Template:Did you know nominations/Rodion Markovits

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The following discussion is an archived discussion of the DYK nomination of the article below. Please do not modify it. 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 Orlady (talk) 05:11, 30 November 2011 (UTC)

Rodion Markovits[edit]

Created/expanded by Dahn (talk). Self nom at 22:25, 11 November 2011 (UTC)

  • Please hold this one as well for Romania's national holiday, December 1. Dahn (talk) 22:26, 11 November 2011 (UTC)
Excellent article with depth. What do you think of
ALT1: ... that the account of World War I captivity and survival in the Russian Far East by Rodion Markovits was translated into a dozen languages, making him "the best-known Transylvanian writer"? --Gerda Arendt (talk) 23:53, 28 November 2011 (UTC)
That's fine by me. Well, that's largely fine by me, but it's more like 15 or so languages: it's 12 languages other than German, French and English (and possibly Romanian is counted in there as well). Btw, thank you for taking the time on all these hooks: you're a heroine. Dahn (talk) 00:50, 29 November 2011 (UTC)
  • Thank you, a little exaggerated, but I like it! (I love opera, so heroine has a specific connotation for me.) My first language is not English, I am ready to learn nuances, I thought saying "a dozen" (in the source, if I remember right) in such a context means "about 12" rather than "exactly 12". But what do you think of this:
ALT2: ... that the account of World War I captivity and survival in the Russian Far East by Rodion Markovits was translated into a more than a dozen languages, making him "the best-known Transylvanian writer"? --Gerda Arendt (talk) 10:54, 29 November 2011 (UTC)
Hm, I was somewhat aware of your opera thing - I'm usually one of those numbers you get in the "check views" link. But I lurk in the shadows :). Now, the sources have different base numbers, because they generally mention that it was translated into German, then in other (12, 13, 14) languages - in other words, they don't include the very first translation. I agree about "a dozen" being vague enough, but I'm not sure it covers numbers as far up as 15. Your new alt is a bit, well, it doesn't read well. It also poses a problem of being too precise: yes, it's some 15 languages, but all of them in the 1930s - for all we know, he may have been translated into other languages since. May I suggest tweaking it to:

ALT3:... that, after being translated into some 15 languages, Rodion Markovits's account of World War I captivity and survival in the Russian Far East made its author "the best-known Transylvanian writer"?

Although I feel I should say that it's starting to look a bit complicated to keep both the number and the quote in, so I think that my original hook, or something based on it, looks a bit better to me. Dahn (talk) 16:42, 29 November 2011 (UTC)
That is approved (also), but I think it gets to the interesting stuff rather in the end, - the normal fast reader may have lost attention over a strange name and a superlative s/he isn't interested in and never get there. Let's the prep-filling experts decide, --Gerda Arendt (talk) 17:03, 29 November 2011 (UTC)
Amen to that. Dahn (talk) 19:44, 29 November 2011 (UTC)