Talk:Friends of the Constitution

Friends of the Constitution

This article's present Polish-language title ("Zgromadzenie Przyjaciół Konstytucji Rządowej") will be a stumbling block to the vast majority of readers.

I propose that this title be replaced with an English-language version.

Complete English renderings of the organization's name vary widely, but the prevailing — and central — common element is "Friends of the Constitution".

"Friends of the Constitution" conveys the essential substance, manageably expressed, and would make an admirable, communicative title. Nihil novi (talk) 07:55, 2 February 2012 (UTC)

I agree with you that it sounds better, but I am not sure if Wikipedia should be in the business of inventing names (WP:OR). If you'd like to see this moved, please try a WP:RM and we will see what the community would like to do. --_{Piotr Konieczny aka Prokonsul Piotrus| talk to me} 17:47, 2 February 2012 (UTC)

It's not a question of inventing names but of translating them. We translate texts and names at Wikipedia every day. "Friends of the Constitution" is the way that such a group's name would be rendered in English; just as, by the same token, I find it hard to conceive of a Polish group calling itself, in Polish, simply "Przyjaciele Konstytucji" ("Friends of the Constitution"). That's just the way the two languages operate. Fifty years ago, in an American city, there was a group that called itself "Friends of Free Poland."

You wrote a nice, useful article. I've made some edits which I hope will enhance its readability. Now I would like to see it get the attention it deserves, assisted by a suitable English title.

As to submitting a WP:RM — I probably won't, at least for now, due to the press of urgent matters. But if someone else would like to...

Nihil novi (talk) 23:58, 2 February 2012 (UTC)

Attention - in the context of people finding it - can be achieved through redirects, I think. --_{Piotr Konieczny aka Prokonsul Piotrus| talk to me} 04:22, 3 February 2012 (UTC)

The usual practice is the reverse: give the article an English-language title, with redirect from the original Polish name — e.g., "Warsaw Uprising", with redirect from "Powstanie warszawskie". Nihil novi (talk) 08:07, 4 February 2012 (UTC)

Requested move

The following discussion is an archived discussion of a requested move. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made in a new section on the talk page. Editors desiring to contest the closing decision should consider a move review. No further edits should be made to this section.

The result of the move request was: moved. Jenks24 (talk) 15:49, 31 March 2013 (UTC)

---

Zgromadzenie Przyjaciół Konstytucji Rządowej → Friends of the Constitution – This is the natural English-language rendering of the original Polish name. Names of foreign political organizations are commonly rendered into English on the English-language Wikipedia. "Friends of the Constitution" is more manageable for most English-Wikipedia readers than "Zgromadzenie Przyjaciół Konstytucji Rządowej". Nihil novi (talk) 08:59, 23 March 2013 (UTC)

• Comment - I'm inclined to support this as I think Nihil's above argument makes sense. It would make it easier to find and more accessible for non-Polish speakers interested in the subject. At the same time I would like to see an English language source which uses this, or similar terminology. I'm going to wait for other's arguments before making up my mind.Volunteer Marek 15:39, 23 March 2013 (UTC)

A Google Books search of "Friends of the Constitution", and of English versions currently listed in the article's lead, gives:

"Friends of the Constitution": 1,550,000 mentions, some of which relate to the 18th-century Association of the Friends of the Constitution, Liberty and Peace (Dublin, Ireland), some to the 18th-century French Jacobin Club, some to 1790s British reform groups, and some generically to 18th-century "friends of the [U.S.] Constitution".

"Society of Friends of the Constitution": 6,520: These items seem to refer overwhelmingly to the 18th-century French Jacobins.

"Association of Friends of the Constitution": 6: 3 relate to Japan, 2 to Poland, 1 to China.

"Society of Friends of the Government Ordinance": 2, referring to Poland.

"Association of Friends of the Governing Constitution": 1 (Poland).

"Zgromadzenie Przyjaciół Konstytucji Rządowej", the Polish original, yields 210 Google Books references, to Polish-language books.

Nihil novi (talk) 21:28, 23 March 2013 (UTC)

• Support - I searched [Kollataj + Friends + Constitution] in GB post-1950 and got enough results such as The Polish Review Polish Institute of Arts and Sciences in America - 1994 "Kollataj, who became the vice-chancellor of the state, was one of the most active reformers. He was the founder of a political club called The Assembly of Friends of the Constitution, which became Poland's first political party" to think that Friends of the Constitution will do. Interestingly Samuel Fiszman Constitution and reform in eighteenth-century Poland 1997 cites "Towarzystwo Przyjaciół Konstytucji 3 Maja" (The association of the friends of the Constitution of 3 May) in Pamiętnik, which suggests Zgromadzenie/Towarzystwo isn't a fixed part of common name even in Polish, only "Friends of the Constitution" is fixed. In ictu oculi (talk) 01:11, 24 March 2013 (UTC)

• Comment. I guess this would be the best translation. I am still a bit uneasy dealing wit OR and translations, but if nobody else finds it a problematic, I'll just abstain here. Please make sure that all the alt names and such remain in the article after the move. --_{Piotr Konieczny aka Prokonsul Piotrus| reply here} 09:47, 24 March 2013 (UTC)

• Comment through google-fu, I find that many uses of "Friends of the Constitution" refer to various groups from the United States and relate to the American constitution... -- 65.92.180.137 (talk) 01:13, 25 March 2013 (UTC)

• As already stated above, the expression is used in relation to the U.S. Constitution generically. There is no Wikipedia article of that name, referring to the U.S. Constitution. Furthermore, if the Irish, French, British, Americans, Chinese and Japanese were allowed to use variants of the expression "friends of the constitution" in other venues, whether specifically or generically, there is no reason why the Poles shouldn't be allowed to use "Friends of the Constitution" on Wikipedia. Nihil novi (talk) 02:46, 25 March 2013 (UTC)

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