Against single word requests

Question

We've discussed single-word-requests before:

Are single word requests always welcomed questions?

Are word requests allowed?

The consensus of earlier discussions was that these questions are on the low end, but not specifically disallowed. However, the last few months of experience have started to bias me against these questions, so much so that I think we need to reevaluate our decision to allow them. I'm now of the opinion that single word requests should be either disallowed entirely or subject to much more stringent requirements.

The reasons are as follows:

1. We get lots of them. Lots and lots.
2. Most of them are uninteresting and of low quality.
3. They have a high propensity to attract one-word answers and poor answers from newbie users.
4. In chat, many of the most active users have complained about them. In other words, they attract less active users but repel the most active users.

I'm opening up the floor for voting on whether to ban single word requests entirely, or else for new guidelines that will help us separate the rare wheat from the depressingly abundant chaff.

Answer 1

I mostly agree with Martha. I like the intent behind these questions but I am not happy with most of them. My personal favorite is: Is there a word to describe a highly desirable cursed treasure?

I feel that questions like that are perfect for this site. There isn't any way to look something like that up in a thesaurus and the concept described is extremely useful and interesting.

Another good example is What's the opposite word for “sin”? This question isn't actually tagged as a single-word-request but it essentially is exactly that.

My personal criteria for whether a single-word-request is worth having:

• Do I instantly pick up a thesaurus to look for the answer? BAD QUESTION
• Is the concept too narrowly focused a particular technology? BAD QUESTION

• Is the question having difficulty describing the intended meaning? BAD QUESTION

• Can I immediately relate to the concept being presented? GOOD QUESTION

• Does the question provide a clear and understandable example of the concept? GOOD QUESTION
• Is the concept distinct from similar concepts or words? GOOD QUESTION

Really, this tag is like any other. If we hack away at the "EL&U as thesaurus" perception I think we can turn it into an extremely useful category.

Answer 2

I think the key thing here is that we must require the asker to do some research.

Comparing, for example,

What would you call someone who makes no lasting impression?

Question is a single sentence.

7 Answers, all but 2 are a single sentence. The remaining two are.. TWO sentences.

and

Looking for a better term than 'benign envy' or 'mudita'

Question is 6 paragraphs, includes link and an illustrative image.

6 answers, most are multiple paragraphs and blockquotes and sentences.

It's clear that a lot more effort went into the latter question, and this site -- and the answers to that question -- are all substantially better for it.

This is also something we've noted before in Good Subjective, Bad Subjective:

Great subjective questions inspire answers that explain “why” and “how”. Great subjective questions tend to have long, not short, answers.

Therefore, questions which are extremely short, and inspire extremely short answers, are a bad sign -- how much can you truly teach or explain in a single sentence?

Worst case, single-word-request is like playing Charades. "I'm thinking of a word. Three syllables."

Requiring the OP to show some research is key, and simple: what have you tried? and in what context do you plan to use this? The sidebar that appears when you ask a question also covers this:

... relevant bit being share your research. And if you haven't done any, should you even be asking here?

Answer 3

Both my top question and my top answer are in single-word-requests, so I'm probably biased, but I strongly believe these are valid questions that should not be outlawed. Like all questions, however, context is king: the question needs to be as explicit as possible about the context where the word is desired, as well as why the words the questioner knows (if any) are inadequate to the purpose.

(I do think that GAFT questions should be closed with prejudice, and any fastest-gun-in-the-west answers they've gathered should be deleted. But I don't see this as a problem with the s-w-r tag; it's a general problem that can exist in any tag.)

Answer 4

To me, it's the unanswerability of many of these questions that's the problem. They're not just subjective — they're mindreading, resembling...

• Taboo — Guess away! I've got something really specific in mind, but can't tell you any of its synonyms. That would be cheating.
• Catch Phrase — It should start with an E and have three syllables and rhyme with "aardvark," but I'm not allowed to tell you that in my initial question.
• Outburst — Let's just list everything related to a topic!
• Pictionary — You're asking for the name of a species of tree? No, definitely a kind of cloud. Fuzzy request, yet looks like words.

Examples of the confusing sort: A word for something you didn't know you'd like, Alternate words for paperwork, Better word for 'petition' when the request is a vacation

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What makes a good single-word-requests? I don't think it's that different from other questions:

• Well-defined, distinct concept with necessary context presented; not too limited.
• To answer will require a human, not just a reverse dictionary; an answer will need to not just list words but explain why a word or phrase is appropriate, and make associations that weren't easily searchable before.
• Doesn't ask us to do all the work; presents a practical problem showing effort at solving it (the proofreading example we don't accept, "are there any mistakes?", is a lot like "can you rewrite this idea into a coherent word or phrase for me?" in terms of a bound on effort).

What to do?

I don't know if a faq change would really help us keep some of these questions and not others, since to me it boils down to "ask good questions." We could try coaching new users with comments on borderline s-w-r questions, especially before they get downvoted or closed. Maybe something like these:

• "Could you tell us more about where you hope to use the word or phrase?"
• "For this type of question, we usually like to know a little more about the words or phrases you've considered. Can you tell us why [x] or [y] don't quite fit the meaning you're looking for?"

Answer 5

When I see some of the questions tagged single-word-requests I always ask myself: Why is the OP limiting the answers to the one reporting a single word? Is there a practical reason for making single word requests, or the OP is just asking the question for amusement?

As the OP generally doesn't know if there is a single word that matches the criteria reported in the question, I think that the limit of a single word should be removed; thus, questions should not be tagged single-word-requests.

Request for phrases (including the phrases made of just a word) should not be accepted if:

• There is not a practical reason behind asking that (as it should be with other questions)
• The question is too generic, and it doesn't specify exactly the criteria that the requested phrase should match (the question is too generic)
• The question is asking a synonym (or antonym) for a word when that synonym can be easily found in a dictionary

The second point should avoid situations where the OP doesn't describe too restrictive criteria, but then discard the suggested words for a non specified reason, such as "all words but that."

Answer 6

I am undecided.

On one hand, I personally loathe them; I don't think I've ever answered any. I hardly ever read those questions at all.

On the other hand, what will be left of us if we throw them out? The only questions here that interest me are the ones about linguistics and style, with a few high-quality exceptions. If we forbid half of what we receive now, will we still be considered viable by our Overlords? And what if we threw out all other uninteresting questions too?

As long as there are people who like answering these questions, perhaps we should keep them. Those questions are much of what we are about now. It is what many people liked when they joined us. Wouldn't we be doing them a serious injustice, if we suddenly changed policy so drastically?

Answer 7

Here's my suggestion: questions which are just single-word-requests should be off-topic. In other words, any question where the asker says merely "Please give me a word that means X" should be considered off-topic, as we're no longer in that business. This is the majority of word request questions. This is part of and parcel of the existing strategy to refuse copy editing and "name my variable" questions.

However, I think we can leave a loophole for questions which combine word requests with some other question of linguistic interest, such as politeness or etymology. For examples, I offer the following questions:

Is there a polite alternative to "No thanks, I'm full"? (word request + politeness)

What is an English counterpart to the Japanese signal word, “Dokkoisho” uttered unconsciously in such case as sitting down on the bench? (word request + onomatopoeia, japanese)

What did they call illegitimate children in Old English days? (word request + etymology, Old English)

It may be a challenge to word this requirement in a way which is clear to new users, however.

Answer 8

http://blog.stackoverflow.com/2012/02/lets-play-the-guessing-game/

These questions are not practical, helpful to others, fair, or educational. In additional, these questions are inherently subjective and don't lend themselves well to a detailed, evidence-backed answer. As such, I am against single word requests.