Linked Questions
20 questions linked to/from Google is not General Reference
62
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2
answers
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Basic questions are not so basic
It has come up in other threads that we have a lot of "basic" or "lowest common denominator" questions. However, a few myths about this need to be put to rest.
First, we do have a general reference ...
- 54.1k
34
votes
6
answers
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What kind of questions ARE we looking for here?
I've been lurking on ELU for around six months now, and in my time here, I've seen many, many questions being closed due to being off-topic. More than any other SE site. I've browsed the meta for ...
- 863
30
votes
5
answers
722
views
Why are most new questions being downvoted?
I was scrolling through the list of newest asked questions and noticed that only 3 out of 15 had non-negative votes for the question. Is this just an anomaly or is the quality of the average question ...
- 631
29
votes
6
answers
453
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General Reference = general clairvoyance?
This question asked what you call those words that sound like the sound they make. It was closed as general reference. Really!? How the hell is the guy supposed to look up the answer when he doesn't ...
- 18.2k
22
votes
3
answers
438
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Show Me the Reference!
It's time for everyone's favorite game show, Show Me the Reference! The following seven questions were each placed on hold as general reference within the past week:
Is it correct to use an ...
- 18.2k
18
votes
0
answers
232
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About Reference Questions
It seems that we must once again clarify what questions should and should not be closed with the close reason:
Questions that can be answered using commonly-available references are off-topic. A ...
- 14.5k
16
votes
1
answer
249
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Reword General Reference to include research / ELL
This is a spin-off suggestion from Add a 'too basic' close reason. I put forth that we already do have a 'too basic' reason, General Reference, but the wording should be improved. Here is what I ...
- 17.8k
15
votes
1
answer
327
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Who is voting to close all these questions?
I just went though the closure review queue, consisting of a couple dozen questions with close votes. At least 75 percent of these questions were not even remotely closeable according to the ...
- 18.2k
13
votes
2
answers
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Request to reopen "Literal Meaning of 'Gosh'"
I think the closed question, Literal Meaning of 'Gosh' should be reopened.
The general reference reason to close specifies that a question
can be definitively and permanently answered by a single ...
- 24.8k
11
votes
6
answers
3k
views
What is a "General Reference": Wikipedia? TV Tropes? Urban Dictionary?
I ask because the question "https://english.stackexchange.com/questions/10659/what-does-tldr-mean#comment111627_10659" has been closed as general reference, but the only links I see are:
http://en....
- 274
10
votes
4
answers
397
views
About EL&U usage, purpose, and comments
I simply have to ask, and lash out (a tiny bit), about some of the comments and messages I have received on answers I've provided. I've had at least one moderator (I think?) and another senior member ...
- 2,397
7
votes
1
answer
500
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"Masters degree" vs. "Master's degree" is not the same question as "Master's degrees" vs. "Masters' degrees"
I would like to request more reopen votes for the following question: Does a person have two “masters’ degrees” or two “master’s degrees”?
As described clearly in the question post, it is not ...
- 80.3k
5
votes
2
answers
175
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Is a question that can be answered by trivial googling a valid question?
My question is about What does 'Gentleman jockey wins the Derby' mean. The OP would have found an answer -- or a strong clue -- if he had googled "gentleman jockey". There are nine ...
- 26.2k
4
votes
4
answers
227
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Answers that are direct quotes from references: just right or GR?
Lately there are a number of answers to questions that are mostly copy-pasted quotes from references:
The origin of the term “Baker's Dozen”? and also another answer to that question
What is the ...
- 70.8k
4
votes
1
answer
114
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Acquiescing to other Q&A sites
A user asked a question about the phrase dot and carry one. The first comment queried whether the question qualified as general reference and supplied a link to an answer. The link goes to an external ...
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