Talk:Lede

There is a move discussion in progress on Talk:Lede, Belgium which affects this page. Please participate on that page and not in this talk page section. Thank you. —RMCD bot 06:01, 24 January 2019 (UTC)

Is it appropriate to say that using lede to refer to the lead paragraph is mistaken usage? Dictionaries don’t seem to define it that way. I think there is a term for evolving usage but I don’t know it off the top of my head. Dw31415 (talk) 12:14, 15 March 2025 (UTC)

Seems like “semantic change” is the term. Dw31415 (talk) 12:18, 15 March 2025 (UTC)

@Dw31415 Which dictionaries do you know of that don't define in that way? Four of the most reputable (online) ones all do:

• "lede". Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary. Merriam-Webster. OCLC 1032680871.
• "lede". Oxford English Dictionary (Online ed.). Oxford University Press. (Subscription or participating institution membership required.)
• Harper, Douglas. "lede". Online Etymology Dictionary.
• "lede". Dictionary.com Unabridged (Online). n.d.

~ oklopfer (💬) 21:42, 27 February 2026 (UTC)

Well like the very first one for example the introductory section of a news story that is intended to entice the reader to read the full story. I’m not nearly enough of a journalism nerd to explain the difference, or I’m completely mistaken (with the later being more likely) Dw31415 (talk) 00:06, 28 February 2026 (UTC)

If interested:

• https://spcollege.libguides.com/news/intro#:~:text=The%20introduction%20to%20a%20news,was%20done%20with%20lead%20type.
• Wikipedia talk:Manual of Style/Lead section/Archive 15#c-SMcCandlish-2012-02-18T20:49:00.000Z-A lead is not a lede

Dw31415 (talk) 00:11, 28 February 2026 (UTC)