Forum:Consensus: Full stops (period)

Forums: Index → Wiki discussion → Forum:Consensus: Full stops (period)

Sign your posts with four tildes (~~~~). Posts unsigned will be deleted. Any user who posts 3 times without signing will be blocked from the forums for three days.

Note: This topic has been unedited for 4880 days. It is considered archived - the discussion is over. Do not add to unless it really needs a response.

Hi all. Been a little while since I did one of these so I hope you haven't missed them too much. Pleasantries aside, I want to get to the point.

I've noticed in a fair few articles (read: most) that there are multiple occasions where a full stop, or 'period' as the Americans' call them are incorrectly used. A recent edit spat on the Assassins, however, is what spurred me to make this thread.

Typically, grammar dictates that a full stop should only really be used at the conclusion of a sentence, which normally contain clauses. A "clause" typically contains at least a subject noun phrase and a finite verb. Unfortunately, there are times when, on this wiki, I have seen a full stop being used incorrectly. For example, I recently removed the full stops from all quotes on the Eagle Vision article; what once read as "Clay Kaczmarek about Eagle Vision." (which is not grammatically correct) now reads properly. The problem is also highly prevalent in photo captions, which are almost never technically a 'sentence'.

That's enough about grammar though, on to the main point of my thread.

The Proposal

I propose that we make amendments to the Manual of Style, and any policies that need it, (we can discuss wording when and if this goes through) that dictates that the full stop should only be used where it is grammatically allowed. This will effectively mean that we will be removing the full stops from quote attributions, image captions, non-sentences in lists (see Assassins article revision change linked above) and anywhere else where they should not exist.

In all honesty, I don't see this as being that big an issue, but a thread is the best way to garner community attention and help maintain any changes that are made. As always, if anybody wants to comment, or make suggestions, or moan that we don't need such a policy, please feel free to do so in the comments section below.

Vote

Yay

1. --Jasca Ducato _{Council Chamber} ^{Assassination record} 16:14, October 15, 2012 (UTC)
2. Supreme Master Assassin^{O Mentoras} 18:03, October 15, 2012 (UTC)
3. kabutsu ^{Enter the Animus} _{The Crimson Polls II} 21:16, October 15, 2012 (UTC)
4. I approve. Crimson Knight _Intercom 12:33, October 23, 2012 (UTC)
5. Sima and I actually had a discussion about this, since we both learned different things in school. Seeing as I study English at the university, where they taught me what JD explained above, I agree. Nesty ^{Contact me!} 12:36, October 23, 2012 (UTC)
6. Trever09 ^{A place for Chivalry | Blog} 12:38, October 23, 2012 (UTC)

Comments

1. We've got a MoS for a character page, we don't have one for the Books, Games,etc. Il Prode lupo ~ Temi il Lupo! ~ Rispettare il Lupo! 16:18, October 15, 2012 (UTC)

The MoS is for articles in general, not just character pages. Although the current MoS could do with a major revamp, I suspect. --Jasca Ducato _{Council Chamber} ^{Assassination record} 16:20, October 15, 2012 (UTC)

The articles are coherent enough without this proposed change but since I'm big on using proper English I'll back you up on this decision. Good luck. Supreme Master Assassin^{O Mentoras} 18:02, October 15, 2012 (UTC)