MarioWiki talk:Good writing

This is a great policy, but I think this it should refer to the Manual of Style maybe somewhere in the intro, or at least a "See also" at the top of the page. Both policies are going into depth about article standards, just two different kinds.

05:57, 7 November 2012 (EST)


 * The intro's good as-is, but linking to MW:MOS was a good idea, so I added a "See Also" section with that and some extra policy page links. - 20:41, 8 November 2012 (EST)

How Ironic...
I found bad writing in the Good Writing article. This sentence is not grammatically correct. "Pirate Goomba are NPCs that appears in Mario Party 8" 10:54, 25 January 2017 (EST)

I need to edit the pages. Brandon Quek (talk) 21:51, 16 November 2017 (EST)


 * You cannot edit this page because this is a protected MarioWiki policy page. If you're referring to mainspace pages, some of them may be semi-protected, meaning you can't edit them until you are autoconfirmed. 00:03, 17 November 2017 (EST)

Captain Goomba link
It needs changed to Captain Goomba (Mario Party 8), but as this is an only-alterable-by-admins page, I can't do that. Doc von Schmeltwick (talk) 21:36, 20 October 2017 (EDT)


 * Fixed. 21:43, 20 October 2017 (EDT)

"Subspecies" example
The current explanation implies without stating otherwise that Lakitu is a derived species of Koopa Troopa, which is not right. They are separate from the get-go. Also, I think that a further addendum should be added to the sprite explanation to distinguish textures from them as well, as we occasionally get those uploaded (primarily for the pre-release and unused content pages). Doc von Schmeltwick (talk) 21:45, 10 April 2018 (EDT)

Another word I think should be added
"Acronym" refers to abbreviations that are intended to be pronounced as words. However, it is commonly misused to refer to abbreviations in general. RickTommy (talk) 22:33, 13 August 2018 (EDT)


 * That is a term I occasionally see misused so I've added this in. 01:55, 14 August 2018 (EDT)
 * Another request: should "pun"/"play"/"portmanteau" get added as well? I've seen those terms get misused as well. 18:19, 19 August 2018 (EDT)
 * Another request from me: "electrocute". People use it to refer to being zapped, even though it correctly means when someone dies after being zapped. Also, though it's more community-related than writing-related, and because it annoys me: "ban". I've seen users on this Wiki (and other Wikis) use it to refer to being blocked, even though on a Wiki, it refers to a specific kind of block (and sometimes not even one). RickTommy (talk) 19:20, 26 November 2018 (EST)
 * Note that you yourself are not following good writing, as you are putting the quotation marks inside of punctuation, even though in quoting, the punctuation is considered part of the quote. Just....note that, please. Doc von Schmeltwick (talk) 19:24, 26 November 2018 (EST)
 * Apparently, that's dependent on where you live. At least according to this: https://www.grammarbook.com/punctuation/quotes.asp 19:35, 26 November 2018 (EST)
 * I'd say cut him some slack, this is just another specific Americanism like the whole use of imperial in modern age. That said, I do follow this rule on the wiki without question, since the writing guidelines explicitly impose American writing standards, but I admit I find it weird. -- 19:46, 26 November 2018 (EST)
 * Correct, it's weird. And illogical. Another Wiki where I'm active makes a point of not following this "rule" for this very reason. Anyway, can we please get back on topic? RickTommy (talk) 21:20, 26 November 2018 (EST)
 * It's perfectly logical. If a sentence were, for example:
 * Bowser asked "Where are you hiding Peach"?
 * ....it would seem like the narrator is questioning that Bowser said that, since the punctuation isn't part of the quote. However, if it were:
 * Bowser asked "Where are you hiding Peach?"
 * ....then it's clear that Bowser is the one asking the question, since the punctuation is within the quote itself. Doc von Schmeltwick (talk) 22:11, 26 November 2018 (EST)

@Rick Tommy: Yes, we can. Maybe "electrocute" can be added. After all, it does seem to have a scope as big as "outer space" and "subspecies" in the category of non-meta words, since there are many electrical enemies that users might want to describe mechanically but confuse the act of zapping Mario with killing him through zapping. As for "ban", it would be quite nitpicky to tell users what language to use outside of the main space, wouldn't it? Courtesy issues notwithstanding of course. Maybe the correct use of the word can be noted as an extra fact, but it definitely shouldn't be enforced on talk/user/whatever else pages. -- 22:32, 26 November 2018 (EST)

@Doc: In the example you gave, the question mark is originally from the quote. If I were to quote something else now, say, "how now brown cow", you may notice how I put the comma after the quote because it has a syntactic role in this very sentence I'm typing, whereas American punctuation dictates putting it inside the quote--which is illogical because then it would seem as if it originates from the quote. -- 22:32, 26 November 2018 (EST)
 * The obvious solution would be to have it be dependent on whether it's a quote or simply an emphasis, and not this all-or-nothing thing various rulemakers impose. But I'm not one of them. Anyways, as for the ban thing, "tempban" and "permaban" are both types of bans, so I wouldn't really see the problem, even going into the nitty-gritty of non-mainspace. Doc von Schmeltwick (talk) 22:39, 26 November 2018 (EST)
 * That's what everyone is arguing for. The punctuation stuff I mean. -- 22:46, 26 November 2018 (EST)
 * I usually use it in circumstantial terms. If the quote includes the punctuation, I include the punctuation in the quote. If it doesn't, I don't.
 * Anyway, on topic, looking up the definition of "electrocute", (note comma :P) it also means to severally injure by way of electricity. In terms of execution, it does mean to kill, but I don't think the word needs to be added given this.
 * For "ban", I use it more frequently than "block", even though what shows in logs is called a "Block Log". Looking them up, they mean pretty much the same thing. 23:00, 26 November 2018 (EST)
 * "Block"/"ban" are not terms used on mainspace so they don't need to be listed. Per Alex on "electrocute". 04:48, 27 November 2018 (EST)
 * While "ban" and "block" can be used to refer to different kinds of blocks, it does not seem necessary to add it here, as this specifically refers to the mainspace. "Ban" is used pretty frequently, and it seems strange to request that it is not used on places like talk pages. Also, I completely agree with what has been said for both "electrocute" and the punctuation stuff. -- 06:55, 27 November 2018 (EST)

I have a misused word suggestion:. People often misinterpret this word as "ghost", when its actual definition is a being that has taken on a temporary form (basically, a shapeshifter), though modern usage associates obake with any form of monster. "obake" creatures in the Marioverse have ranged from "I guess it's a ghost" to "clearly not a ghost" to "That's literally just a ball", and it just seems silly to refer to every "obake" creature as a ghost. Somethingone (talk) 07:57, April 26, 2022 (EDT)

"Similar" used as an adverb
By far one of the most recurring and annoying errors I encountered during the decade I've been active here was the word "similar" being used when "similarly" should be used. I think this should be added to the list of frequently misused terms. What say other wiki editors? 15:32, July 23, 2023 (EDT)