From what I have observed, single-word-requests are not always requests for exactly a single word because most descriptions – I'm not saying all, cannot be expressed in a single word without compromising on nuances of meaning. So I would rather consider them as alternative expressions, albeit short ones.
From that point of view, that is, making requests for alternative expressions if not always single-word-alternatives, needs to be encouraged. A non-native speaker like me would feel grateful if he could find people to help him with little phrases for ideas and concepts or anything he has on mind, like here.
So, we could consider retagging single-word-requests as alternative expressions – or something better, but disallowing such requests, I feel, would mean discouraging a part of the academic curiosity which plays an important role in learning and sharing.
