Duplicate Keywords - List #13 (Proposals for Permanent Merger and Auto-Conversion)

@bradley_kent​ 

"blonde"is feminine, while "blond" is masculine.

That is correct, but that's when referring to people. When referring to hair itself (as in my keyword list above), there is only one correct word, and it is "blond hair," not "blonde hair."

The word "blonde" is defined as "(of a woman or girl) having fair hair and usually fair skin and light eyes" or "a woman or girl having this coloration." The word "blonde" does not refer to the hair itself, and there is no dictionary definition of "blonde" that refers to the hair itself; I checked my Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary to confirm that.

In contrast, one of the dictionary definitions of "blond" is "(of hair, skin, etc.) light-colored." 

The keyword entry in this list corrects "blonde-hair" (an inaccurate term) to "blond-hair" (an accurate term). 

More info here:

Garner’s Modern American Usage says “blond” is preferred in all senses as an adjective in American English; the Oxford English Dictionary says “in Britain the form blonde is now preferred in all senses.”

The Associated Press Stylebook exhorts: “Use blond as a noun for males and as an adjective for all applications: She has blond hair. Use blonde as a noun for females.”

Source: https://www.cjr.org/analysis/blondes_brunettes_chaperone.php

And, as has been much discussed before, in the U.S., NOT ALL policemen and policewomen are police officers.  The best keywords are policeman or policewoman or police, NOT police-officer.

The keyword entry in the list above would correct the colloquial word "cop" to the more appropriate "police-officer." These keywords are synonyms, and accordingly should be merged.

"Cop" is not a synonym with "policeman" or "policewoman," so it would make little sense to merge "cop" into one of those words.

I thought about merging "cop" into "police" rather than "police-officer." I am still potentially open to that, even though "cop" and "police" are not really synonyms (one refers to a person, while the other is more general and refers to either a person or a group of people). I still think "police-officer" is the best replacement for "cop," but I could be talked into using "police" instead. 

Although it is not really relevant here (in this discussion regarding "cop"), I  disagree with your suggestion that "policeman" is a better term than "police officer." There is a tendency as of late in everyday English away from "policeman" and "policewoman," which is exactly why @DataOrganizer did a lot of work to change "policeman" and "policewoman" to "male-police-officer" and "female-police-officer," respectively, in the IMDb keywords. 

You have previously claimed that "Police officer is a higher rank than policeman and policewoman." I don't think this is correct. Can you cite any authority for this proposition? 

Moreover, the terms "policeman" and "policewoman" are not used by police departments today, especially not to denote job titles or descriptions.

The term "police officer" is used today both to refer to specific types of police personnel, as well as a general catch-all to describe all the various types of police positions. You can see that in this source, which uses "police officer" for both meanings in the very same document:

Police ranks and hierarchy at a glance

Before we get started, it’s important to note that the naming conventions and rank structures of law enforcement agencies aren’t all uniform. Federal agencies have their own structures while local law enforcement organizations can vary depending on the community served. The following police officer ranks best align with a hierarchy commonly found in municipal police organizations:

• Police technician
• Police officer/patrol officer/police detective
• Police corporal
• Police sergeant
• Police lieutenant
• Police captain
• Deputy police chief
• Chief of police

Source: Police Ranks: Breaking Down 8 Different Law Enforcement Positions

Also, man-and-woman are not "in" (inside) a bed, but are "on" (atop) a bed. The best keyword here would be "man-and-woman-share-a-bed."  A woman or man (alone) is also not inside a bed, but atop it.

Anyone lying in a bed is absolutely "in" the bed. It's the same as when we say that someone is sitting "in" a chair. To suggest that someone is not "in" a bed (or a chair) because they are not literally inside of the bed (or the chair) is to disregard common English.

I also don't like using the word "share" here, given the many dictionary definitions of "share" that involve dividing or apportioning equal shares, e.g., "to divide, apportion, or receive equally." There is also a connotation with the word "share" of cooperation or some kind of consent. I realise that not all meanings of "share" involve equal apportionment, but it's still an imprecise word, and an unnecessary one in this context. If a man and a woman are in bed together, and the woman is actively trying to shove the man out of the bed, are they "sharing" the bed? Arguably not.

For those reasons, I avoid using the word "share" in this context.

And with all that said, in my list #10 (and repeated in my list #11) I previously proposed the following merger:

man-and-woman-share-a-bed (234 titles) -->  man-and-woman-in-bed (184 titles) --> man-and-woman-in-a-bed (79 titles)

In her response to my list #11, @Michelle made a similar point to what I have just explained:

The keyword I retained was "man-and-woman-share-a-bed", as there may be some slight unique differences in "sharing a bed" verses "in a bed".

(Michelle added that sentence about this keyword when editing her response, and I actually didn't see it until just now.)

In deference to IMDb staff's determination that there could be differences between "in-a-bed" and "share-a-bed" (a determination that I happen to agree with), I am refraining from re-proposing merger of those keywords.

However, unless I am missing something, "in-bed" and "in-a-bed" are effectively the same thing. Hence my proposal in the list above to make the following merger:

man-and-woman-in-bed (193 titles) ---> man-and-woman-in-a-bed (85 titles)

Or am I missing something? Is there a difference between being "in bed" and "in a bed?"