29
votes
Please vote on this proposal to ban from question titles certain words whose posts we usually end up closing and deleting
Yes, but not for trusted users the 'old hands'
This ban should only be implemented for new users.
I suggest that users with the Established User Close/Reopen privilege should not be limited, in the ...
- 7,811
20
votes
Please vote on this proposal to ban from question titles certain words whose posts we usually end up closing and deleting
No, we should not adopt this proposal!
Vote this answer up if you think the proposal should not be adopted. If you disagree, upvote the corresponding aye-answer.
(Feel free to add your own answer ...
tchristMod
- 133k
17
votes
What can be done to bring up site quality?
Update: This suggestion is now live! You can see the discussion that led up to it here or experience it for yourself on the ask question page.
I didn't have time yet to go through all the questions, ...
LaurelMod
- 63k
17
votes
I didn't know the yellow ax question had been locked. Did you?
My thoughts on this...
I had never crossed with a Historical Lock post before, so I firstly tried to understand what it is and what it means. I found this reference on meta. The relevant parts of it, ...
- 2,917
15
votes
Please vote on this proposal to ban from question titles certain words whose posts we usually end up closing and deleting
Yes, with proper scrutiny
There should be a new meta post in which (an updated version of) the list of banned words is posted as an answer, for everyone to see.
That post should have a separate ...
- 7,137
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 ...
- 32.6k
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 ...
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
- 98.5k
10
votes
Please vote on this proposal to ban from question titles certain words whose posts we usually end up closing and deleting
There are some problems with this proposal.
One is that this is a website about English Language & Usage, so every word we outright ban is going to be a word that can not be used in the title ...
- 4,521
9
votes
Advanced users of English should be more welcome here
Everyone is welcome on ELU, not just advanced users of English. Quoting TimLymington,
Stack Exchange, as a network, does not discriminate between users. If you ask thoughtful questions and give ...
NVZMod
- 22.5k
9
votes
What can be done to bring up site quality?
UPDATE
I go through swings (or is it moods?), some days I feel more optimistic about EL&U's future and permanence on the Internet, other days I feel the website is just doomed. The last week or ...
- 88.4k
8
votes
Please vote on this proposal to ban from question titles certain words whose posts we usually end up closing and deleting
Yes, we should adopt this proposal!
Vote this answer up to say that you think the proposal has merit and should be adopted. You can vote it down to say that you don’t think so, or you can vote up the ...
tchristMod
- 133k
8
votes
What can be done to bring up site quality?
In my experience, you can't do much to change whether or not the first question someone asks is good quality; you can only change whether the second question they ask is better than the first. I have ...
- 1,342
8
votes
I didn't know the yellow ax question had been locked. Did you?
Just my thoughts...
I'm a big fan of Dan Bron's answer — it's one of a kind, and I've never seen anything like it, and in fact, I think that's the major reason people were interested in the ...
NVZMod
- 22.5k
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-...
- 28.1k
8
votes
Accepted
Shall we make a list of Low-Quality-Questions regularly on Meta?
As far as I know, there is no rule against posting on Meta an annotated list of questions that you would like other people to join you in close-voting, or against updating such a list as often as you ...
- 158k
8
votes
How can word choice questions be closed for being opinion-based?
The word-choice tag is for questions which are making a choice between a known set of words.
Your question is not about choosing the most appropriate from a list you have already curated. You are ...
Andrew LeachMod
- 98.5k
7
votes
Is it a bad thing to have your question marked as a duplicate?
Answering your questions in no particular order...
In general, duplicate questions are not desirable because you end up with answers to the same actual question spread out across multiple question ...
- 17.7k
6
votes
What can be done to bring up site quality?
I like EL&U and would like to see it survive.
I think ColeenV has it right, that it's not the low-quality questions that are the problem, but attracting and developing new users (and keeping the ...
- 14k
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 ...
- 15k
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 ...
- 5,379
6
votes
Please vote on this proposal to ban from question titles certain words whose posts we usually end up closing and deleting
Yes, but we should commit to reviewing policy effects in a few months.
In general, I agree with the urgency of the issue. When a significant portion of questions are moderated, we should look for ...
- 37.1k
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
How to improve "How did 'despite' semantically shift to signify 'without being affected by something'?"?
You could, as the closure screed suggests, clarify what you're asking. At present the question gives several citations to show that despite meant and means 'in the face of' or 'no matter what can be ...
- 34.9k
5
votes
Why is the question off-topic?
Close votes happen, even on etymology questions that show research, which are arguably some of the most on-topic questions for this site. That’s nothing new, though in this case I really have no guess ...
LaurelMod
- 63k
5
votes
Reopen question about how to format footnote references?
This question was correctly closed as off-topic and should not be re-opened. It has nothing to do with English language or usage: the same problem exists if you're writing in Spanish.
However, Stack ...
4
votes
What can be done to bring up site quality?
Just a few thoughts:
Improving the site is both a question of quality and quantity.
A few good questions among a plethora of off-topic LQQs is a quantity problem that affects the quality of the ...
- 65.7k
4
votes
I didn't know the yellow ax question had been locked. Did you?
I didn't know the yellow ax question had been locked. Did you?
Not until I saw this hot meta post, no. Though I'm glad attention has been brought back to it, I've now re-read it and found a lot of ...
- 14.7k
4
votes
How does the current version of the "cyan" pronunciation question not show research?
The timeline available to moderators shows that the question was closed with five votes, then you edited it and it was reopened with five votes. It's now had five different people vote to close again, ...
Andrew LeachMod
- 98.5k
4
votes
Why was my Groucho Marx question closed?
The question itself was not closed.
Stack Exchange as a whole has automatic systems in place that delete questions that meet certain criteria. (Affectionately known as the roomba.)
You can review ...
- 28.9k
Only top scored, non community-wiki answers of a minimum length are eligible