Wikipedia's worst sentences

[Poetlister]

In Cut to the chase (T-H-L): "It was a favorite of, and thought to have been coined by, Hal Roach Sr." This is unreferenced. Further, if it means anything it must mean "It was thought to have been coined by Hal Roach Sr." but people no longer think this.

[thekohser]

In Cut to the chase (T-H-L): "It was a favorite of, and thought to have been coined by, Hal Roach Sr." This is unreferenced. Further, if it means anything it must mean "It was thought to have been coined by Hal Roach Sr." but people no longer think this.

Indeed, you would think the Wikipedia biography of Hal Roach (T-H-L) would mention this etymological triumph, but it says nothing about Roach's supposed accomplishment.

[Poetlister]

In Cut to the chase (T-H-L): "It was a favorite of, and thought to have been coined by, Hal Roach Sr." This is unreferenced. Further, if it means anything it must mean "It was thought to have been coined by Hal Roach Sr." but people no longer think this.

Indeed, you would think the Wikipedia biography of Hal Roach (T-H-L) would mention this etymological triumph, but it says nothing about Roach's supposed accomplishment.

Exactly. Evidently, people no longer think that he did.

[tarantino]

Dany Verissimo (T-H-L)

"In the course of her 16-month adult film career, which lasted 16 months, she appeared exclusively in films directed or produced by John B. Root."

She apparently doesn't like her French wiki bio, or the photo of her supplied by John B. Root.

[tarantino]

The forewings are almost unicolourous ochreous rust, but paler postmedially, suffused and weakly strigulated (finely streaked) with rust colour in the basal half.

As far as I can tell, Ruigeroeland (T-C-L) is the only person to use the words unicolourous (76 times) or strigulated/striagulate (255 times) on enwiki.

[thekohser]

The forewings are almost unicolourous ochreous rust, but paler postmedially, suffused and weakly strigulated (finely streaked) with rust colour in the basal half.

As far as I can tell, Ruigeroeland (T-C-L) is the only person to use the words unicolourous (76 times) or strigulated/striagulate (255 times) on enwiki.

Wikipediocracy should design a little award for him, then, because that is fantastic.

[Poetlister]

As far as I can tell, Ruigeroeland (T-C-L) is the only person to use the words unicolourous (76 times) or strigulated/striagulate (255 times) on enwiki.

None of these words is in the Oxford English Dictionary. He should say "unicoloured" or "striated".

[Ming]

There was a fellow who was fond of describing lighthouses as "square parallelepiped towers".

[AndyTheGrump]

There was a fellow who was fond of describing lighthouses as "square parallelepiped towers".

And this:

The original Point Arguello lighthouse, built in 1901, had a white square cylindrical tower attached to a one story keeper's house.

The nonsensical description "square cylindrical" is used in 9 different lighthouse articles.

[lonza leggiera]

...

And this:

The original Point Arguello lighthouse, built in 1901, had a white square cylindrical tower attached to a one story keeper's house.

The nonsensical description "square cylindrical" is used in 9 different lighthouse articles.

This looks like it might be one of those terms illustrating how the British are separated from their former colonies by a common language. According to both Merriam-Webster's online dictionary, and my Macquarie dictionary (Australian), the cross-section of a cylinder can be a plane figure of any shape. Thus, to an Australian like me, and, presumably, to Americans also, expressions such as "square cylinder", "rectangular cylinder", "hexagonal cylinder" etc. are not at all nonsensical, although I have to admit that the adjectival expression "square cylindrical" does seem a little awkward to me, and it's probably not one I would use myself.

On the other hand, both the online Oxford Dictionary of English, and my printed edition of the same Dictionary, seem to require the cross-section of a cylinder to be circular or oval, so I can well understand why "square cylindrical" would sound nonsensical to the British.

[Ming]

...

And this:

The original Point Arguello lighthouse, built in 1901, had a white square cylindrical tower attached to a one story keeper's house.

The nonsensical description "square cylindrical" is used in 9 different lighthouse articles.

This looks like it might be one of those terms illustrating how the British are separated from their former colonies by a common language. According to both Merriam-Webster's online dictionary, and my Macquarie dictionary (Australian), the cross-section of a cylinder can be a plane figure of any shape. Thus, to an Australian like me, and, presumably, to Americans also, expressions such as "square cylinder", "rectangular cylinder", "hexagonal cylinder" etc. are not at all nonsensical, although I have to admit that the adjectival expression "square cylindrical" does seem a little awkward to me, and it's probably not one I would use myself.

On the other hand, both the online Oxford Dictionary of English, and my printed edition of the same Dictionary, seem to require the cross-section of a cylinder to be circular or oval, so I can well understand why "square cylindrical" would sound nonsensical to the British.

Ming is going to take a guess and say that this is some quirk of the Coast Guard Historical pages.

[AndyTheGrump]

...

And this:

The original Point Arguello lighthouse, built in 1901, had a white square cylindrical tower attached to a one story keeper's house.

The nonsensical description "square cylindrical" is used in 9 different lighthouse articles.

This looks like it might be one of those terms illustrating how the British are separated from their former colonies by a common language. According to both Merriam-Webster's online dictionary, and my Macquarie dictionary (Australian), the cross-section of a cylinder can be a plane figure of any shape. Thus, to an Australian like me, and, presumably, to Americans also, expressions such as "square cylinder", "rectangular cylinder", "hexagonal cylinder" etc. are not at all nonsensical, although I have to admit that the adjectival expression "square cylindrical" does seem a little awkward to me, and it's probably not one I would use myself.

On the other hand, both the online Oxford Dictionary of English, and my printed edition of the same Dictionary, seem to require the cross-section of a cylinder to be circular or oval, so I can well understand why "square cylindrical" would sound nonsensical to the British.

These darned colonials need to learn some Greek:

cylinder (n.)
1560s, from Middle French cylindre (14c.), from Latin cylindrus "roller, cylinder," from Greek kylindros "a cylinder, roller, roll," from kylindein "to roll," which is of unknown origin.

http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=cylinder

Etymology aside, the use of words that have different meanings in different places is less than ideal in an encyclopaedia.

[Bezdomni]

résoudre la quadrature du cercle

[Poetlister]

...

And this:

The original Point Arguello lighthouse, built in 1901, had a white square cylindrical tower attached to a one story keeper's house.

The nonsensical description "square cylindrical" is used in 9 different lighthouse articles.

This looks like it might be one of those terms illustrating how the British are separated from their former colonies by a common language. According to both Merriam-Webster's online dictionary, and my Macquarie dictionary (Australian), the cross-section of a cylinder can be a plane figure of any shape. Thus, to an Australian like me, and, presumably, to Americans also, expressions such as "square cylinder", "rectangular cylinder", "hexagonal cylinder" etc. are not at all nonsensical, although I have to admit that the adjectival expression "square cylindrical" does seem a little awkward to me, and it's probably not one I would use myself.

On the other hand, both the online Oxford Dictionary of English, and my printed edition of the same Dictionary, seem to require the cross-section of a cylinder to be circular or oval, so I can well understand why "square cylindrical" would sound nonsensical to the British.

Mathworld has a good discussion

The term "cylinder" has a number of related meanings. In its most general usage, the word "cylinder" refers to a solid bounded by a closed generalized cylinder (a.k.a. cylindrical surface) and two parallel planes (Kern and Bland 1948, p. 32; Harris and Stocker 1998, p. 102). A cylinder of this sort having a polygonal base is therefore a prism (Zwillinger 1995, p. 308). Harris and Stocker (1998, p. 103) use the term "general cylinder" to refer to the solid bounded a closed generalized cylinder.

Unfortunately, the term "cylinder" is commonly used not only to refer to the solid bounded by a cylindrical surface, but to the cylindrical surface itself (Zwillinger 1995, p. 311). To make matters worse, according to topologists, a cylindrical surface is not even a true surface, but rather a so-called surface with boundary (Henle 1994, pp. 110 and 129).

As if this were not confusing enough, the term "cylinder" when used without qualification commonly refers to the particular case of a solid of circular cross section in which the centers of the circles all lie on a single line (i.e., a circular cylinder). A cylinder is called a right cylinder if it is "straight" in the sense that its cross sections lie directly on top of each other; otherwise, the cylinder is said to be oblique. The unqualified term "cylinder" is also commonly used to refer to a right circular cylinder (Zwillinger 1995, p. 312), and this is the usage followed in this work.

I prefer the term "prism" for a solid with a cross-section that is not a circle or ellipse, and please don't use "oval" to mean ellipse.

[Bezdomni]

The forewings are almost unicolourous ochreous rust, but paler postmedially, suffused and weakly strigulated (finely streaked) with rust colour in the basal half.

As far as I can tell, Ruigeroeland (T-C-L) is the only person to use the words unicolourous (76 times) or strigulated/striagulate (255 times) on enwiki.

Wikipediocracy should design a little award for him, then, because that is fantastic.

User:-sche created that root Latin adjective (page) back in 2015. I've asked for attestations because globischesprache appears to be really into creating neologisms. Whatever happened to "strigose"? ^^ (& strix?)

[Poetlister]

Whatever happened to "strigose"? ^^ (& strix?)

Strigose means something slightly different; it means covered in fine grooves (like a vinyl record) or short hairs. Strix is either a fabled bird that ate human flesh or a species of owl.

[Poetlister]

Person (T-H-L): Opening sentence:

A person is a being, such as a human, that has certain capacities or attributes such as reason, morality, consciousness or self-consciousness, and being a part of a culturally established form of social relations such as kinship, ownership of property, or legal responsibility.

Does that mean that someone who is a hermit with no social relations is not a person? What of an orphan with no known relatives and too young to be legally responsible?

[hættulegt]

Those are obviously general attributes of a person, and not criteria which require someone to meet all of them to be qualified as a person. I'm not saying it's the optimal first sentence for this article, however.

[Johnny Au]

There's also a highly contentious debate about the personhood of a human fetus as well.

[Poetlister]

Those are obviously general attributes of a person, and not criteria which require someone to meet all of them to be qualified as a person. I'm not saying it's the optimal first sentence for this article, however.

It definitely says "and being ...", which seems to mean that it is a requirement. In your interpretation, is "being a part of a culturally established form of social relations" sufficient? A pet might qualify.

[greyed.out.fields]

There's also a highly contentious debate about the personhood of a human fetus as well.

[Bezdomni]

Person (T-H-L): Opening sentence:

A person is a being, such as a human, that has certain capacities or attributes such as reason, morality, consciousness or self-consciousness, and being a part of a culturally established form of social relations such as kinship, ownership of property, or legal responsibility.

Does that mean that someone who is a hermit with no social relations is not a person? What of an orphan with no known relatives and too young to be legally responsible?

That is quite a bad sentence. Given the current usage of the word in late casino capital, perhaps a more accurate definition would be:

A person is a legal entity that can be taxed and/or sued.

Cf. unperson (T-H-L) / bankruptcy (T-H-L) / personne morale / legal fiction (T-H-L), bezdomny v. internet, etc.

[Poetlister]

That is quite a bad sentence. Given the current usage of the word in late casino capital, perhaps a more accurate definition would be:

A person is a legal entity that can be taxed and/or sued.

Cf. unperson (T-H-L) / bankruptcy (T-H-L) / personne morale / legal fiction (T-H-L), bezdomny v. internet, etc.

Indeed. A sentence later in the article says "According to law[specify], only a natural person or legal personality has rights, protections, privileges, responsibilities, and legal liability." Logically, "Person" ought to be a disambiguation page pointing to "Natural person" and "Legal personality". But that's for the "Crap articles" thread.

[hack]

People age differently in Sweden?

Swedish nationality law (T-H-L)

Although dual citizenship is permitted, a Swedish citizen who was born outside Sweden between ages 18-21 and is a citizen of another country will lose Swedish citizenship at age 22 unless he or she is granted approval to retain Swedish citizenship.

[Poetlister]

It seems to mean that this law only applies to people who were born aged 18, 19, 20 or 21. As most people are born aged 0, the law is unlikely to have much practical effect.

[Johnny Au]

It seems to mean that this law only applies to people who were born aged 18, 19, 20 or 21. As most people are born aged 0, the law is unlikely to have much practical effect.

I will be impressed if I find a woman giving birth to someone already sexually mature (and the person born reaching puberty as a fetus).

[Poetlister]

Cobalt blue (T-H-L): "Chemically, cobalt blue pigment is cobalt(II) oxide-aluminium oxide, or cobalt(II) aluminate, CoAl2O4.! The latter formula is correct. The other one suggests that it is a mixture of the two oxides rather than a compound of both metals with oxygen.

[AndyTheGrump]

Influenced by Voltaire, Collin de Plancy initially did not believe in superstition.

Dictionnaire Infernal (T-H-L)

Even in context, it is unclear what this is supposed to mean. I think that what it is possibly trying to say is that de Plancy initially didn't believe in demons (the subject of the Dictionnaire). If that is the intent, why not say so, rather than confusing the reader who will presumably have his or her own opinions as to what is or isn't 'superstition'?

Incidentally, the Dictionnaire Infernal, published in 1818, is among the sources cited for a statement currently appearing on the Wikipedia main page: that "[r]olling and wheeled creatures have appeared in the legends of many cultures". Somehow I don't think it qualifies as WP:RS...

[AndyTheGrump]

Kelley was born and raised in St. Paul, Minnesota, not including the four years she spent with her family in Brussels, Belgium.

Devin Kelley (T-H-L) (No, not the Sutherland Springs church shooter, this is an actress who may well be thinking about changing her professional name). I think I know what they are trying to say, but it could be a whole lot clearer.

[Bezdomni]

Looking at the date of this article from Public Domain Review, I suspect there may have been a sudden convergence of interest in bestiaries around Halloween, no?

It's an under-translation of the (uncredited) fr.wiki article:

Influencé par Voltaire, Collin de Plancy pourfend, dans un premier temps, quantité de superstitions.

The mis-translations in the supporting example quote don't help. ^^

puisqu'il existe, il doit être nécessairement juste.

since God exists, it must be necessarily so.

As for the truthiness of its sourcitude, it was printed by Plon (which Collin de Plancy *may have* directed at the time as claimed at fr.wiki and in one recent reprint of the book). (1863 6th edition): http://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k5754923d (His son worked as a French diplomat and donated his father's personal library to the city of Troyes. )

[thekohser]

Though supposedly Wilson received his inspiration from working at CBS Studio Center, the former Republic Pictures backlot, the movie was filmed in Spain.

[Poetlister]

Papa and Nicole (T-H-L)

Played during the advertising break for Coronation Street on 29 May 1998, an estimated 23 million viewers watched Nicole leave Vic Reeves at the altar, and start a new life with Bob Mortimer in his new Renault Clio.

I doubt that anything like 23 million viewers were played during this advertising break.

Incidentally, for some reason the word "finale" is spelled "finalé" with an accent on the e in all three occurrences in the article.

[Johnny Au]

eSports (T-H-L)

See the last paragraph of the "Classification as a sport" section.

The organization committee for the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris are in discussions with the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and the various professional eSport organizations to consider eSports for the event, citing the need to include these elements to keep the Olympics relevant to younger generations.[73] IOC President Thomas Bach said there were two difficulties in presenting eSports as an Olympic event: that they would need to restrict those that present non-violent gameplay, and that there is currently a lack of a global sanctioning body for eSports to coordinate further.[74] A summit held by the IOC in October 2017 acknowledged the growing popularity of eSports, concluding that "Competitive 'eSports' could be considered as a sporting activity, and the players involved prepare and train with an intensity which may be comparable to athletes in traditional sports" but would require any games used for the Olympics fitting "with the rules and regulations of the Olympic movement".[75]

Bolded for emphasis

The article currently reads that non-violent gameplay would be restricted, but in the actual source, it says the exact opposite.

[Poetlister]

The article currently reads that non-violent gameplay would be restricted, but in the actual source, it says the exact opposite.

Presumably, the author didn't want to quote too much verbatim in case it was a copyvio, so there was some rather inept paraphrasing.

[Renée Bagslint]

The Scrotal septum (T-H-L) "is a vertical layer of fibrous tissue". A little later on we see the following four sentences.

Histological septa are seen throughout most tissues of the body, particularly where they are needed to stiffen soft cellular tissue, and they also provide planes of ingress for small blood vessels. Because the dense collagen fibres of a septum usually extend out into the softer adjacent tissues. A septum is a cross-wall. Thus it divides a structure into smaller parts.

The second, "Because", is grammatically incomplete, and it is far from obvious whether it is intended to explain the first "Histological" or the third "A septum" sentence. Indeed, it makes nonsense of the paragraph.

This may not be the worst sentence on Wikipedia, but it was added by someone who feels qualified to mock others whose articles she cannot understand.

People who live in glass houses should not write Wikipedia articles.

[Poetlister]

Opening line of Euler line (T-H-L): "In geometry, the Euler line, named after Leonhard Euler (/ˈɔɪlər/), is a line determined from any triangle that is not equilateral." I think that means "... a line that is defined for any triangle ..."

[Ming]

We haven't had a new post in this thread for a while, but Ming found a classic tonight in Lyrick Studios (T-H-L):

In 2001, the company was acquired by HIT for a $275-million deal and Dick Leach died during the sale process.

[Dysklyver]

Well I have one on the WP:NOTCENSORED theme. Very NSFW.

From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Melancholie_der_Engel

The "Debris documentar" section was originally based on an article of the same name. And contained:

[...] He indulges in several disturbing sexual fetishes, including defecating, urinating, necrophilia, bestiality, anal fisting, rape, murder, nose-picking. [...] who puts an enema into her anus and defecates into a bucket, while placing the man onto a table and shoving her fist into his anus, pulling defecate out of there [...] he is sexually aroused by her corpse. He cuts her nipples off in graphic detail and uses his scalpel to cut the dead woman's clitoris off. He then takes the scalpel and peels the skin off one of her fingers and eats the pieces of dismembered skin... stabbed multiple times in extremely graphic detail. Blood splatters onto Rafael, who is killing her. He then proceeds to ram a knife into her vagina, followed by him taking the knife and stabbing her entrails open, as he rips them from her abdomen [...]

There were these deletion debates:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia ... documentar
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia ... ptember_20

And then most of it was merged with the article it's in now. Really I just didn't want to argue with the German that wrote it. Germany is not that far away. Everyone else seemed to think this content was highly encyclopedic.

[Poetlister]

Lezgian language (T-H-L): The opening sentence is "Lezgian ... is a language that belongs to the Lezgic languages." That came as a surprise! The next sentence, even more surprisinlgly, tells us "It is spoken by the Lezgins"; but now we have some real information: "who live in southern Dagestan, northern Azerbaijan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Turkey, Germany and etc."

[Poetlister]

Ulysses S. Grant (T-H-L): "Ulysses S. Grant (born Hiram Ulysses Grant;[a] April 27, 1822 – July 23, 1885) was an American soldier and statesman who served as Commanding General of the Army and the 18th President of the United States, the highest positions in the military and the government of the United States."

What is the point of the last part of that sentence?

[Dysklyver]

Ulysses S. Grant (T-H-L): "Ulysses S. Grant (born Hiram Ulysses Grant;[a] April 27, 1822 – July 23, 1885) was an American soldier and statesman who served as Commanding General of the Army and the 18th President of the United States, the highest positions in the military and the government of the United States."

What is the point of the last part of that sentence?

Rhetoric. Repeating the obvious makes it sound more authoritative. Or maybe the author assumed the readers are all ignorant of who runs the US military and who the president is.

[Anroth]

Ulysses S. Grant (T-H-L): "Ulysses S. Grant (born Hiram Ulysses Grant;[a] April 27, 1822 – July 23, 1885) was an American soldier and statesman who served as Commanding General of the Army and the 18th President of the United States, the highest positions in the military and the government of the United States."

What is the point of the last part of that sentence?

I thought the President was both the highest civilian and military position?

[Dysklyver]

Ulysses S. Grant (T-H-L): "Ulysses S. Grant (born Hiram Ulysses Grant;[a] April 27, 1822 – July 23, 1885) was an American soldier and statesman who served as Commanding General of the Army and the 18th President of the United States, the highest positions in the military and the government of the United States."

What is the point of the last part of that sentence?

I thought the President was both the highest civilian and military position?

Ulysses S. Grant is a featured article. You would think that there is a reason for this sentence.

According to Commander-in-chief#United_States (T-H-L)

According to Article II, Section 2, Clause I of the Constitution, the President of the United States is “Commander in Chief of the Army and Navy of the United States, and of the Militia of the several States, when called into the actual Service of the United States.”[59] Since the National Security Act of 1947, this has been understood to mean all United States Armed Forces. U.S. ranks have their roots in British military traditions, with the President possessing ultimate authority, but no rank, maintaining a civilian status, other than the title of Commander in Chief.[60] The exact degree of authority that the Constitution grants to the President as Commander in Chief has been the subject of much debate throughout history, with Congress at various times granting the President wide authority and at others attempting to restrict that authority.[61]

I think then that Commanding General of the United States Army (T-H-L) must have been the highest military rank at the time, counting the President as a civilian.

[Dysklyver]

Triantafillos (T-H-L)

I think he's married.

Very encyclopedic fact this.

[Poetlister]

Triantafillos (T-H-L)

I think he's married.

Very encyclopedic fact this.

It should be deleted under WP:BLP as unsourced.

[Dysklyver]

Triantafillos (T-H-L)

I think he's married.

Very encyclopedic fact this.

It should be deleted under WP:BLP as unsourced.

Looks like some decent editors are watching the thread, because one of them just did.

[Poetlister]

It should be deleted under WP:BLP as unsourced.

Looks like some decent editors are watching the thread, because one of them just did.

Oh yes, a great chap.

[arthur]

Timeline of the far future (T-H-L)

Lead sentence:

While predictions of the future can never be absolutely certain, present understanding in various scientific fields allows for the prediction of far-future events, if only in the broadest outline.

What a mess! It starts with a statement of the bleedin’ obvious, then goes downhill from there.

[Poetlister]

"It's tough to make predictions, especially about the future." - Yogi Berra.

"Never make predictions – especially about the future." - Samuel Goldwyn.

[Dysklyver]

"It's tough to make predictions, especially about the future." - Yogi Berra.

"Never make predictions – especially about the future." - Samuel Goldwyn.

Copyvio!