Re: [whatwg] the cite element

[Kristof Zelechovski]

I can imagine two reasons the CITE element cannot be defined as "citing
whom":
  1. Existing tools may assume it contains a title.
  2. A title is conventionally typeset in italic because it is an expression
that is a proper name although it does not really look like one, whereas the
author does not pose such problems with interpretation.  Compare:
  2a. This page is about birds. --- That page is about "Birds". (different
meaning)
  2b. This is a play by Shakespeare. --- Shakespeare was born in England.
(the same meaning)
IMHO,
Chris