Questions tagged [answers]
The answers tag has no usage guidance.
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An answer about spelling was deleted. Why?
December 7, 2022
An answer, which was highly upvoted, has been recently deleted by a mod.
After searching briefly on the net, the content seems to be original and the author's explanation more than ...
- 87.8k
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Is it good to migrate questions which are on-topic and have answers?
Question in question: What is the difference between an account and an approach?
This question is on-topic on ELU and received two answers. The accepted answer says that the usage of "account&...
- 3,068
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What is the current policy for answering questions?
The Issues
I encountered two related issues within the last 24 hours. I'm only using these instances to highlight what some contributers who do not have a high reputation get met with.
Earlier ...
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Why are (advanced) users answering poor questions in comments? [duplicate]
I just went through the close review queue and found the following questions which are typical of a problem I've been seeing recently:
'In tone' meaning
A question that relevant to commas
...
- 5,021
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Is scolding other users in the comments section worthy of a flag?
I've noticed a few users who feel it necessary to scold others for their comments. For example, admonishing people for answering questions in the comments section.
The comments section on this ...
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About closed questions
I am a new member. Can I answer an unanswered closed question? If so, how? I have an answer for a closed unanswered question
25
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5
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UNDELETED: Deleting a highly upvoted but questionably correct answer (the one with the subjunctive)
In one of the first questions on this site, "If I was" vs "If I were", there are a slew of answers.
The question had a somewhat more recent (Feb 2018) spate of activity with a very authoritative, ...
- 70k
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Posting more than one answer [duplicate]
I did a fruitless search here, to see if this has already been asked: Can a person post more than one answer to the same question?
- 1,032
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Qualitative 'boundaries' for what it means to answer in comments
The topic of answers in comments has been brought up before (here and there and elsewhere), with MrHen providing a good summary of the community's attitude:
My opinion on that subject is that ...
- 38.2k
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References At Bottom Of Answer? [duplicate]
I have been told that users are required to cite sources to prove our answers, but a) barely anyone I've seen does this and can get away with it and b) what if there are no quality websites explaining ...
user280496
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An answer was removed, but my flag was declined nevertheless - why?
This is the answer:
Mimpi menjadi kenyataan.? Bukan kah segala sesuatu berawal dari mimpi. Selama mimpi kita Masi di tekuni dengan niat & tekad yang keras, pintu kesuksesan pasti kita raih. ...
NVZMod
- 22.5k
9
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3
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Protocol when a comment provides a reasonable answer [duplicate]
Please bear with me: I am still a learner in this forum.
In a question such as this, where a correct answer (well, one I would have given) has been provided and the question seems interesting, is it ...
- 1,022
2
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2
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159
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Can I answer with translated proverbs or expressions?
This question about a translated Russian proverb sparked my meta:
Words are not Sparrows, once they have flown they cannot be recaptured
I commented under it with my own translation of an Indian ...
NVZMod
- 22.5k
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0
answers
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I've flagged to remove a warning template, and haven't received a response. Should I panic?
This answer was posted on July 15, received a warning template on July 19, was edited on July 20, and I flagged it to have the warning template removed on the same day, and haven't (as of July 28) ...
- 17.9k
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Lack of context with this template
An answer (since modified, this is the version which got templated) I recently gave had the following template added to it:
We're looking for long answers that provide some explanation and context. ...
- 17.9k
-4
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Why is this answer not suited to the question?
Why are the words 'Superficial' and 'Ostensible' considered a bad answer to this question?
From what I understand, the person who asked the question implied that the compliment receiver inwardly ...
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Writing a better help page on "How do I write a good answer" [updated]
New users often give answers that are too short or that have other problems that may cause them to be considered "very low quality" (which means they are often flagged for deletion). People can leave ...
- 76.7k
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answers
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How do deal with answers to a "try to guess" question
I found When does a question..., but it seems to focus mainly on how to determine when a question is worthy of a close vote for lack of context, inciting only guesses.
My curiosity is with the ...
- 4,954
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Are there any topics that are off limits in answers/comments?
I've noticed lately that a lot of people are taking every opportunity they have to take a negative topic and reference the newest US President, Donald Trump.
Not that I'm trying to get people to stop ...
- 4,954
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Six votes recommending deletion, but not deleted
This answer to Is there any word for “killing someone by conspiracy”?
got into the Low Quality Review queue,
where it got six “Recommend Deletion” votes (and no others)
and the review is labeled as ...
- 7,174
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How to prevent automatic downvotes on an answer after editing it?
I frequently flesh out answers from new users; adding relevant dictionary definitions, links and usage examples. Almost every time I do that, the answer immediately gets a -1 score.
Some new users ...
NVZMod
- 22.5k
6
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4
answers
345
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How bad is it to answer a question that might be unsuitable for the site?
I have the impression one loses brownie points when posting an answer to a question that will obviously be closed in short order.
Where should one draw the line in deciding whether to post an answer ...
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What's the best way to address an antisemitic slur suggested as an answer over a year ago?
This answer from a year ago suggested "Shylock" as a slang term for "debt-collector" and received 4 upvotes. Academics still debate whether Shakespeare's character Shylock in The Merchant of Venice ...
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The answer to this question is great! But the question is closed and a bit hard to find
"Put me in touch with whomever created it"?
I think F.E.'s answer here is very good and complete--the best overview on the case of fused relative pronouns that I've seen on this site.
But ...
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answer
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Can we revive a valuable answer that was removed?
In a recent question, there was an answer given that I thought was quite valuable, even though it didn't seem to be an answer that would be accepted as final / correct. The answer had upvotes and ...
- 3,863
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Are answers that only cite personal experience acceptable for questions about dialects?
In general, answers on this site are supposed to have references. This was established early on by the top answers to the following Meta post: Since it isn't in the FAQ, are we as answerers ...
- 76.7k
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What's the rationale for responding to a question with a comment as opposed to an answer? [duplicate]
I'm a newbie to the forum and I notice that questions sometimes get both comments and answers, or sometimes just comments, and wonder what the rationale is for this distinction. Does the difference ...
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Can a newly constructed word answer a single word request?
When I searched for this question, I found questions regarding whether asking for people to coin words is on-topic.
I have a little bit of a different question.
Suppose if OP is making a single word ...
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On deleting low quality single-word-request answers
This morning, I and my fellow moderators are faced with a quandary. Once again, we have a pile of disputed low quality flags in our queue, the majority of which are for answers to single-word-requests....
Kit Z. FoxMod
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Every one a winner, or how do you deal with multiple suggestions in a single answer? [duplicate]
I frequently see questions about word-suggestions, something like:
I am looking for a term to describe X.
Questions like this could attract a lot of answers, like this:
You could call it Y.
Or ...
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1
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110
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Folklore or official policy?
At this question: Usage of "do not " vs "does not", I saw the following in a comment:
As Reg Dwight has said, '[W]e write stuff in comments that is too obvious to qualify for an ...
- 21.4k
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In this scenario, who gets the bounty?
This may be down to a matter of opinion. In which case, feel free to downvote/close the question.
I've been looking for a word for ages: A word that fits the concept of "only do something once, ...
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Is Urban Dictionary an acceptable source?
The reason I ask this is because an answer I gave to a question quoted an Urban Dictionary definition and received 2 downvotes without any explanation as to why. Could anyone please tell me what (if ...
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Is it appropriate to include relevant personal information?
I recently posted an answer; and I am writing this in order to ascertain the appropriateness of personal information which I usually omit to ensure an unbiased reaction to the media I produce. In my ...
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About answers to heavily edited questions (re alibi)
I wonder what the community policy is respecting question edits that change the meaning, and existing answers to earlier version of the question. I looked around a bit but only managed to find several ...
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What advice would you offer to a new EL&U user perplexed by the first downvote of an Answer they wrote?
I'm an earnest new user here at EL&U. I'm enjoying the site very much, and I'd like to make useful contributions.
I'm perplexed as to why someone downvoted this Answer that I wrote the other day. ...
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Combining answers a good thing?
Can/do/should we incorporate one or more answers into our own?
Is there value in combining two or more answers into one? See this, where I think the best answer includes two answers combined with ...
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Deleting an Answer
What are the "good" reasons for deleting someone else's answer? And, related,
— can you delete someone's answer with no reason?
— how many delete votes does it take to delete an answer?
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Why does this post require moderator advice on format?
Irritatingly I have taken some noise recently on my original answer (prior to editing) here - My original answer was "Are you referring to "open secret"...".
This was jumped on almost immediately by ...
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How to handle old questions with answers stuck in a comment?
I am noticing a bunch of older questions stuck in the Unanswered queue that have an acceptable answer posted as a comment instead of an answer. For the first few I found I just copied the answer into ...
- 35.4k
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How can I inform an OP that I may have answered his or her question?
EDIT I have shortened my original question because I feel the lengthy preamble added nothing of value, I have accepted Simchona's answer and I don't like wasting people's time. So, here it is the ...
- 87.8k
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Undelete deleted answer: clanking vs. clinking
I find it odd that this answer to the question What's the action of banging two beers together called? was deleted for being a comment when it clearly provides an answer ("clank"). While it can ...
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How was my answer deleted recently?
I've just entered English.SE (some 5 days ago). On the first day, I answered a question regarding the word "fantabulous". Now when I look into my profile, it indicates that I haven't posted anything ...
user32329
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Answering at the same time as asking ok?
I posted an answer at the same time as asking, by clicking the "Answer your own question" checkbox.
A user said in response
That's not the way one asks a question, with its detail and background
...
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When should a question be up-voted? When should a question be answered?
Should a question be up-voted only when it shows research effort and/or is useful and clear? Is a question useful and clear if it's interesting?
Should a question be answered only when the question ...
- 30.7k
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Should downvotes require comments? [duplicate]
Possible Duplicate:
Why is it not mandatory to provide comments on a down-vote?
Some questions can be unclear, and most users are nice enough to leave a comment on the question to let OP know ...
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Why was this answer deleted?
I posted this answer in good faith, but it's been deleted.
If you can't see it because you don't have sufficient rep to see deleted answers, it said the apostrophe in Oakland Athletics logo relates ...
- 137k
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Good answers to closed questions
This question was closed today because it was a duplicate of this question. Today's question, however, had a really good answer — by one Jon Purdy — which I believe actually adds to the answers given ...
- 7,785
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Comment or answer?
I sometimes hesitate using answer or comment. In this case I didn't hesitate because I didn't think giving a link was worth an answer. (I suppose my subconscious was reluctant to see me gain undue ...
- 4,164
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Is the "somebody else answered while you were typing" notification working?
Yesterday I found that I'd answered a question a minute or two after somebody else (with overlap) and thought I had just not seen the notice that you usually get when someone answers while you are. ...
- 17.8k