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“How” is the stupidest word to auto-censor. Removing it completely changes the meaning of titles. It makes articles seem vapid or banal when they wouldn’t other

“How” is the stupidest word to auto-censor. Removing it completely changes the meaning of titles. It makes articles seem vapid or banal when they wouldn’t otherwise, and vice versa.

smt88 4y ago
In this case, it changes the title so much that it's not correct English anymore.
- kybernetikos 4y ago
  It could suggest a travelling rust learner in the same way that swordsmen in feudal Japan used to perfect their art by travelling around.
  - smt88 4y ago
    Ha! That's funny. I hadn't thought of that. I may be mistaken, but I think to be correct in that context, it would need a comma: "I went about, learning Rust"
    - jb1991 4y ago
      The comma is not necessary for it to be correct, but with the comma the meaning is a bit different still.
- simondebbarma 4y ago
  An exclamation at the end would fix this, but yeah, I'm of the opinion that censoring the 'How' didn't distract from the article until I saw this thread.
- jb1991 4y ago
  It is correct English without "How" but the meaning is different and the usage is not typical.
baby 4y ago
Holly molly. I was like, that’s a weird title.
deleted 4y ago
[deleted]
dang 4y ago
It changes the meaning of some titles. It makes more of them less baity. The danger with these arguments is that you only notice the cases that don't work. That's a 100% failure rate! Can't get more stupid than that! pg suggested this edit to me years ago and I spent a long time back testing it on old titles. At the time, it was a clear win. I suppose it's possible that title conventions have changed since then and taking another look might be a good idea.
- eyelidlessness 4y ago
  > The danger with these arguments is that you only notice the cases that don't work. That's a 100% failure rate! Can't get more stupid than that! I’m gonna go out on a limb and suggest maybe you’re too close to this. I notice the “clear win” cases frequently too. At best they’re very clearly and awkwardly editorialized. I click on them frequently just to reassure myself that I’m aware I’m not mistaking reality for fiction. I do the same with “why” and “\d” editorialized titles that get auto-edits. Maybe the clear win is identifying clickbait, but the editing is definitely not effective.
  - dredmorbius 4y ago
    What's "\d" in this context?
    - eyelidlessness 4y ago
      Digits. Regex syntax, sorry about that.
      - dredmorbius 4y ago
        Ah, thanks!

“How” is the stupidest word to auto-censor. Removing it completely changes the meaning of titles. It makes articles seem vapid or banal when they wouldn’t otherwise, and vice versa.

smt88 4y ago

In this case, it changes the title so much that it's not correct English anymore.

kybernetikos 4y ago
It could suggest a travelling rust learner in the same way that swordsmen in feudal Japan used to perfect their art by travelling around.
- smt88 4y ago
  Ha! That's funny. I hadn't thought of that. I may be mistaken, but I think to be correct in that context, it would need a comma: "I went about, learning Rust"
  - jb1991 4y ago
    The comma is not necessary for it to be correct, but with the comma the meaning is a bit different still.
simondebbarma 4y ago
An exclamation at the end would fix this, but yeah, I'm of the opinion that censoring the 'How' didn't distract from the article until I saw this thread.
jb1991 4y ago
It is correct English without "How" but the meaning is different and the usage is not typical.

baby 4y ago

Holly molly. I was like, that’s a weird title.

deleted 4y ago

[deleted]

dang 4y ago

It changes the meaning of some titles. It makes more of them less baity. The danger with these arguments is that you only notice the cases that don't work. That's a 100% failure rate! Can't get more stupid than that! pg suggested this edit to me years ago and I spent a long time back testing it on old titles. At the time, it was a clear win. I suppose it's possible that title conventions have changed since then and taking another look might be a good idea.

eyelidlessness 4y ago
> The danger with these arguments is that you only notice the cases that don't work. That's a 100% failure rate! Can't get more stupid than that! I’m gonna go out on a limb and suggest maybe you’re too close to this. I notice the “clear win” cases frequently too. At best they’re very clearly and awkwardly editorialized. I click on them frequently just to reassure myself that I’m aware I’m not mistaking reality for fiction. I do the same with “why” and “\d” editorialized titles that get auto-edits. Maybe the clear win is identifying clickbait, but the editing is definitely not effective.
- dredmorbius 4y ago
  What's "\d" in this context?
  - eyelidlessness 4y ago
    Digits. Regex syntax, sorry about that.
    - dredmorbius 4y ago
      Ah, thanks!