On the main site, the ([nearly invisible](http://meta.mathoverflow.net/questions/123/can-we-make-the-cite-link-bigger)) cite button found in the share menu gives an example citation and gives both bibtex and amsref `misc` entries that are easy to cut and paste.

![Citation Menu][1]

Unfortunately, the mechanism to generate the bibtex entry has [some bugs](http://meta.mathoverflow.net/questions/1002/dont-html-encode-quotes-when-creating-suggested-bibtex-entries).

    @MISC {22350,
    TITLE = {What are some examples of colorful language in serious mathematics  papers?},
    AUTHOR = {François G. Dorais (http://mathoverflow.net/users/2000/francois-g-dorais)},
    HOWPUBLISHED = {MathOverflow},
    NOTE = {URL:http://mathoverflow.net/q/22350 (version: 2010-04-23)},
    EPRINT = {http://mathoverflow.net/q/22350},
    URL = {http://mathoverflow.net/q/22350}
    }

To get a proper entry from this: 

* First decode any [HTML encoded characters](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Character_encodings_in_HTML). For example, `&#231` above should be replaced by `ç`, `{\c c}`, or equivalent. If you use special characters like `ç`, make sure to use the LaTeX package [`inputenc`](http://www.ctan.org/pkg/inputenc) with the appropriate encoding option (e.g. `utf8`). Also use [bibtex8](http://www.ctan.org/tex-archive/biblio/bibtex/8-bit) since the original bibtex only supports the 7-bit [ASCII character set](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ASCII).

* Since bibtex tries to parse the author field and break it into parts (first, last,  suffix, etc.), it is best to remove the parenthetical link to the user profile since that will often break the parsing mechanism. (An alternative is to only use the link to the user profile and delete the name, but that might lead to sorting issues.)

* Since this post is an answer rather than a question, consider editing the title to make this clearer. You may also consider changing the URL to `http://mathoverflow.net/a/22350`.

* Bibtex traditionally only supports `YEAR` and `MONTH` of publication, which is unfortunately too coarse for MO posts. Fortunately, many styles do recognize the `DATE` field; consider adding it. If the post has a nontrivial revision history, you may want to put a date other than the first posting.

* If the bibtex style you use does recognize the `EPRINT` or `URL` fields, the visibly redundant entries containing the post URL could result in it being printed two or three times. Consequently, you may have to remove some of these entries to fit your preferred bibtex style.

* If you use the `hyperref` package, you could also wrap the URL in a `\url` command in the `NOTE` field so that it becomes clickable. Do not do this for the `url` field since styles that use this field will normally do the wrapping for you. A few styles support the `URLDATE` field which, combined with `URL`, is perhaps a better alternative than the given `NOTE` field.

* The use of the `EPRINT` field is extremely style dependent. Some styles will do something reasonable with the field given above but many more will not. Maybe there is some style out there that understands `EPRINT` but not `URL`. Unless you use that style, it's probably better to remove the `EPRINT` field.

I guess the best advice is to get to know the bibtex style you use and figure out the best way to format a MO bibtex entry for that style. Unfortunately, publishers will often force authors to use peculiar styles. If that's the case, ask the editor to explain how to properly format a MO bibtex entry for that style.


  [1]: https://i.sstatic.net/l9cce.png