26
votes
How much research is needed?
It's perfectly reasonable for reviewers to assume that a common expression can be explained by consulting ordinary reference works. They shouldn't have to do that search. If it can't be, it's up to ...
Andrew LeachMod
- 94.6k
24
votes
Accepted
Should Scots language questions be considered in the English language community?
Here's what Wikipedia has to say about the status of the Scots language with respect to English:
Because there are no universally accepted criteria for distinguishing
languages from dialects, ...
- 28.4k
24
votes
Accepted
Why aren’t my questions being answered
I'll try and help by reviewing some of your questions and pointing out what might be putting people off from answering them.
Let's start with Why are most interjections a variation of God/Jesus’ name?...
- 28.4k
21
votes
How can I rekindle interest in an old question?
Don't be duped
No, you can't ask it again. It will just be closed as a dupe.
The first rule to remember is that, in general, there is no guarantee you'll get an answer to a question, here or ...
- 28.4k
17
votes
How can I rekindle interest in an old question?
Tips for Newcomers
Avoid posting grammar questions at the weekends. The majority of regular users are away from their computers and generally have lives outside EL&U
Create a memorable, or, ...
- 85.4k
17
votes
Accepted
Do we want to enable post limits?
Up vote: Implement the 6/50 restriction.
Down vote: Do not implement the 6/50 restriction.
- 4,805
15
votes
Has a clique of narrow-minded but self-important people gained enough power to exert a censorious control over content?
No, this is one of those SE sites where this is an automatic message completely automatically generated by the SE engine. And by "those SE sites" I mean "all SE sites".
RegDwigнtMod
- 95.5k
13
votes
Accepted
Where are our new Yoichis or How I stopped worrying and started to love the ELU-ba-bomb
When I become disappointed with the inflow of current questions on EL&U, I resort to one of two strategies—neither of which involves worrying about how to improve the quality of new questions. ...
- 151k
11
votes
How do I gain reputation so I can participate more?
That's not quite how reputation works. Voting for other people's answers (and questions) gives those people reputation (except on meta). Also, nobody gets reputation from comments, even when they are ...
LaurelMod
- 56.3k
11
votes
Accepted
Why can't a user delete their own question that was just asked and has had no activity?
As I tried to say in the comments, only registered users can delete their own posts. If you check a user’s profile and you see this, they are not registered:
Basically, this user has chosen to post ...
LaurelMod
- 56.3k
10
votes
Why was my question and account deleted?
It is our policy that when a user account is suspended, any accounts that are created to circumvent that suspension are deleted without notice.
If you have further questions or if you want to appeal ...
Kit Z. FoxMod
- 27.4k
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 ...
- 151k
9
votes
Do we want to enable post limits?
Look at what we have now. I see questions being asked that, in isolation, bear all the hallmarks of a "good" question--they raise reasonable points, they're well-phrased and courteous, they clearly ...
- 17.8k
9
votes
Do we want to enable post limits?
I can see definite advantages to all users if these restrictions were implemented. KitFox has mentioned the obvious ones.
No one objects to a slew of good questions. If a user decided to post, say, ...
- 54.6k
9
votes
Accepted
What if senior users could put on hold "proofreading" questions single-handedly?
I've often thought that a "weak" close would be useful - a way for folks with some knowledge in a given area to quickly take a new question off the table so that it could be discussed, edited, etc.
...
- 361
9
votes
Accepted
Move a question about hyphens and dashes from graphicdesign.stackexchange.com
This would be on-topic, but it would be closed as a duplicate of When should I use an em-dash, an en-dash, and a hyphen?
Anglo-Saxon is a hyphenated compound; Washington–Moscow indicates two ends of a ...
Andrew LeachMod
- 94.6k
8
votes
Could/Should we create a collection of exemplary questions to encourage high-quality asking?
The idea appeals to me, but in practical terms, I don't think it is really feasible, for various reasons.
Mechanical: as far as I know, there is no existing Stack Exchange system that would be ideal ...
- 73.3k
8
votes
Accepted
First proposal tag wiki rejected
The Twentieth Century ran from 1901–2000, not from 1900–1999. :)
tchristMod
- 127k
8
votes
Accepted
Can I ask for help in lyrics for songs?
EL&U is not a transcription service, bluntly, but in the past we have entertained questions which ask about phonological phenomena and accents that can be demonstrated in a clip, e.g.
Is D-...
- 42.6k
7
votes
Accepted
Should I delete a question if I made a crucial error in it?
You cannot delete that question. You can only delete a question while it is unanswered, or it has only one answer which has not been upvoted.
Where you can delete the question, it is reasonable at ...
Andrew LeachMod
- 94.6k
7
votes
Should Scots language questions be considered in the English language community?
I don’t see any value in having a general policy either way on this. I would definitely be against a blanket policy against questions about Scots.
As Dan Bron says:
If there evolves a more acute pain ...
- 73.3k
7
votes
Could/Should we create a collection of exemplary questions to encourage high-quality asking?
You want a nice collection of exemplary questions? That's easy; simply use this link.
Footnote: I once praised Yoichi Oishi's questions in an ELL meta answer.
As others have said, I don't think having ...
- 57.9k
7
votes
Posting questions from "How English Works" and proposing answers
Thank you for asking the meta question before posting your English question.
You ask:
Can I post my questions and answers here to check them? Or, how can I find the answers for the exercises?
The ...
- 37.6k
6
votes
How can I come back with my old ID?
Please fill out the contact form providing any evidence that you have that that account is yours.
- 14.1k
6
votes
Why I lost my 'question'?
The question is located at https://english.stackexchange.com/questions/128000/cockney-how-should-i-know-more-about-it. It was automatically deleted because it met the following criteria:
If the ...
- 14.1k
6
votes
Newcomer Question
Welcome, Suhayl.
I hope you find EL&U an enlightening place. There is certainly a wealth of knowledge relating to synonyms, and not just synonyms, but thousands of single-word-requests. When it ...
- 28.4k
6
votes
Question was WRONGLY dismissed (not closed) as "already answered"
This question has been answered numerous times. A good starting point for researching what would be the best older question to link this one to is this search: [personal-pronouns] i me
The older ...
- 27.7k
6
votes
Should we change the default suggested tags?
single-word-requests
This tag is for questions seeking a single word that fits a meaning. To ensure that your question is not closed as off-topic, please be specific about the intended use of the ...
Andrew LeachMod
- 94.6k
6
votes
Ethnic slur in question: what's the procedure?
This site has traditionally recognised the difference between using abusive / inflammatory language and asking / commenting about it.
Usage of such language is frowned upon, to put it lightly, but ...
- 37.6k
Only top scored, non community-wiki answers of a minimum length are eligible