34
votes
Answers in comments
Option 3: Answers may be made in comments where the question is off-topic but we still wish to help the asker.
This seems to be standard practice; we try to be helpful.
Andrew LeachMod
- 101k
19
votes
Answers in comments
Option 6: Partial answers may appear in comments and may be used by anyone who wishes to post a complete answer, with the understanding that mods may still delete the comments at a whim, without ...
- 38.4k
12
votes
Should we discourage the use of argot such as AmE, BrE, ELU, ...?
ELU is for linguists, etymologists, and serious English language enthusiasts -- in other words, specialists. Specialists have their own jargon, and they use it routinely to communicate clearly and ...
- 28.4k
12
votes
Answers in comments
I hope it will be helpful if I list the main problems with comment answers. Any proposed solution can be evaluated against them to see how it holds up.
Someone has helpfully numbered these problems ...
- 28.4k
9
votes
Accepted
Can a newly constructed word answer a single word request?
A question asking for people to coin a word is out of scope for this site. A coinage in an answer might be in scope, depending on how well-reasoned it is.
If the answer is a coinage which follows ...
- 28.4k
8
votes
Answers in comments
I upvoted Andrew Leach's "Option 3" answer, but I wanted to go into more detail about the comment-deletion policy that I think makes the most sense.
I think there is a difference between the "...
- 80.3k
8
votes
What to do with yes/no questions?
One-word answers are definitely not acceptable. (In fact, the software doesn't even allow them).
A question that is formulated in a way that seems to call for a one-word answer may need some ...
- 80.3k
7
votes
Should we discourage the use of argot such as AmE, BrE, ELU, ...?
(Don't know what this adds to @MetaEd's excellent answer, but here goes.)
I really don't think this is a problem (at least it's never been raised in meta before.)
Some background might help to ...
- 55.2k
7
votes
Accepted
Comment(s) or Speculative Answer?
If you've come up with an answer, even a partial answer, it's better as an answer so it can be peer reviewed.
If it isn't really even a partial answer, but it would help the asker do more research, ...
- 28.4k
7
votes
In relation to answers in the answer section, what is a "complete answer"?
At some point after I had collected several thousand points (I'm not sure how), I suddenly started to get in trouble for writing skimpy answers. Some individuals were not nice when pointing this out ...
- 21.4k
5
votes
Should we compile synonymous answers?
Taking an idea from another answer to make a better answer would be good as Meta-Ed mentioned, but it should also be noted that we disallow exact duplicate answers. While an answer that compiles other ...
- 4,531
4
votes
Should we compile synonymous answers?
If you decide to take an idea from another answer, that’s acceptable as long as you properly credit all work by others that you include in your post. There’s detailed information in the site help ...
- 28.4k
4
votes
May I speculate in comments?
We are a shoot-askers-down community with a crew of hawkish eagle-eyed downvoters ready to slay and humiliate new users with the temerity to ask a question that they haven't the vocabulary to ask ...
- 45.1k
3
votes
May I speculate in comments?
I for one (as one of those who provided "an" answer) feel almost anxious about going on participating. Especially because of the "scratching the ridiculous"-level of logical ...
3
votes
Answers in comments
Here is one (admittedly contrived, legalistic) argument that can be used to excuse the practice of answering some questions in comments.
Suppose that somebody, in good faith, asks a reasonable ...
- 8,187
2
votes
In relation to answers in the answer section, what is a "complete answer"?
Sometimes I feel like an alternative answer, that has far more information than a comment war[r]ants, helps a question while not being "the best" answer. I would refrain from voting down a lesser ...
1
vote
May I speculate in comments?
mods may still delete the comments at a whim, without notice.
pretty much says it.
Note that the lock now on the question only applies to comments:
Comments on this question have been disabled, but ...
- 80.3k
Only top scored, non community-wiki answers of a minimum length are eligible