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

Mon Feb 10 12:32:25 UTC 2003

Erik Moeller wrote:
>> "Pennsylvania German" is just not a term in use.
> 
> Try googling for it.

"Pennsylvania German" returns 17,200.
"Pennsylvania Dutch"  returns 64,800.

> What matters is not just the number of sites, but also the type of
>sites.

That's right, I think.

I don't personally think that there is any *simple* rule we can use
like "Always trust Google counts" or "Always trust Britannica" or
"Always trust academics" or "Always trust the dictionary" or "Never
use fancy letters with diacriticals".  Each of those things counts as
a _factor_ in determining what we should prefer, and none of them will
always trump the others.

If all that Erik is saying is that there are cases where "academically
correct" should trump "popular usage" then I would agree.  But there
are lots of cases where "popular usage" should trump "academically
correct".

In this case, it is possible that [[Pennsylvania Dutch]] should be an
article that starts off by pointing out that it's a popular but
inaccurate term, pointing people to [[Pennsylvania German]] for an
actual history of the people, culture, etc.  And then the rest of the
page could be a history of the _term_.

But I don't think any simple rule is possible.

--Jimbo