4

I have proposed an edit of the tag , since it currently only says this in its excerpt:

Questions about word choice where the focus is on etymology or grammar may be more on-topic at Stack Exchange's English

The wiki entry is left blank. My proposed edits are as follows. Excerpt:

This tag should be used for questions about choosing the right words for the context of your writing. Questions about etymology and grammar are off-topic.

Wiki entry:

The tag is for questions that deal with the words and vocabulary that should be used when writing different kinds of texts. This can include finding the right voice for your narration or for your technical document, for example. In these cases it could be combined with the tag . It can also be appropriate for questions about phrasing information so that it is easily understood, or for questions about convincing dialogue in a historical setting.

The tag is not intended for questions about etymology or grammar. These questions are off-topic on the Writing Stack Exchange in general. They may be more on-topic on the various language sites of Stack Exchange, such as the English Language & Usage site.

In Do we need three tags about voices?, Cyn expressed unhappiness about the closeness of this description to that of the tag , which is certainly valid. I do see a difference, but maybe the difference can be emphasized even better.

The other point Cyn made was that grammar is not actually off-topic on this site. I'll make a separate question about that point, but for this tag, it might be sufficient to remove the last two sentences? I based those on the original description, but maybe I went too far.

So what should the tag description include in your opinion? What is the tag made for, what is missing in my suggestion, or which better suggestion do you have?

(I'm totally fine if nothing of my original suggestion remains.)

6
  • 1
    That voice tag wiki is describing three completely different things! Commented Jun 29, 2019 at 6:21
  • Two different things, I'd say. Voice as "creating sounds" is very different from the rest and could be removed potentially. "Active/passive voice" would be its own thing of we're taking about grammar, but here it's included as part of choosing the right voice. For example scientific reports use passive voice frequently, so it's an important detail for copying that style.
    – PoorYorick
    Commented Jun 29, 2019 at 7:17
  • @curiousdannii, but that is also not the point here. We have a recent discussion about that tag here so maybe offer your improvements there. This question is about "word-choice".
    – PoorYorick
    Commented Jun 29, 2019 at 7:19
  • I was having trouble remembering what I said, despite your summary, so I added the ref (and fixed the unhappiness grammar).
    – Cyn
    Commented Jul 1, 2019 at 18:44
  • Oh, was that actually bad grammar? I was hoping it was just sloppy English. :D Thanks for the edit.
    – PoorYorick
    Commented Jul 2, 2019 at 7:15
  • Yeah, "has mentioned to be unhappy" is not grammatical in English. You can say "has mentioned unhappiness" or "has mentioned being unhappy." I think that last one is where you were going. Since the sentence is about me, I figured I could change it a bit more to something I might say.
    – Cyn
    Commented Jul 2, 2019 at 19:03

0

You must log in to answer this question.

Browse other questions tagged .