Talk:Square (geometry)

The following discussion is an archived discussion of the proposal. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made in a new section on the talk page. No further edits should be made to this section.

By far most assumed meaning, and the basis for most other uses of square. Square is currently only a redirect. Unlikely anyone would be surprised to find this page at Square. ~ JohnnyMrNinja 23:32, 24 July 2007 (UTC)

• Support - Everything else on the DAB page has an appendage. Reginmund 19:27, 25 July 2007 (UTC)
• Support -- I've just cleaned up the disambiguation page as it had turned into a list of every article with the word "square" in the name, which of course shouldn't be included in dab pages according to WP:MOSDAB and Wikipedia:Disambiguation#Lists. It still needs more cleanup though. Saikokira 19:48, 25 July 2007 (UTC)
• Support - it works for Cube, ought to work for Square. Tom Ruen 20:22, 25 July 2007 (UTC)
• Support: That is the primary meaning of square. Chris! _{my talk} 22:01, 25 July 2007 (UTC)

  Comment - I have just made similar proposals at Line (mathematics) and Plane (mathematics) ~ JohnnyMrNinja 01:26, 26 July 2007 (UTC)

• Oppose. Why not have square be a WP:DAB page, as per normal? — SMcCandlish [talk] [cont] ‹(-¿-)› 22:45, 25 July 2007 (UTC)
• Oppose. Square should either be or point to the disambiguation page. Even within mathematics, square (algebra), while originally derived from the concept of a square number, now has a far richer meaning, and is possibly even more prevalent than the geometric sense. Also note that pointing the redirect at square to square (geometry) rather then to the disambiguation page as previously has broken several hatnotes in related articles. Andrewa 14:55, 26 July 2007 (UTC)
  • How do the meanings of cube differ from square? Cube is the geometry article with a note on top. If we're consistent, perhaps instead we should move the geometry to Cube (geometry) and redirect cube to Cube (disambiguation)? Just as a comparison but my vote is that primary noun usage should win, like as done with cube. Tom Ruen 17:20, 26 July 2007 (UTC)
    • Agree that if this move is rejected, it would be good to look at cube as well, because many of the same arguments will apply. Cube (algebra) probably isn't quite as prominent a use of the term cube as square (algebra) is of the term square, in fact this usage of cube is in some ways derivative of the use of square in algebra. But a good point. Andrewa 01:18, 27 July 2007 (UTC)
    • So far as consistency goes, we might also watch the similar requested moves concerning line and plane, both of which are attracting a good deal of opposition. Andrewa 01:26, 27 July 2007 (UTC)
• Oppose. The request is based on wrong assertions. “Square (mathematics)” matches a marginal meaning of the word “square”. --Juiced lemon 08:54, 27 July 2007 (UTC)
• Oppose a public square isn't necessarily square, or even a quadrilateral. SquareEnix is a common enough reference (formerly Square or SquareSoft). square as slang for unhip or squaring a deal etc, isn't related to the mathematical term, etc. 132.205.44.5 19:13, 27 July 2007 (UTC)

  This opposition line is getting long. While we're dissenting common sense, let's make people click twice for a geometric pentagon too, just in case they mean something else. Tom Ruen 19:33, 27 July 2007 (UTC)

Good question. My first reaction is that pentagon still has a clear primary meaning, unlike square. There's a spectrum here, with one extreme being pentagon, square somewhere in the middle, and the other extreme probably being plane. The name of a plane (carpentry) may well derive from its use to make things flat (=planar; same word root), but it's a stretch to say that a carpenter means something to flatten things when they say plane, see rebate plane for example. English evolves, and we don't seek to promote any particular direction here. We use it as it is now, warts and all.

There are some subtle issues here, and they need to be raised, and even re-examined from time to time. Please don't take it personally if not all of your suggestions are adopted. For me, more than half of the reward of Wikipedia is when I do change my mind... it's objective evidence that I have learned something. See Talk:The Black Isle#Requested move for an example. Wikipedia also changes with time... (sigh) I put a lot of work into what I thought were legitimate fair use images years ago, and they even got some praise from other contributors at the time. Now they all look like being deleted! Andrewa 22:21, 27 July 2007 (UTC)

The above discussion is preserved as an archive of the proposal. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made in a new section on this talk page. No further edits should be made to this section.