14
votes
Why was there such a negative reaction to this question: "Word for a person from another race?"
Well, if you're missing something, I'm missing it too. I have no idea what the close-voters were thinking, but in any case, it's reopened now.
(Hint for the future: there really isn't much you can ...
- 32.8k
13
votes
Accepted
Is it really helpful to tell a user to look something up in a dictionary?
No Stack Exchange site is a tutorial service.
No Stack Exchange site is a research service.
No Stack Exchange site is a substitute for looking in a standard reference work.
I propose that any question ...
Andrew LeachMod
- 100k
11
votes
Accepted
Seeing the reason behind close votes
Clicking the "Close" link does not commit you to casting a close vote.
Once you click the link, a dialog will appear showing a list of close reasons. If others have cast close votes already, a ...
- 59.2k
11
votes
Accepted
Single-word-request rule clarification needed
I agree with Andrew Leach's comment that closure as opinion-based is a bit odd, given that to some degree all SWRs are seeking an opinion on what might be the right word to use. However, I'm guessing ...
11
votes
Replacing our "research" close reason
Dictionaries don't necessarily answer super basic grammar questions, so the new close-reason wouldn't easily apply to those types of 'too-easy' questions. Are we just going to migrate those all? AFAIK,...
- 7,926
10
votes
Close reason. Unclear
The question is unclear because you have done some research and come up with an answer, and have not advanced any cogent reason why what you found is unacceptable. Thus you have answered your own ...
Andrew LeachMod
- 100k
10
votes
Accepted
Why can edits to a closed question be rejected as "should have been written as a comment or an answer"?
A one line, low effort question should not be reopened. Even if the author was still engaged with the site, they shouldn't be rewarded for the extensive rewrite needed to salvage it unless they did ...
- 1,352
9
votes
How to vote to "Leave Open" without going through every question on the Close queue
Actually, the most effective way I have found to keep a question open is to leave a comment explaining why it be kept open.
Clicking "leave open" is a fairly weak tool. At most, enough "leave open" ...
- 28.3k
9
votes
Are we no longer allowed to recommend migration to ELL in closing?
To be migrated, a question must be:
The question must have been originally posted on our site. It cannot have already been migrated to our site. If it was already migrated hither, then we cannot ...
tchristMod
- 134k
8
votes
Accepted
Are 'symbols' and their etymology/usage on-topic?
The help center welcomes expert-level questions about English spelling and punctuation, and about the history of English words.¹ The list of welcome topics is illustrative, not definitive. Expert-...
- 28.3k
8
votes
There should be a close-vote option labeled as: "there is no discernible research done before asking the question"
Now, this is only scratching the surface, but there is an option I think should be added to the list: "there is no discernible research done before asking the question". It doesn't need to be written ...
- 7,128
8
votes
My questions are wrongly closed and I am not allowed to ask questions, even before my questions were answered
Your questions have not been “wrongfully closed”. Please read:
Our site tour.
Our Help Center's guidance on why some questions are closed.
Our Help Center's guidance on how to ask questions here.
Our ...
tchristMod
- 134k
7
votes
Potentially improved "proofreading" close reason (for the banner)
I fully support a change. The key point is that this site wants questions about an underlying principle of grammar or usage. Many people who have had questions closed complain that they have ...
- 14.7k
7
votes
Accepted
Why did this question get migrated?
Here are the important parts of the timeline:
You asked the question on Signal Processing.
You got an answer there.
You left the following comment on said answer:
[...] If you think there is no ...
LaurelMod
- 64.3k
7
votes
What is wrong with a discussion of opinion?
Using 'opinion-based' as a term of condemnation on this site (as on other Stack Exchange sites) was originally intended to rule out the questions like:
What is the cutest word for . . . ?
What is ...
- 8,117
7
votes
Replacing our "research" close reason
I wholeheartedly support this observation and the proposed change.
It should be noted that this is very close to how that very closing-reason was originally devised here, as General Reference.
...
6
votes
What is the difference between opinion and fact?
From the following snippets of your question:
We are assured that on EL&U questions must not be posted whose answers can only be opinion-based;
it came to me as a shock today when someone with ...
- 38.3k
6
votes
Is it really helpful to tell a user to look something up in a dictionary?
Don't regard "Did you look that up in a dictionary?" as a rude question. Take it at face value. It's a hint, a prompt.
Either the O.P. used a dictionary first, or not.
If not, a dictionary ...
- 58.6k
6
votes
Why was there such a negative reaction to this question: "Word for a person from another race?"
I can tell you what I was thinking when I voted to close it, and my thinking is neatly encapsulated in Mari-Lou's comment below her own answer: "the OP didn't specify".
As the question stands, it is ...
- 15.1k
6
votes
Why is "Did noted 17th century poet Katherine Philips make a grammatical error?" on hold?
Since I provided the original close reason I'll gladly elaborate.
Criticism, discussion, and analysis of English literature is off-topic per help center. This includes poetry, so the analysis of it ...
- 5,417
6
votes
Does the "proofreading" close reason cover questions that do identify specific words or phrases?
There is only a limited amount of space, character-count, whatever, allowed in the custom close reasons, so they tend to be either terse or densely-packed like the current General Reference reason.
A ...
Andrew LeachMod
- 100k
6
votes
How to vote to "Leave Open" without going through every question on the Close queue
One way to keep a question open is to edit it in order to render the close reasons invalid. Note that you may need to do quite a bit of work.
If it's not a duplicate, say why the nominated question ...
Andrew LeachMod
- 100k
6
votes
Reviewing Close Votes
Help center explains:
Closing is a democratic voting process where the community identifies questions that duplicate existing content, are unreasonable to answer in their current state, or do not ...
NVZMod
- 22.6k
6
votes
Please consider reopening these 3 recently closed questions
It sounds like you're not arguing that these questions should be reopened because they're quality questions, but rather because they can't be properly pigeonholed into any of the proper close-vote ...
- 22.3k
6
votes
Why was this question about a single word's pronunciation ("whinge") closed as off-topic?
The What topics can I ask about here? help center page implies, but does not outright state, that simple & basic questions that can be easily answered by looking them up are off topic:
If your ...
- 924
6
votes
my Question about adjective-adverb "double duty" got closed
What is ‘opinion-based’ about your question?
Three members of our community cast individual votes to close your
question. As none of them has said anything else in the matter, the
close-reason of “...
tchristMod
- 134k
6
votes
Replacing our "research" close reason
In one of your suggested CV reasons (I guess it would be "usage guidance"?), you included this text:
Make sure a link to that dictionary has been provided in the comments before closing.
I ...
- 7,899
5
votes
Has the insufficient research close reason been retired?
There are lots of high rep users who disagree with closing these
questions. They have the right to disagree and also to answer them if
they wish. But shouldn't the mods be modeling the site ...
- 79.1k
5
votes
Accepted
Why is "Did noted 17th century poet Katherine Philips make a grammatical error?" on hold?
I've never seen that question before, but if I had to guess, I'd say its primary flaw is the question rests on the premise that poetry must or should be grammatical. Invalidating Phillips' poetic ...
5
votes
Accepted
How can users nominate old, popular questions for exemption from closure as being of 'historical value'?
Apologies if you've already seen this, but the process is described to some extent at the following Meta Stack Exchange post: What is a historical lock, and what is it used for?
How do I request a ...
- 79.1k
Only top scored, non community-wiki answers of a minimum length are eligible