UniWiki:Manual of Style/Words to watch: Difference between revisions

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=== Relative time references ===

{{~~shortcut|MOS:RELTIME|MOS:REALTIME|WP:RELTIME}}~~

{{Color box|color=purple|width=75%|align=center

~~{{quote~~ box|~~bgcolor~~=~~#FFFFF0~~|width=70%|align=center~~|salign=right~~

|<big>''Words to watch:'' '''... recently, lately, currently, today, presently, to date, 15 years ago, formerly, in the past, traditionally, this/last/next (year/month/winter/spring/summer/fall/autumn), yesterday, tomorrow, in the future, now, soon, since ...'''</big>

|~~quote={{~~big|''Words to watch:'' '''... recently, lately, currently, today, presently, to date, 15 years ago, formerly, in the past, traditionally, this/last/next (year/month/winter/spring/summer/fall/autumn), yesterday, tomorrow, in the future, now, soon, since ...'''}}

}}

{{See also|Wikipedia:As of#Precise language|Wikipedia:Manual of Style/Dates and numbers#Chronological items}}

{{hatnote|See also: [[Wikipedia:Wikipedia:As of#Precise language|Wikipedia:As of#Precise language]], and [[UniWiki:Manual of Style/Dates and numbers#Chronological items]]}}

Absolute specifications of time are preferred to relative constructions using ''recently'', ''currently'', and so on, because the latter may go out of date. "By May 2011 contributions had dropped" has the same meaning as "Recently, contributions have dropped" (when written in mid-2011) but the first example retains its meaning as time passes. And ''recently''{{ndash}}type constructions may be ambiguous even at the time of writing: was it in the last week?{{snd}}month?{{snd}}year?<ref>In long-view sciences such as palaeontology, "[[recent]]" may have meanings such as "within the last 11,700 years"—the [[Holocene]]—and will not go out of date.</ref> The information that "The current president, Cristina Fernández, took office in 2007", or "Cristina Fernández has been president since 2007", is better rendered "Cristina Fernández became president in 2007". Wordings such as "17 years ago" or "Jones is 65 years old" should be rewritten as "in {{#expr:{{CURRENTYEAR}}-17}}", "Jones was 65 years old at the time of the incident", or "Jones was born in {{#expr:{{CURRENTYEAR}}-65}}".

Absolute specifications of time are preferred to relative constructions using ''recently'', ''currently'', and so on, because the latter may go out of date. "By May 2011 contributions had dropped" has the same meaning as "Recently, contributions have dropped" (when written in mid-2011) but the first example retains its meaning as time passes. And ''recently''{{ndash}}type constructions may be ambiguous even at the time of writing: was it in the last week?{{snd}}month?{{snd}}year?<ref>In long-view sciences such as palaeontology, "[[Wikipedia:Recent|recent]]" may have meanings such as "within the last 11,700 years"—the [[Wikipedia:Holocene|Holocene]]—and will not go out of date.</ref> The information that "The current president, Cristina Fernández, took office in 2007", or "Cristina Fernández has been president since 2007", is better rendered "Cristina Fernández became president in 2007". Wordings such as "17 years ago" or "Jones is 65 years old" should be rewritten as "in {{#expr:{{CURRENTYEAR}}-17}}", "Jones was 65 years old at the time of the incident", or "Jones was born in {{#expr:{{CURRENTYEAR}}-65}}".

When material in an article may become out of date, follow the [[Wikipedia:As of]] guideline, which allows information to be written in a less time-dependent way.<ref>The "as of" technique is implemented in the {{tl|as of}} template; it additionally tags information that will become dated. {{tlc|as of|{{CURRENTYEAR}}|{{CURRENTMONTH}}}} produces the text {{xt|{{as of|{{CURRENTYEAR}}|{{CURRENTMONTH}}}}}} and categorises the article appropriately. "A new widget is currently being developed" can usefully become something like "a new widget was under development {{as of|2008|lc=y}}" or, if supported by a source, "it was announced in November 2007 that a new widget was being developed" (no need for {{tl|as of}} template). The {{tl|age}} template will always display current age when the text is displayed in Wikipedia, but will not be correct for printouts and non-live text: a person born on 25 December 2000 will be {{Age|2000|12|25}} [entered as <nowiki>{{Age|2000|12|25}}</nowiki>] years old now.</ref> There are also several templates for alerting readers to time-sensitive wording issues.<ref>For example, the template {{tl|When}} is available for editors to indicate when a sentence, or part of one, should be worded more precisely. The {{tl|out of date}} template may be used when an article's factual accuracy may be compromised due to out-of-date information.</ref>

When material in an article may become out of date, follow the [[Wikipedia:Wikipedia:As of|Wikipedia:As of]] guideline, which allows information to be written in a less time-dependent way.

Expressions like "former(ly)", "in the past", and "traditional(ly)" lump together unspecified periods in the past. "Traditional" is particularly pernicious because it implies immemorial established usage. It is better to use explicit dates supported by sources. Instead of "hamburgers are a traditional American food," say "the hamburger was invented in about 1900 and became widely popular in the United States in the 1930s."<ref>[[Wikipedia:WikiProject Food and drink/Original, authentic, and traditional|"Original", "traditional", "authentic", and other distracting terminology]]</ref> ~~Because~~ seasons differ between the northern and southern hemisphere, ~~try to use months, quarters, or other non~~-~~seasonal~~ terms ~~such~~ as ~~''mid-year'' unless~~ the ~~season itself~~ is ~~pertinent (''spring blossoms, autumn harvest''); see [[WP:SEASON]]~~.

Expressions like "former(ly)", "in the past", and "traditional(ly)" lump together unspecified periods in the past. "Traditional" is particularly pernicious because it implies immemorial established usage. It is better to use explicit dates supported by sources. Instead of "hamburgers are a traditional American food," say "the hamburger was invented in about 1900 and became widely popular in the United States in the 1930s."<ref>[[Wikipedia:Wikipedia:WikiProject Food and drink/Original, authentic, and traditional|"Original", "traditional", "authentic", and other distracting terminology]]</ref> Though seasons differ between the northern and southern hemisphere, when describing game-related events in real-world terms, seasons in the northern hemisphere should be used as the default, as that is the location of CCP.

=== Unspecified places or events ===

@@ Line 86: / Line 86: @@
 === Relative time references ===
-{{shortcut|MOS:RELTIME|MOS:REALTIME|WP:RELTIME}}
+{{Color box|color=purple|width=75%|align=center
-{{quote box|bgcolor=#FFFFF0|width=70%|align=center|salign=right
+|<big>''Words to watch:'' '''... recently, lately, currently, today, presently, to date, 15 years ago, formerly, in the past, traditionally, this/last/next (year/month/winter/spring/summer/fall/autumn), yesterday, tomorrow, in the future, now, soon, since&nbsp;...'''</big>
-|quote={{big|''Words to watch:'' '''... recently, lately, currently, today, presently, to date, 15 years ago, formerly, in the past, traditionally, this/last/next (year/month/winter/spring/summer/fall/autumn), yesterday, tomorrow, in the future, now, soon, since&nbsp;...'''}}
 }}
-{{See also|Wikipedia:As of#Precise language|Wikipedia:Manual of Style/Dates and numbers#Chronological items}}
+{{hatnote|See also: [[Wikipedia:Wikipedia:As of#Precise language|Wikipedia:As of#Precise language]], and [[UniWiki:Manual of Style/Dates and numbers#Chronological items]]}}
-Absolute specifications of time are preferred to relative constructions using ''recently'', ''currently'', and so on, because the latter may go out of date. "By May 2011 contributions had dropped" has the same meaning as "Recently, contributions have dropped" (when written in mid-2011) but the first example retains its meaning as time passes. And ''recently''{{ndash}}type constructions may be ambiguous even at the time of writing: was it in the last week?{{snd}}month?{{snd}}year?<ref>In long-view sciences such as palaeontology, "[[recent]]" may have meanings such as "within the last 11,700 years"—the [[Holocene]]—and will not go out of date.</ref> The information that "The current president, Cristina Fernández, took office in 2007", or "Cristina Fernández has been president since 2007", is better rendered "Cristina Fernández became president in 2007". Wordings such as "17 years ago" or "Jones is 65 years old" should be rewritten as "in {{#expr:{{CURRENTYEAR}}-17}}", "Jones was 65 years old at the time of the incident", or "Jones was born in {{#expr:{{CURRENTYEAR}}-65}}".
+Absolute specifications of time are preferred to relative constructions using ''recently'', ''currently'', and so on, because the latter may go out of date. "By May 2011 contributions had dropped" has the same meaning as "Recently, contributions have dropped" (when written in mid-2011) but the first example retains its meaning as time passes. And ''recently''{{ndash}}type constructions may be ambiguous even at the time of writing: was it in the last week?{{snd}}month?{{snd}}year?<ref>In long-view sciences such as palaeontology, "[[Wikipedia:Recent|recent]]" may have meanings such as "within the last 11,700 years"—the [[Wikipedia:Holocene|Holocene]]—and will not go out of date.</ref> The information that "The current president, Cristina Fernández, took office in 2007", or "Cristina Fernández has been president since 2007", is better rendered "Cristina Fernández became president in 2007". Wordings such as "17 years ago" or "Jones is 65 years old" should be rewritten as "in {{#expr:{{CURRENTYEAR}}-17}}", "Jones was 65 years old at the time of the incident", or "Jones was born in {{#expr:{{CURRENTYEAR}}-65}}".
-When material in an article may become out of date, follow the [[Wikipedia:As of]] guideline, which allows information to be written in a less time-dependent way.<ref>The "as of" technique is implemented in the {{tl|as of}} template; it additionally tags information that will become dated. {{tlc|as of|{{CURRENTYEAR}}|{{CURRENTMONTH}}}} produces the text {{xt|{{as of|{{CURRENTYEAR}}|{{CURRENTMONTH}}}}}} and categorises the article appropriately. "A new widget is currently being developed" can usefully become something like "a new widget was under development {{as of|2008|lc=y}}" or, if supported by a source, "it was announced in November 2007 that a new widget was being developed" (no need for {{tl|as of}} template). The {{tl|age}} template will always display current age when the text is displayed in Wikipedia, but will not be correct for printouts and non-live text: a person born on 25 December 2000 will be {{Age|2000|12|25}} [entered as <nowiki>{{Age|2000|12|25}}</nowiki>] years old now.</ref> There are also several templates for alerting readers to time-sensitive wording issues.<ref>For example, the template {{tl|When}} is available for editors to indicate when a sentence, or part of one, should be worded more precisely. The {{tl|out of date}} template may be used when an article's factual accuracy may be compromised due to out-of-date information.</ref>
+When material in an article may become out of date, follow the [[Wikipedia:Wikipedia:As of|Wikipedia:As of]] guideline, which allows information to be written in a less time-dependent way.
-Expressions like "former(ly)", "in the past", and "traditional(ly)" lump together unspecified periods in the past. "Traditional" is particularly pernicious because it implies immemorial established usage. It is better to use explicit dates supported by sources. Instead of "hamburgers are a traditional American food," say "the hamburger was invented in about 1900 and became widely popular in the United States in the 1930s."<ref>[[Wikipedia:WikiProject Food and drink/Original, authentic, and traditional|"Original", "traditional", "authentic", and other distracting terminology]]</ref> Because seasons differ between the northern and southern hemisphere, try to use months, quarters, or other non-seasonal terms such as ''mid-year'' unless the season itself is pertinent (''spring blossoms, autumn harvest''); see [[WP:SEASON]].
+Expressions like "former(ly)", "in the past", and "traditional(ly)" lump together unspecified periods in the past. "Traditional" is particularly pernicious because it implies immemorial established usage. It is better to use explicit dates supported by sources. Instead of "hamburgers are a traditional American food," say "the hamburger was invented in about 1900 and became widely popular in the United States in the 1930s."<ref>[[Wikipedia:Wikipedia:WikiProject Food and drink/Original, authentic, and traditional|"Original", "traditional", "authentic", and other distracting terminology]]</ref> Though seasons differ between the northern and southern hemisphere, when describing game-related events in real-world terms, seasons in the northern hemisphere should be used as the default, as that is the location of CCP.
 === Unspecified places or events ===