Did you know failures

[Poetlister]

... that Ilya Espino de Marotta (T-H-L), lead engineer for the Panama Canal expansion project, wears a pink hard hat on site to make a statement that women can do the job?

Well, good for her. The article in question describes a woman who has done well at leading in a profession which is still overwhelmingly masculine. So naturally someone has tagged it as written from a fan's point of view. Nonsense, of course, but KATMAKROFAN (T-C-L) presumably thinks that successful women should be kept in their place.

The article about her says "The Project Management Institute certified her as "Project Manager" in 2007" That's scarcely a notable achievement.

[Renée Bagslint]

The Naked Belgians thread has examples of what fan pages look like. This isn't one of them.

[Renée Bagslint]

... that the Hong Kong Regiment (T-H-L) was paid more than other British Indian Army regiments and was known as "The Swagger Regiment"?

This is what the article says: "The Daily Telegraph nicknamed them 'The Swagger Regiment'", citing the main source, Hase, Patrick (2008). The Six-Day War of 1899: Hong Kong in the Age of Imperialism. So what does that source say? "The Daily Telegraph called it 'a swagger regiment'". A distinction without a difference? Not so: "swagger" in this context is used adjectivally, to describe the regiment, not to name it. Consider the difference between calling someone "a rich person" and "the rich person". There is no reason to believe that this regiment had the soubriquet "The Swagger Regiment", at least not in the same way that the Lifeguards were at one time called "The Cheesemongers" or the 13th Light Dragoons "The Ragged Brigade".

Again, we see a simple error in reading and understanding the source, coupled with a lack of background knowledge. This is what happens when people randomly extract gobbets from a single source without understanding context. Considering that DYK articles are supposed to have been given more than usual attention, we can assume that they are considered a fair selection of the so-called encyclopaedia, and so there is some evidence to suggest one in eight articles demonstrates an inability to accurately reflect the sources it is based on.

[Poetlister]

I'd say that quite apart from that distinction, "The Daily Telegraph nicknamed them 'The Swagger Regiment'" suggests that the DT was responsible for coining the name. "The Daily Telegraph called it 'a swagger regiment'" could well mean that they were quoting an already existing term.

[Renée Bagslint]

... that Nana Otuo Siriboe II (T-H-L), a Ghanaian electrical engineer and paramount chief, is the chairman of the advisory council to the President of Ghana?
And a jolly good job he is making of it too, according to the article, which praises his "vast experience in the fields of business, governance and chieftain affairs" which we hope will enable the board he chairs "to give their best counsel to the new government to ensure that the country and all its citizens would live in prosperity and peace". This puff piece was largely the work of Crosstemplejay (T-C-L), who is keen to tell the world how wonderful his home country is. I'm sure he's awfully nice and well-meaning but among the possible ways of making the world a better place, writing articles for Wikipedia ranks rather low on the scale.

[Poetlister]

I'm sure he's awfully nice and well-meaning but among the possible ways of making the world a better place, writing articles for Wikipedia ranks rather low on the scale.

You may be wrong there. If he can convince people that Ghana is a wonderful place, maybe it would attract more foreign tourism or even investment (though I hope that people who make investment decisions aren't gullible), helping the local economy.

[Renée Bagslint]

... that Donna Kennedy (T-H-L) became the world's most-capped women's rugby player in 2004, and by 2007 was also the most-capped player in Scotland...?

From which we can only conclude that Scotland is not part of "the world". That explains a lot.

[Poetlister]

... that Donna Kennedy (T-H-L) became the world's most-capped women's rugby player in 2004, and by 2007 was also the most-capped player in Scotland...?

From which we can only conclude that Scotland is not part of "the world". That explains a lot.

I guess that means "the most-capped player, male or female, in Scotland", but it isn't obvious. Of course, she must have spent a lot of time outside Scotland, playing against teams from other countries.

[Renée Bagslint]

Of course, one should not have to guess ... what the article says, true or not I don't know, is "She was the world's most-capped women's player from 2004 to 2016 and the first Scottish player — woman or man — to reach 100 international caps ... On 21 March 2007 she played in the final game of the 2007 Women's Six Nations Championship, gaining her 100th cap and becoming the first woman in the world and the first Scot of either gender to reach this total." So what the hook meant to say was "the most-capped women's rugby player in the world in 2004, and most-capped player of either gender in 2007".

[Renée Bagslint]

... that Aplerbeck (T-H-L), now part of Dortmund, is associated with two legendary martyrs? The two martyrs are the Two Ewalds (T-H-L), whose lives are recounted in the Golden Legend (T-H-L). The English name of this work is derived from its Latin title, Legenda Sanctorum or "Readings of the Saints". It is not a "legend" in the modern sense, although it is not a history in the modern sense either, and it is not thought that the Two Ewalds are legendary in the sense that they never existed: they are historical figures. Whoever wrote the hook clearly did not actually read the linked articles.

[Poetlister]

... that Aplerbeck (T-H-L), now part of Dortmund, is associated with two legendary martyrs? The two martyrs are the Two Ewalds (T-H-L), whose lives are recounted in the Golden Legend (T-H-L). The English name of this work is derived from its Latin title, Legenda Sanctorum or "Readings of the Saints". It is not a "legend" in the modern sense, although it is not a history in the modern sense either, and it is not thought that the Two Ewalds are legendary in the sense that they never existed: they are historical figures. Whoever wrote the hook clearly did not actually read the linked articles.

We've had a discussion of the meaning of "legendary" recently. One dictionary definition is "remarkable enough tobe famous; very well-known".

[Renée Bagslint]

And you seriously propose that as the primary meaning in this case?

[Poetlister]

And you seriously propose that as the primary meaning in this case?

I mean that it's ambiguous and we can't be certain what is meant. If the text said "mythical" we'd have a much better case.

[CrowsNest]

Look at the Wikipedians getting all poe-faced at the prospect of this article being highlighted on the Main Page.....

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Template: ... ie_Wallace

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia ... ie_Wallace

What happened to WP:NOTCENSORED? Heaven forbid sad stories make it to the front page of Wikipedia. It really is bizarre, what they do and don't choose to have a moral conscience over. They'll happily offend thiusands of parents by loudly broadcasting the likes of Gropecunt Lane as Today's Featured Article, but this, this is a step too far for them. Their excuse is BLP of course, but that rather ignores the fact friends and relatives can see this article anytime they like, and by definition, simple true statements, are not BLP violations.

They just make it up as they go along. When Bishonen and The Rambling Man are making an ethics based argument, you know something has gone wrong somewhere.

[Poetlister]

Look at the Wikipedians getting all poe-faced

Yes, that's quite entertaining.

[Renée Bagslint]

... that Warming's lantern fish (T-H-L) spends the day at depths and ascends at night to feed on mats of diatoms near the sea surface? Up to a point. If you regard depths of 20-200 metres as "near" the surface. However what is much more interesting is that this fish normally feeds on zooplankton but in one part of its large range it has been observed to feed on these mats of diatoms: its digestive tract shows signs of adaptation to this different form of diet. The hook suggests that it always feeds on diatoms, whereas this is the exception, as one source puts it: "Known to feed on zooplankton but appears to be adapted for occasional herbivory".

[AndyTheGrump]

Did you know:

... that WestJet Encore (T-H-L), a Canadian airline which began flights in 2013, deactivates water lines in the lavatory sinks to prevent freezing on cold nights?

No, I didn't know that. And come to that, I still don't know if they do, since I took the trouble to check the source for this 'fact':

I moved to the front of the plane to use the Q400’s compact lavatory. Just enough room. Barely. I found it interesting that there was a placard above the sink – “Wash water sys deactivated – do not use”, with a pile of wet wipes in the sink. I asked [flight attendant] Ashley about it, and she said that it was part of the winterization of the Q400. This is an Encore operational decision to reduce the chance of the water system freezing up when the planes overnight on a frigid airport ramp. Other Q400 operators do the same. A bit surprising for a Canadian-made plane, but Bombardier is working on a fix.

This is from a 2013 source. https://www.airlinereporter.com/2013/10 ... west-q400/

So, the airline was doing this in 2013. Are they still doing it, or have Bombardier fixed it? One would have thought that given the age of the source, using the present tense in the DYK was inappropriate. And why pick on a specific airline for the DYK, if other O400 operators were doing the same thing? To me, it either looks like a cheap shot at the airline, by someone with a grudge, or else the usual DYK 'manufacture a crappy factoid so it gets on the front page' nonsense. Either way, it has no business being on the front page of something purporting to be an encyclopaedia.

[Johnny Au]

Did you know:

... that WestJet Encore (T-H-L), a Canadian airline which began flights in 2013, deactivates water lines in the lavatory sinks to prevent freezing on cold nights?

No, I didn't know that. And come to that, I still don't know if they do, since I took the trouble to check the source for this 'fact':

I moved to the front of the plane to use the Q400’s compact lavatory. Just enough room. Barely. I found it interesting that there was a placard above the sink – “Wash water sys deactivated – do not use”, with a pile of wet wipes in the sink. I asked [flight attendant] Ashley about it, and she said that it was part of the winterization of the Q400. This is an Encore operational decision to reduce the chance of the water system freezing up when the planes overnight on a frigid airport ramp. Other Q400 operators do the same. A bit surprising for a Canadian-made plane, but Bombardier is working on a fix.

This is from a 2013 source. https://www.airlinereporter.com/2013/10 ... west-q400/

So, the airline was doing this in 2013. Are they still doing it, or have Bombardier fixed it? One would have thought that given the age of the source, using the present tense in the DYK was inappropriate. And why pick on a specific airline for the DYK, if other O400 operators were doing the same thing? To me, it either looks like a cheap shot at the airline, by someone with a grudge, or else the usual DYK 'manufacture a crappy factoid so it gets on the front page' nonsense. Either way, it has no business being on the front page of something purporting to be an encyclopaedia.

Ah yes, Bombardier.

Its Transportation division takes an absurdly long time to construct light rail vehicles to the point of it becoming sued by various public transit agencies.

[Poetlister]

Bombardier must be doing something right. Its factory in Northern Ireland is one of the largest employers in the province.

[GlwnDwr]

... that at the inquest into the death of Catherine Lynch (T-H-L) (pictured), the presiding coroner described her as "one of a class who were a nuisance to themselves, their husbands and everybody else"?"

Cheap early 20th century whore propelled to celebrity status by Wikipedia's deranged minds.

[BrillLyle]

... that at the inquest into the death of Catherine Lynch (T-H-L) (pictured), the presiding coroner described her as "one of a class who were a nuisance to themselves, their husbands and everybody else"?"

Cheap early 20th century whore propelled to celebrity status by Wikipedia's deranged minds.

Yo - There are other less offensive words that can be used. It's not necessary to act like an asshole.

[Carcharoth]

... that at the inquest into the death of Catherine Lynch (T-H-L) (pictured), the presiding coroner described her as "one of a class who were a nuisance to themselves, their husbands and everybody else"?"

Cheap early 20th century whore propelled to celebrity status by Wikipedia's deranged minds.

Three points for discussion:

1) Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Catherine Lynch (2nd nomination) (Wikipedia)
2) Why does this woman have a Wiki bio? (The Straight Dope)
3) 37,237 page views (Wikipedia:Did you know/Statistics)

[Kumioko]

The most important and meaningful Wikipedia related DYK ever made:

"Did you know...that the Wikipedia DYK process is an immense waste of time and resources that very few even look at or care about?"

[Anroth]

... that at the inquest into the death of Catherine Lynch (T-H-L) (pictured), the presiding coroner described her as "one of a class who were a nuisance to themselves, their husbands and everybody else"?"

Cheap early 20th century whore propelled to celebrity status by Wikipedia's deranged minds.

Yo - There are other less offensive words that can be used. It's not necessary to act like an asshole.

Yeah, also without inflation adjusted pricing we have no idea if she was cheap....

[Kumioko]

You know, I realize this might put me in the minority here, but this Catherine Lynch article is a good example of an article where not notable should be waved a little IMO. Sure she isn't particularly notable but there are plenty of solid references to support the subject, the article is well written and supported by said refs, it has several images about the topic, the structure of the article is clean and well displayed, I would have used an Infobox (I know, controversial) but other than that, I think it's solid. I would say it's likely close to GA of not better and wouldn't take much to get it to FA if the notability wasn't an issue. Far better than 80% of the other crap articles on there.

My opinion is the same for the articles: Lily Argent (T-H-L) and Selina Rushbrook (T-H-L).

[Poetlister]

It's easy enough to write good (in the everyday meaning of the word) articles about all sorts of things. If notability means anything, the quality of the article should not be very relevant.

[GlwnDwr]

... that at the inquest into the death of Catherine Lynch (T-H-L) (pictured), the presiding coroner described her as "one of a class who were a nuisance to themselves, their husbands and everybody else"?"

Cheap early 20th century whore propelled to celebrity status by Wikipedia's deranged minds.

Yo - There are other less offensive words that can be used. It's not necessary to act like an asshole.

What is the politically correct term for those kind of people?

[BrillLyle]

What is the politically correct term for those kind of people?

Prostitute would be a lot less offensive than using the word whore. It's a profession, not a comment and a slur. At least not as much.

I can't believe this isn't obvious to you.

Some of the comments here are pretty bad. I guess I naively expect more from folks here.

Create a hostile environment for women on Wikipediocracy and you will push us off. If that's the intent then continue, please continue. But if you want the rest of the population to participate, maybe don't be offensive like this. It's basic decency.

[GlwnDwr]

What is the politically correct term for those kind of people?

Prostitute would be a lot less offensive than using the word whore. It's a profession, not a comment and a slur. At least not as much.

I can't believe this isn't obvious to you.

Some of the comments here are pretty bad. I guess I naively expect more from folks here.

Create a hostile environment for women on Wikipediocracy and you will push us off. If that's the intent then continue, please continue. But if you want the rest of the population to participate, maybe don't be offensive like this. It's basic decency.

Prostitution is fine as long as its done for a cause such as feeding your children. The real issue is that she was a habitual thief and a drunkard that disrupted public peace, one could say a social parasite. Having relatives who interacted with that sort of people through their work in correctional facilities I find it hard to sympathize with them.

[Zoloft]

What is the politically correct term for those kind of people?

Prostitute would be a lot less offensive than using the word whore. It's a profession, not a comment and a slur. At least not as much.

I can't believe this isn't obvious to you.

Some of the comments here are pretty bad. I guess I naively expect more from folks here.

Create a hostile environment for women on Wikipediocracy and you will push us off. If that's the intent then continue, please continue. But if you want the rest of the population to participate, maybe don't be offensive like this. It's basic decency.

Prostitution is fine as long as its done for a cause such as feeding your children. The real issue is that she was a habitual thief and a drunkard that disrupted public peace, one could say a social parasite. Having relatives who interacted with that sort of people through their work in correctional facilities I find it hard to sympathize with them.

I take BrillLyle's point though. Avoid words that have a pejorative connotation unless you're quoting someone, and even then ask yourself, "is this usage necessary?"

[Poetlister]

Almost anything can have a pejorative connotaton. For example, "comfort woman" sounds harmless enough unless you know the origin of the term.

[Anroth]

I prefer Terry Pratchett's "Ladies of negotiable affection".

Says everything you need to know really.

[Ming]

You know, I realize this might put me in the minority here, but this Catherine Lynch article is a good example of an article where not notable should be waved a little IMO. Sure she isn't particularly notable but there are plenty of solid references to support the subject, the article is well written and supported by said refs, it has several images about the topic, the structure of the article is clean and well displayed, I would have used an Infobox (I know, controversial) but other than that, I think it's solid. I would say it's likely close to GA of not better and wouldn't take much to get it to FA if the notability wasn't an issue. Far better than 80% of the other crap articles on there.

My opinion is the same for the articles: Lily Argent (T-H-L) and Selina Rushbrook (T-H-L).

But as a bunch of people have pointed out in the AFD discussion, it's all something of an end-run around the problem of a book which may be very good research, but it's not research that has attracted any attention. It's the book, in the end, which being apparently vanity-published would not survive review, but by repeating its research (as I pointed out in the other thread) the whole review of notability is getting short-circuited.

[Carcharoth]

You know, I realize this might put me in the minority here, but this Catherine Lynch article is a good example of an article where not notable should be waved a little IMO. Sure she isn't particularly notable but there are plenty of solid references to support the subject, the article is well written and supported by said refs, it has several images about the topic, the structure of the article is clean and well displayed, I would have used an Infobox (I know, controversial) but other than that, I think it's solid. I would say it's likely close to GA of not better and wouldn't take much to get it to FA if the notability wasn't an issue. Far better than 80% of the other crap articles on there.

My opinion is the same for the articles: Lily Argent (T-H-L) and Selina Rushbrook (T-H-L).

But as a bunch of people have pointed out in the AFD discussion, it's all something of an end-run around the problem of a book which may be very good research, but it's not research that has attracted any attention. It's the book, in the end, which being apparently vanity-published would not survive review, but by repeating its research (as I pointed out in the other thread) the whole review of notability is getting short-circuited.

Linking to the other thread for the record: A new approach to writing an unassailable article.
That is a better description of this than a "Did you know failure" (which it clearly wasn't).