Wikipedia:Location, location, location!
 | This is an essay. It contains the advice or opinions of one or more Wikipedia contributors. This page is not an encyclopedia article or a Wikipedia policy, as it has not been reviewed by the community. |
 | This page in a nutshell: It's unnecessary to write "X is a Y located in Z" when "X is a Y in Z" will do. |
The word "located", and its synonyms, can be safely dropped from the following types of sentence:
The mural is
[2]locatedat the north end of Frary's refectory, above a fireplace.The sacristy is
[3]locatedon the left (north side) looking towards the altar, under the bell tower.The tabernacle is
[4]placedat the far end of the chancel.Paghman District is
[5]situatedin the western part of Kabul Province, Afghanistan.
Are you being served?
[edit]A closely related construction is Smith serves as the President of Ruritania
when you could just say Smith is the President of Ruritania
[6]. Sometimes a president or a military officer is serving their country, but sometimes holding a government position is more of a way to be served by other people than to serve the needs of others. "Served as" is for milk crates and Velveeta: Along one wall, stacks of milk crates served as bookcases
or We were so poor that sometimes Velveeta served as dessert
(or, perhaps, Velveeta was served as dessert
, but that's another story).
Books penned created fathered brought into being written by people
[edit]Lust for Life (1934) is a biographical novel
[7]writtenby Irving Stone about the life of the Dutch painter Vincent van Gogh.
Directors helming eponymous films movies that garner accolades
[edit]
- Please don't write that a film was "helmed" by someone or that an album was a band's "sophomore effort".
- Keep eponymy below toxic levels (e.g. not
Cheaper by the Dozen was published in 1948 and was adapted as an eponymous 1950 film. The pair followed up with a successful sequel, Belles on Their Toes (1950), which was adapted as an eponymous 1952 film.
- And please, please don't talk about the "accolades" the picture or album "garnered".
Violation of the above may make your fellow editors vomit.
Coptalk
[edit]I encourage editors to eschew the weird, puffed up bureaucratese used by police (in the US at least):
| Bureaucratese | Normal talk |
|---|---|
| I responded to the entrance | I went (drove, walked) to the entrance |
| He was transported to the hospital for treatment | He was taken to the hospital (for treatment, obviously) |
| I observed a gentleman | I saw a man |
| I discharged my weapon | I fired my gun |
| I escorted the gentleman from the premises | I took the man outside |