadnaming trans people on Misplaced Pages is hardly a good argument for your case. Funcrunch (talk) 03:12, 29 December 2019 (UTC)

If Misplaced Pages refuses to provide information about biographical subjects as absolutely essential as the person's birth name,one is forced to use what sources are available.--12.144.5.2 (talk) 06:17, 29 December 2019 (UTC)

We go by what sources give us. Even if a transgender person takes offense we include their dead name, if the bulk of RS report the deadname , we aren't going to hide that. E.g. The example of Phillip Musica, the birth name is essential to the topic once the connection was well reported. But when there is minimal sourcing on the dead name of rely on primary sources, we will take privacy over inclusion. --Masem (t) 03:53, 29 December 2019 (UTC)

Anne Perry committed her crime under her original name, went to court under her original name, and most importantly (because of these things) was famous under her original name. That's comparable to the Chelsea Manning example I listed above - even if she had transitioned we would still list her birth name, because she was notable under that name, and that introduces a compelling reason we ought to include it even if she wouldn't want it there. (And, conversely, the fact that her name is already plastered everywhere means that there's little risk of harm from us mentioning it in passing.) For situations where we lack that sort of compelling reason to include it, such as the actors and politicians you referenced, the question is whether listing their name will harm them (per WP:BLP's requirement that the possibility of harm to living subjects must always be considered when exercising editorial judgment) and, in the balance, what purpose is served by including their original name. Trans people who were never famous under their original name can generally be presumed to want to discard it, and we have no compelling editorial reason to include it, so it is omitted; whereas actors who take stage names generally do so for professional reasons that are not harmed by mentioning it in the article even if it is relatively minor trivia. --Aquillion (talk) 05:08, 29 December 2019 (UTC)

Again,Gerald R. Ford and Robert C. Byrd did nothing of note under their birth names but that's not used as an excuse for deleting those names from their articles and even the talk pages of those articles.They could be assumed to be as inclined to "discard" their birth names as the "trans" are,but that's not seen as reason to delete.The "harm" allegedly done by disclosure is nothing more than hurt feelings if it doesn't involve exposure of misdeeds under the original name (as noted in the article about her murder,Perry was not publicly identified with Juliet Hulme until 1994,long after she'd been publishing as an author).I would guess someone in a WITSEC situation might actually be imperiled by identification in a bio but I don't think any of them have ever become notable under their later identities.This boils down to a very exceptional privileging of the transgendered that I just don't think is appropriate.--12.144.5.2 (talk) 06:17, 29 December 2019 (UTC)

No special case is being made. A case like Ford is where by his importance, his original name is well documented through numerous RSes. On the other hand I do know we have a few articles on people that have legally changed their name since because they wanted a new identity, and which only things like court records document that. We are not going to dig up Blp's past through poor sourcing just to be "complete". --Masem (t)

By default,an impartial biographer's responsibility includes exposing those engaged in the intrinsically suspicious practice of "wanting a new identity".Not complicity,which is complete bias.Looking for good sources is responsible writing,avoiding whatever information can be found is not.--12.144.5.2 (talk) 14:58, 29 December 2019 (UTC)

First, there is nothing “intrinsically suspicious” about changing one’s name... second, I disagree that it is the responsibility of a biographer to “expose” anything. “Exposure” is what investigative journalists do. Misplaced Pages is not the right venue for investigative journalism. Blueboar (talk) 15:18, 29 December 2019 (UTC)

"Changing one's name" is one thing,"seeking a new identity" something else entirely.A newly married Mrs. Smith is not trying to pretend she was never Miss Jones,or keep that from being discovered.If shes does,that IS suspicious.--12.144.5.2 (talk) 16:51, 29 December 2019 (UTC)

I agree with Blueboar, but I'd also like to note that this sort of "exposure" is not even legitimate investigative journalism when published elsewhere. We see a fair number of (mostly far-right) thugs trying to recast themselves as "journalists" when what they are really engaged in is doxing, intimidation and harassment. We can't even use such self-styled "journalism" as reference material when it is externally published.

I'd also like to ask our anonymous friend to examine their motives here. They seem strongly compelled to know not just who is trans, but also what each trans person's deadname is. That seems as weird and irrelevant as wanting to know people's blood types (which is a mostly, but not entirely, harmless craze in Japan). They have mentioned looking up the alleged deadnames of trans people on Kiwi Farms. That does not seem at all healthy. --DanielRigal (talk) 15:55, 29 December 2019 (UTC)

I see the trans/deadname issue as no different than any other persons who have changed their names...I think that a biographical article ought as a rule to include all names the subject has ever used.You are the one with the compulsion of censor disused names if the person happens to be trans.--12.144.5.2 (talk) 16:51, 29 December 2019 (UTC)

Looking at IP's edit history, it seems pretty cut and dry to me that these arguments are not being made in good faith. This is not a person simply concerned about "having the full picture" of a trans person, but rather, this is a person who doesn't believe trans women are women, who insisted on using incorrect pronouns to refer to trans women, who believes the fact that they disagree with their assigned at birth gender and names is "inherently suspicious", and who also by their own words also "vehemently oppose same-sex marriage". This person therefore is simply "hiding their power level" here and is just aiming to be disruptive on LGBT related articles, not seeking a NPOV but doggedly trying to impose a very clearly bigoted one that is at odds with modern day society, scientific consensus and with Misplaced Pages's policies. I believe discretionary measures should be taken against this continued behavior. cave (talk) 15:31, 29 December 2019 (UTC)

My disagreements with Misplaced Pages policies go far beyond this one.Differences on science and pronouns are just a small part of it.Silencing dissenting voices may seem fine and dandy to you but I think it's bad policy.Just like demanding specific source citations for information available in numerous places (e.g. box office data) when the selection of any one source is automatically bias...or demanding a source for one defined arithmetical quantity being larger than another (I have really seen that here).I don't think anything but original research can give an article independent value,yet Misplaced Pages cultivates a prejudice against it.I've been in arguments on here since my mentions of the absolutely unique nature of other nations' claiming a right to tell Israel what its capital is when they never do that to any other country were deleted from the article on Jerusalem in 2003."Bigoted" to one person is not so to another.--12.144.5.2 (talk) 16:51, 29 December 2019 (UTC)

Hmmm... With all due respect, if you disagree with our core policies and basic philosophy to that extent, you probably should not be contributing to Misplaced Pages. You will be constantly frustrated. The things you want changed are simply not going to BE changed. Blueboar (talk) 17:28, 29 December 2019 (UTC)

I share your concerns but, given that our anonymous friend seems able to contribute constructively on some other topics, I would be perfectly happy if they could just step away from this subject and just concentrate on those topics where they are able to contribute constructively. I have suggested they they do that more than once already. Failing that, I feel that maybe a formal topic ban might be necessary. (Oh, and please, for the love of all and any deities as may exist, I advise them to stay off bloody Kiwi Farms! There is nothing good to be had there.) --DanielRigal (talk) 18:20, 29 December 2019 (UTC)

Remember,I'm not asking Misplaced Pages to embrace my views of "LGBT" issues,just to back off unconditional acceptance of the preferences/attitudes of the "LGBT" activists (can you point to articles where this is not the case,and where you also prefer that it stay not the case?)--12.144.5.2 (talk) 18:28, 29 December 2019 (UTC)

We are not discussing "preferences/attitudes" here and, as a response to the largest olive branch I could offer you under these circumstances, your response is extremely disappointing. Putting quote marks around LGBT looks a lot like a deliberate act of provocation. Are you just playing games to see what you can get away with? Whether or not you are acting in good faith, I now think that the massive WP:IDHT issue here justifies an indefinite topic ban covering all gender and sexuality related topics including all biographies of LGBTQIA people, living or dead. --DanielRigal (talk) 18:45, 29 December 2019 (UTC)

Quotation marks seem to me the best way to convey that I am describing terminology that others use but that I consider it important not to use.Each side sees the other's preferences as "provocation",I suppose.Policies protecting "LGBTQIA" articles from edits reducing bias toward blind indulgence of a particular viewpoint can never stop being bad policies.--12.144.5.2 (talk) 19:08, 29 December 2019 (UTC)

Applying MOS

I appreciate that @Mechanical Keyboarder: wants to decapitalize office titles in the bio intros, per MOS. However, I wish he'd do it via articles series. Instead he's only making such changes to the 'incumbent' officials & that's merely throwing off the series of articles. If you're going to make a change to (for examples) Boris Johnson? then make those changes to the articles of his predecessors. GoodDay (talk) 21:34, 29 November 2019 (UTC)

Articles are improved one at a time. Having 1 correct article and 19 incorrect articles is better than having 20 incorrect articles. Surtsicna (talk) 22:54, 29 November 2019 (UTC)

And given that “mass-conforming” multiple articles (all at once) is something that has gotten other MOS editors in trouble... going slowly and taking it one article at a time makes a lot of sense. Blueboar (talk) 23:01, 29 November 2019 (UTC)

Yep. There is absolutely no principle on WP that every article that could be made to conform to some guideline must be made to do so all once! Absurd.  — SMcCandlish ☏ ¢ 😼  01:10, 27 December 2019 (UTC)

If that was the approach for 'hard cover' encylopedias? an editor would be fired. GoodDay (talk) 19:56, 27 December 2019 (UTC)

It's simply not practical here. --Izno (talk) 23:46, 27 December 2019 (UTC)

At the moment MK's application of de-capitalisation isn't being universally accepted. That's a fact. GoodDay (talk) 23:50, 27 December 2019 (UTC)

There's one thing that's annoying me for sure. Mechanical Keyboarder's refusal to engage in discussion on this topic, while at the same time steamrolling ahead on multiple articles. GoodDay (talk) 14:07, 1 December 2019 (UTC)

Well, there's a discussion open right here. What's your objection to MOS:JOBTITLES or MK's interpretation of it? — SMcCandlish ☏ ¢ 😼  01:10, 27 December 2019 (UTC)

His refusal to put on the breaks, when other editors have protested his changes. GoodDay (talk) 19:54, 27 December 2019 (UTC)

Judicial postnoms

The following discussion is closed. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made in a new section. A summary of the conclusions reached follows.

Moved to Misplaced Pages talk:Manual of Style#RfC on abbreviation of judicial offices Closing superseded discussion per WP:MULTI, WP:TALKFORK.  — SMcCandlish ☏ ¢ 😼  00:43, 27 December 2019 (UTC)

I propose to add at the end of #Post-nominal letters:

In the main body of an article judicial titles, such as "Justice" or "Chief Justice", should be used similarly to political titles, such as "President". However, in discussion of a particular judgment it may be convenient to use instead the conventional post-nominal legal abbreviation, such as "J" or "CJ".

@Jack Upland and Find bruce: Errantius (talk) 20:02, 9 December 2019 (UTC)

• Oppose: those legal abbreviations are only used in legal texts. This is an encyclopedia, not a legal text, though some articles on Australian legal and constitutional topics do look like bad law student's essays. I think this is covered by MOS:JARGON. There is no advantage in saying "Gaudron J" rather than "Justice Gaudron". In fact, "Gaudron J" is confusing because "J" could mean "Justice" or "Judge". There is no reason to use this abbreviation style. Looking at some leading cases:

1. Australian Communist Party v Commonwealth only uses it in the infobox.
2. Donoghue v Stevenson doesn't use it.
3. Roe v. Wade only uses it briefly.

We don't need it.--Jack Upland (talk) 20:34, 9 December 2019 (UTC)

Or Gaudron last initial J (or in some styles, Gaudron first initial J). Just, no. --Izno (talk) 00:32, 10 December 2019 (UTC)

• Comment: Does this need to be in the MOS? Whilst I am familiar with Australian usage, I do not have sufficient knowledge to comment on whether this is the same in other jurisdictions. In Australian usage it is almost universal for reliable sources commenting on a particular case to use this form of shorthand. It is used in WP articles discussing decisions of the High Court, such as Dietrich v The Queen & Al-Kateb v Godwin that have been rated good article or better. Yes other articles refer to them as Justice, Chief Justice etc and there is nothing wrong with that. In aricles where there are different judgments and a range of issues, such as Commonwealth v Verwayen, repeatedly refering to Justice becomes clunky. A person who whether Gaudron J has the title judge or justice is unlikely to care about the difference.
• See also: The MOS guideline: Do not use unwarranted abbreviations.--Jack Upland (talk) 03:39, 10 December 2019 (UTC)

Izno, I don't know a jurisdiction where "J" for "Justice" could be before the name, so that isn't proposed. Jack Upland, I think that this usage is common throughout the legal anglosphere and I don't think I've ever seen "J" used for "Judge". Errantius (talk) —Preceding undated comment added 04:37, 10 December 2019 (UTC)

I did not say "jurisdiction". Please re-read what I wrote. --Izno (talk) 13:31, 10 December 2019 (UTC)

You said "in some styles". What else did that mean but the styles of some jurisdictions? Who would write "Justice Gaudron" as "J Gaudron"? Errantius (talk) 18:24, 10 December 2019 (UTC)

Style as in Stronk and White, Chicago, and others, and why this document is Manual of Style / Biography. --Izno (talk) 19:50, 10 December 2019 (UTC)

• Oppose. Firstly, this isn't in any way a postnominal, so the discussion is misplaced: it's an (extremely common) convention for how to refer to a judge in writing. We write about topics based on what the sources use, not on the opinions of some random guy on the internet. The Drover's Wife (talk) 07:59, 10 December 2019 (UTC)

  Nope. We write in plain English. We absolutely do not write WP articles about the law the way a law journal article would. That's the WP:Specialized style fallacy and is the root cause of about 90% of the style-related strife on Misplaced Pages.  — SMcCandlish ☏ ¢ 😼  00:18, 27 December 2019 (UTC)

• Comment: It's a legal convention which is used by legal sources. I've never seen it used by news media. Misplaced Pages is not a legal source. We do not have to change styles based on topic. I don't think it's "clunky" to refer to "Justice Gaudron" rather than "Gaudron J". In fact, since we are not in a legal context, I think we can drop the "Justice" altogether in repeated mentions. In response to Errantius, I have seen "J" used for Judge in legal contexts in Australia. In the English legal context, the legal abbreviations include "B" meaning Baron of the Exchequer and "MR" meaning Master of the Rolls. These are baffling to the casual reader and totally pointless.--Jack Upland (talk) 08:42, 10 December 2019 (UTC)

  PS. Misplaced Pages's List of legal abbreviations states that J can mean Judge or Justice.--Jack Upland (talk) 01:07, 11 December 2019 (UTC)

• Proposal withdrawn. Thank you all for your comments. I take the point by The Drover's Wife that these are not actually postnominals. Errantius (talk) 21:18, 11 December 2019 (UTC)
• Yeah, this is already covered, in general though not in Australian legal specifics, by the MOS:ABBR guideline.  — SMcCandlish ☏ ¢ 😼  00:17, 27 December 2019 (UTC)

  SMcCandlish, I continued this discussion here. It is now covered in the MOS here.--Jack Upland (talk) 00:34, 27 December 2019 (UTC)

  Noted, thanks. I'll close this as a duplicate/superseded thread.  — SMcCandlish ☏ ¢ 😼  00:43, 27 December 2019 (UTC)

Nationality of people from UK

I've raised a question on the talk page Nationality_of_people_from_the_United_Kingdom about whether it is correct to describe the UK as an "equal union" of four nations, because I believe this is a misleading statement which would need some external source to justify it as correct. FrankP (talk) 17:47, 13 December 2019 (UTC)

This isn't a style matter, but probably a good RfC, or a WP:RSN or WP:NORN matter, depending on the nature of the dispute.  — SMcCandlish ☏ ¢ 😼  01:12, 27 December 2019 (UTC)

Good point, thanks. I don't think it's a dispute as such, there were a few comments in the Talk page mentioned then I made the change. Seems OK for now. FrankP (talk) 11:33, 29 December 2019 (UTC)

WP:JOBTITLES

I think we urgently need to clarify WP:JOBTITLES, because it's suddenly being applied in ways that are ungrammatical and contradict all usage in reliable sources. The capitalisation of office titles in actual, real-world, usage, depends on the context: they can be common nouns, or they can be proper nouns, and the way the guideline is written currently has a couple of editors changing proper noun usages as if they were common nouns with religious fervour. It should go without saying that if literally 100% of sources agree that a word in a particular context is a proper noun, we should also treat it as a proper noun - but we've got editors claiming that Misplaced Pages should essentially rewrite the rules of English grammar and decapitalise proper nouns because of WP:JOBTITLES.

The table in particular should go - it's encouraging people to change the language in the first column (which is perfectly fine as it refers to proper nouns) to the language in the second column (i.e. changing it to common nouns for the sake of changing it to common nouns, and replacing fine prose with worse prose in the process), or to just refer to proper nouns in lower-case which generally looks ridiculous and is a usage that is entirely unique to Wikipedians interpreting this table in absurd ways.

I'm trying to find where exactly this started and every discussion on this page featuring this stuff seems to feature the same five or so people with strong opinions that are never grounded in any actual sources of any kind. I'm not sure this ever had consensus in the first place. The Drover's Wife (talk) 08:24, 29 December 2019 (UTC)

There's an editor steam rolling through bios of heads of state & government, decapitalising offices & positions. As a result? we've now got inconsistency among those bio articles & it's frustrating. GoodDay (talk) 14:53, 29 December 2019 (UTC)