User:Popcornfud/The problem with false titles

This is an essay on false titles, the practice of omitting articles before nouns. It contains the advice or opinions of one or more Wikipedia contributors. This page is not an encyclopedia article, nor is it one of Wikipedia's policies or guidelines, as it has not been thoroughly vetted by the community. Some essays represent widespread norms; others only represent minority viewpoints.

Shortcut WP:FALSETITLE

A false title is when you remove the article (the/a/an) or posessive pronoun (her/his/their/its/etc) before a noun, making it into a sort of pseudo-adjective.

• False title: The documentary follows songwriter Bob Dylan.
• No false title: The documentary follows the songwriter Bob Dylan.

They're called false titles because they use an ordinary noun, such as "songwriter", as you would a title such as "Captain", "Mr." or "Dr."

The 2015 edition of the New York Times style guide wrote:

False titles create an over-abbreviated journalistic tone (journalese) that's inappropriate for an encylopedia, which should be written in a neutral, literal, plain-English style.

Consider sentences such as

False titles originated in newspaper writing, where space is limited, particularly in headlines (headlinese). On Wikipedia, we have the space to write proper sentences instead.

Many major organizations and style guides recommend against false titles, such as The New York Times, The Guardian (see under "the"), and Garner's Modern English Usage (under "Titular Tomfoolery").

False titles can obscure information or make sentences difficult to understand. Take this example from the Chinese Democracy article:

With whom was Brain a frequent collaborator? Buckethead? Freese? The band? As there is no pronoun, this is impossible to know.

Chaining false titles can make sentences almost unintelligible:

Some people believe that writing "the songwriter Bob Dylan" means that Bob Dylan is the only songwriter. This isn't correct, and appears to stem from a misunderstanding of how commas work with restrictive phrases.

• "the songwriter Bob Dylan" (no comma) means there are other songwriters.
• "the songwriter, Bob Dylan" (comma) means Bob Dylan is the only songwriter (in this situation, at least).

Here's how The Guardian's style guide explains it:

For further explanation, with examples, see "AP Style Essential Phrases, Nonessential Phrases". Garner's Modern English Usage also explains how to use commas when avoiding false titles (under "Titular Tomfoolery").

Probably not. The Manual of Style exists to resolve major and persistent disagreements. See WP:MOSBLOAT for more information. When editors disagree about whether the use of false titles is appropriate in an article, the status quo should be followed until a consensus to change it forms.