Template:Did you know nominations/Janet Fish

The following discussion is an archived discussion of the DYK nomination of the article below. Please do not modify this page. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page (such as this nomination's talk page, the article's talk page or Wikipedia talk:Did you know), unless there is consensus to re-open the discussion at this page. No further edits should be made to this page.

The result was: promoted by Crisco 1492 (talk) 00:21, 31 March 2012 (UTC)

Janet Fish

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... that among the items found in a fish is a human child?

Reviewed: Tarsius fuscus
Comment: Obviously an April Fools' Day hook. Note that in January the article was vandalized, being replaced with 350k of garbage. DYKcheck fails, so please check the expansion manually.

Created/expanded by Mandarax (talk). Self nom at 22:20, 21 March 2012 (UTC)

Maaaaan Mandarax I dunno 'bout this hook...don't think you can catch a fish with this one... I assume this is in reference to the cartwheeling girl? How about something that plays with some of the lingo, like ALT1: "... that some fish didn't care for Abstract Expressionism?" The "fish" part is always going to be the obstacle, but maybe I'm just too picky--I'd welcome other editors. Mandarax, feel free to ~~canvass~~ shop around for another pair of eyes, maybe Crisco's or so. BTW, everything else checks out, of course (though I'm not crazy about the EL section...). Drmies (talk) 20:05, 26 March 2012 (UTC)

The reason the original may appear somewhat awkward is my desire to be both factually accurate and intriguing. It was meant to make the reader think that a fish had been caught, and when it was cut open, it was discovered that it had somehow consumed a child. The more straightforward wording ALT0.5 "... that a human child is in a fish?" sounds too suspicious to me, but maybe that's just me. MANdARAX • XAЯAbИAM 19:34, 27 March 2012 (UTC)

ALT2: "... that a fish raised in Bermuda paints light, goldfish, and dogs splashing in water?" or ALT3: "...that a fish revitalized still-life painting?" or ALT4: "... that a fish graduated from Yale and taught at the University of Chicago?" Crisco 1492 (talk) 23:07, 26 March 2012 (UTC)

I still like the original Fish hook best, but I guess any of them will do. Here are two more possibilities:
ALT5: ... that a fish can paint?
ALT6: ... that a fish in a fishbowl is in a fish? MANdARAX • XAЯAbИAM 02:59, 27 March 2012 (UTC)

Nice, but how is it "in"? Crisco 1492 (talk) 03:20, 27 March 2012 (UTC)

"A fish" meaning "a painting by fish". You know what, with a capital F ALT6 would work. Can you live with that, Mandarax? It takes away from your joke a little bit, but not a lot. (A problem with the original hook is that "a" is not the right determinative--"one" would be better.) Drmies (talk) 04:28, 27 March 2012 (UTC)

But how is a work "in" it's painter? Crisco 1492 (talk) 04:53, 27 March 2012 (UTC)

Metonymy. I have a Picasso at home--it has a pair of dirty underpants in it. My Monet, on the other hand, is squeaky clean. Drmies (talk) 05:09, 27 March 2012 (UTC)

I'd be careful with that... but what the hey Crisco 1492 (talk) 05:53, 27 March 2012 (UTC)

It's an acceptable and common practice to use an artist's name to refer to a work by that artist; for example, one might say that sunflowers are "in a van Gogh". (Quick examples with similar usage: New York Times, Los Angeles Times, The Sun [UK], and a scholarly journal.)
As for the lower case "f", the April Fools' rules allow capitalization standards to be disregarded in cases such as this. MANdARAX • XAЯAbИAM 09:16, 27 March 2012 (UTC)

Oh, I'm fine with this... but is drmies satisfied with the article? Crisco 1492 (talk) 09:55, 27 March 2012 (UTC)

Of course: Mandarax wrote it. Mandarax--are you throwing the book at me? OK: we have settled on ALT6: ... that a fish in a fishbowl is in a fish. Overrule me if I'm wrong. Drmies (talk) 13:50, 27 March 2012 (UTC)

Thanks! MANdARAX • XAЯAbИAM 19:34, 27 March 2012 (UTC)