12 votes

I am worried about being off-topic

I'm a reader and a rare asker, not an answerer, so basically I'm one of those "eternal newbie" types. I feel the problem that you brought up is pertinent to any Stackexchange subforum, not this one ...
undercat's user avatar
  • 554
12 votes

I am worried about being off-topic

Like you, I stumbled on this site by accident. My own first interactions were less than felicitous: I was chastized (rightly, as I see it now) for a sloppy answer, and never officially "on-boarded". I ...
Cascabel_StandWithUkraine_'s user avatar
12 votes

Question deleted with multiple up-voted answers, why?

Why the question was judged unsuitable for this site This question did not meet the criteria for single word requests, and the original poster never edited it or returned to it in the approximately ...
herisson's user avatar
  • 80.4k
12 votes

("on hold" again) Why is this question closed, when the reason listed does not seem to be correct?

Too broad does not necessarily mean you, the OP, are asking for more than one answer. It is saying that there are too many possible solutions, the fact the OP accepted "atom", which had nothing ...
Mari-Lou A's user avatar
  • 90.3k
11 votes
Accepted

Why is my alliteration question off topic and put on hold?

Common ground I originally commented this: You could ask on Writers, but I don't think you necessarily need to ask on StackExchange at all. This is covered by the general references on rhetorical ...
Dan Bron's user avatar
  • 28.7k
11 votes

Should we update our site's policy against helping programmers choose names to use in their software?

I wholeheartedly agree with the rule that excludes requests for 'naming, including naming programming variables/classes' from this site, and I do not think that it should be changed. However, I do ...
jsw29's user avatar
  • 8,184
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,...
Heartspring's user avatar
  • 8,450
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 Leach's user avatar
  • 101k
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 ...
ColleenV's user avatar
  • 1,352
10 votes

Why is the culture here so broken?

I think it is important to note that the first review was three votes to leave the question open, so maybe the problem isn’t some pervasive broken culture but a different problem caused by “close” ...
ColleenV's user avatar
  • 1,352
10 votes

Why is the culture here so broken?

This question made me think about the ways in which English Language & Usage has changed since 2012, when I first visited it. Although the resulting commentary doesn't directly address the poster'...
Sven Yargs's user avatar
  • 162k
9 votes

Do questions about emoticons belong on ELU?

There is precedent for questions about emoticons. Some of these questions have been well-received, others not so much. I don't think it's wise to have a blanket policy for all emoticon questions; ...
J.R.'s user avatar
  • 58.7k
9 votes

Should the question about "I am [who/whom] G-d made me" be reopened?

The question "I am [who/whom] G-d made me" should be reopened. It's about "prescriptive" grammar, so the answer is not intuitively obvious. The example sentence combines two environments that are ...
herisson's user avatar
  • 80.4k
9 votes
Accepted

The "bare/bear with me" question: what should we do with it?

I asked a question about how to request a historical lock for old but seemingly popular questions that don't meet current site standards for preliminary research (or some other criterion) here: How ...
Sven Yargs's user avatar
  • 162k
9 votes

Please reopen this question now that I've given the anti-whom camp a name

You have asked two questions. Question 1: For those who are in the "whom is almost never truly necessary" camp: when you hear or read something in an old-fashioned but strictly speaking correct way,...
Andrew Leach's user avatar
  • 101k
9 votes

Replacing our "research" close reason

There are two distinct, although related, questions here: (1) Is the show-research reason for closing used too much, and, if so, how should its use be limited; (2) Should that reason (perhaps narrowed ...
jsw29's user avatar
  • 8,184
8 votes

Do questions about emoticons belong on ELU?

In general, the mere fact that a question is about emoticons does not warrant closure. The way emoticons are used makes them part of our language. You can look at usage, track etymology, and assess ...
Laurel's user avatar
  • 65.4k
8 votes
Accepted

Should "Why can we use inadequate but not 'inspecific'?" be reopened?

You make a specific and adequate claim that the post is not a duplicate. I agree with your thought to edit the question. I would suggest that you refer to the alleged duplicate and the rule of thumb ...
Kit Z. Fox's user avatar
  • 27.8k
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 ...
tchrist's user avatar
  • 134k
8 votes

Should we update our site's policy against helping programmers choose names to use in their software?

I think the principle we should use is that an EL&U question must be about the English language and/or its usage. As a programmer myself, I understand that picking a name is sometimes a linguistic ...
Lawrence's user avatar
  • 38.4k
7 votes

Why is my question locked?

When a question is "locked" it means that it cannot be unlocked by normal voting procedures and new answers cannot be posted. In this case, the community is also prevented from voting on the locked ...
Mari-Lou A's user avatar
  • 90.3k
7 votes

Can my question be re-opened now that it's edited?

TL;DR I doubt your question will be re-opened. The bottom-line reason is that the question is unlikely to occur to anyone else, and any answers won’t provide insight about English as a language. Let ...
Dan Bron's user avatar
  • 28.7k
7 votes

Replacing our "research" close reason

As my name was invoked regarding drafting text for the close modal and post notices, I thought I might offer some guidance in addition to what y'all have already discussed. What's presented below is ...
Catija's user avatar
  • 3,547
6 votes
Accepted

What should we do about closed questions that should be migrated?

If a question is closed here, it is generally because it does not meet our quality guidelines. (See What Types of Questions should I Avoid Asking.) If it is a decent question that meets the ...
Hellion's user avatar
  • 59.3k
6 votes

Question deleted with multiple up-voted answers, why?

(This answer simply states the general principles. I didn't vote to close or delete the question, so I'll leave it to those who did to confirm.) Whether a question is suitable for the site is decided ...
Lawrence's user avatar
  • 38.4k
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 ...
RaceYouAnytime's user avatar
6 votes

Holds, duplicates

Holds The data here shows that ELU had the third highest close rate in 2016 in the Stack Exchange network where 51.87% of all questions asked that year were closed. 2017's data is now in and we've ...
Laurel's user avatar
  • 65.4k
6 votes

Why is my question locked?

Sorry this is such a long answer, but I think I can help by clearing up some misconceptions about what happened and what the English Stack Exchange is for. Why was the question locked, and can it be ...
MetaEd's user avatar
  • 28.4k
6 votes

Unlock "Why use singular they?" then reopen

I don't understand why a post that was upvoted and received five answers could be deleted for any reason. The premise for deleting posts as explained on Meta, emphasis mine Abandoned, unanswered ...
Mari-Lou A's user avatar
  • 90.3k
6 votes

Is my question regarding all of the different meanings of 'as' fixed?

I do not quite think so. It is difficult to fix that question in terms of it being too broad, even if you reduced it down to literally one question. The problem is with how specific the question is. ...
Tonepoet's user avatar
  • 4,541

Only top scored, non community-wiki answers of a minimum length are eligible