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 ...
- 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 ...
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 ...
- 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 ...
- 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 ...
- 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 ...
- 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,...
- 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 LeachMod
- 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 ...
- 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” ...
- 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'...
- 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; ...
- 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 ...
- 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 ...
- 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 LeachMod
- 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 ...
- 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 ...
LaurelMod
- 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. FoxMod
- 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 ...
tchristMod
- 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 ...
- 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 ...
- 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 ...
- 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 ...
- 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 ...
- 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 ...
- 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 ...
- 22.3k
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 ...
LaurelMod
- 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 ...
- 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 ...
- 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. ...
- 4,541
Only top scored, non community-wiki answers of a minimum length are eligible