Wikipedia:Requests for comment/Slang naming convention

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Template:Rfcid To protect the integrity of Wikipedia in the public eye and particularly among academic faculty,as well as persons impacted by prejudice and discrimination, the proposal is that eng.wikipedia adopt naming conventions on "hate speech words" which should include parethetical tag such as:

Main-name #Slang; derogatory#

Noting that this is not in any manner "censorship" as the content itself remains intact under this proposal, and that such entries are lexical #dictionary-like# to begin with and as such barely pass muster as admissible content. Bard गीता 01:57, 2 June 2011 (UTC)[reply]

You are posting this in the wrong place. You cannot propose policy changes on an article talk page. AndyTheGrump (talk) 01:58, 2 June 2011 (UTC)[reply]

Well then at least as pertains to THIS article. Bard गीता 02:20, 2 June 2011 (UTC)[reply]

Note: Moved from Talk:Chink#Formal RFC on Naming convention for slang which is derogatory of persons and races, copied verbatim. —James ^{(Talk • Contribs)} • 2:09pm • 04:09, 2 June 2011 (UTC)[reply]

Oppose this just jumbles everything onto a single page, making a single page for all derogatory slang terms would make it impossibly large. If a topic passes WP:GNG, and there is enough material to support a reasonably sized article instead of a stub, then WP:NOTPAPER, there's no reason for a short stubby paragraph when a full article can be written. WP:SIZE would split any such combined page into separate pages in any case because it would become too long very rapidly. Reducing a subject with a lengthy article that is supported by references and passes notability to a short paragraph is censorship, since it reduces coverage for no encyclopedic reason, WP:NOTCENSORED. 65.94.47.217 (talk) 04:35, 2 June 2011 (UTC)[reply]

Oppose. We just had two versions of this discussion in miniature at Chink, but since it's being escalated here to encompass more articles, I'll briefly post again. I know Geoffrey means well here, but I don't think it's a useful or wise precedent for Wikipedia to specially label "hate speech words" in the naming conventions. Per the precedents of WP:CENSOR and Wikipedia:Offensive material, I don't see a need to handle potentially "offensive content" through a different convention than "nonoffensive content". When disambiguation is necessary, I admire the model of "racial term" as at Sambo, which saves editors the hassle of imposing an interpretation on a word like queer or nigger which can be hate speech in some contexts and reappropriation in others.
Calling words like "Chink" pejorative terms in the article's first sentence is enough, I think, to make it clear that our articles are not ringing validations of the word; I don't see it as needed in the title as well. Finally, I disagree with the surprising contention that academic faculty are shunning Wikipedia as a result of our article naming conventions, pending significant evidence to the contrary. Khazar (talk)
Oppose per Khazar. He covered every point I wanted to say, and there's no need for anyone to say anything more in the absence of any sign that this is a real problem. I don't see any indication that existing article titles are causing any of the harms purported, and if they were, I don't think the proposed article title would accomplish anything substantive (to the extent I understand what is being proposed). I think anyone who would be bothered by an offensive term being used as the title of an article on that term would be bothered by an article about an offensive term however titled, regardless of whether you added hash marks or a parenthetical qualifier to it. postdlf (talk) 05:03, 2 June 2011 (UTC)[reply]
oppose - we cover what the reliable sources cover in the manner in which they cover it. there is no evidence that reliable sources typically identify words in that manner.Active Banana (^bananaphone 05:43, 2 June 2011 (UTC)[reply]
Oppose When unnecessary for disambiguation purposes, such tags constitute editorializing, which we specifically endeavor to avoid. Such tags also run contrary to the fact that Wikipedia is not a usage guide. --Cybercobra (talk) 11:55, 2 June 2011 (UTC)[reply]
Tag as (Slang) how about at least that much? Otherwise, Wikipedia is changing usage with implicity condoning. Don't you think that is the net effect? (Pardon me for butting in.)

Active Banana (^bananaphoneor how about Adolf Hitler (bad man) cause we wouldnt want people to think that wikipedia thought hitler was a nice guy. Active Banana (^bananaphone 03:39, 3 June 2011 (UTC)[reply]

Oppose If the article's categories and referenced content make clear that the term is slang and/or an ethnic or religious slur, and Wikipedia articles don't casually use or link to the term to refer to the people in question, then I don't see how any reasonable person (particularly "academic faculty") can see the article title as some kind of implicit endorsement of the term by Wikipedia or its editors. Seems to me like the WP:NODISCLAIMERS guideline applies here: it's adding a "disclaimer", in the article title no less, that Wikipedia doesn't endorse or encourage usage of the term. --Canley (talk) 02:59, 3 June 2011 (UTC)[reply]