[WikiEN-l] Naming convention: popularity vs. correctness

Sun Feb 9 22:36:00 UTC 2003

> The current policy is the healthier one. Wikipedia should by and large
> reflect the common consensus, at least on a zero-order approximation, not
> try to enforce the "correct" view

There's no reason to put correct in quotation marks here if nobody  
disagrees other than by mere habit. And if that is so, it is proper for an  
encyclopedia to use the correct term. That's why the Britannica uses  
"Ockham's Razor". Using the Google popularity test for article titles is  
unprofessional.

To pick an analogy: Based on Hollywood and TV movies, many people believe  
that cars will explode after a heavy crash, which often leads them to  
escape the vehicles quickly instead of trying to save others who are still  
in them. Wikipedia will correctly point out that it is an error, because  
there is nobody who factually disagrees with it.

> For example, I know about the term "Pennsylvania Dutch" and have seen it
> used in many contexts (social, political, commercial branding, etc.) whereas
> "Pennsylvania German" is just not a term in use.

Try googling for it.

> Similarly, "Occam's Razor" is by far the more prevalent and *preferred*
> spelling for the term by English speakers.

16K vs 26K in Google - hardly "by far" the more prevalent and preferred.
What matters is not just the number of sites, but also the type of sites.