-5

One of my questions has been closed because "it needs details or clarity." I find the question clear and I think it was closed because some people do not like short questions. But being short is different from being unclear. It's a simple question about the grammer rules concerning the place of adverb in a phrase.

"at nearly the speed of light" vs "nearly at the speed of light"

22
  • 1
    Well, I suppose you could edit the clarification which you provided into the question rather than leaving it as a comment and see if people vote to reopen it.
    – mdewey
    Sep 3, 2021 at 12:18
  • 3
    Not all 'clear' questions are on-topic here. Expecting readers to infer the question is about adverb order instead of explaining that's what you're asking about and why you're asking is in general poor form. Not showing the research you did to try to answer your own question is in poor form. See How do I ask a good question? As JamesK said elsewhere: Good questions inspire answers that explain “why” and “how” and not just Yes or No. (Or answers like "this one and not that one").
    – ColleenV
    Sep 3, 2021 at 13:36
  • 1
    It's also out of scope for this site. Not every answerable question is on-topic here.
    – ColleenV
    Sep 3, 2021 at 13:50
  • @ColleenV, what is the scope and who determines it?
    – user60033
    Sep 3, 2021 at 13:52
  • 2
    It's documented in detail in help center. The scope was determined at the time the community was created, and since we're part of the Stack Exchange network, it is constrained by the general network guidelines as well.
    – ColleenV
    Sep 3, 2021 at 13:56
  • 3
    I know it is frustrating to have a question closed, but the goal here is to build a library of questions that are useful to lots of people, not just to tutor individuals. I think you could improve your question if it just didn't focus on one particular set of words and maybe asked about the word order when there is an adverb and a preposition. Answers could address not just "nearly at" or "at nearly", but maybe also "almost to the top" or "to almost the top" so that other readers with a similar but not exactly the same question might be helped.
    – ColleenV
    Sep 3, 2021 at 14:07
  • @ColleenV, I'm starting to dislike this website. I've asked a number of questions like this here. And I know it is not rules that are being followed, because the questions have been treated differently. I have never voted to close a question myself (cannot remember). If a question is not interesting to me I simply ignore it. The problem is that some bad people enjoy suppressing other people and they have freedom to do so here.
    – user60033
    Sep 3, 2021 at 14:11
  • 2
    I think you're misinterpreting people's actions. Moderation and curating questions is an important part of keeping the site focused on its goal. It's OK if you would prefer a different style of site. The Stack Exchange model is pretty unique and it is not for everyone. Sometimes I'd rather do things "Reddit style" and I take a break from "Stack Exchange style". I think most people here are genuinely interested in helping people; we just have different opinions on how best to do that within the guidelines of this type of site.
    – ColleenV
    Sep 3, 2021 at 14:15
  • 3
    I would make an awesome moderator! (Just kidding.) Five users closed two of your question that had nothing to do with me, but the questions are pretty low quality because they lack detail and very often any sign of research. That of course is my opinion but it's based on observation not fantasy.
    – Mari-Lou A
    Sep 3, 2021 at 16:36
  • @Mari-LouA, Let me explain to you why two questions of mine were closed within hours. It is the first time this has happened to me. To the first question someone named "Michael Harvey" answered. I commented that I disagreed with him. Then he deleted his answer and voted to close the question. Hours later I asked another question. Again, he voted to close the question. Do you yourself like to be treated like this? This kind of people should not have power. Somebody who cannot hear any criticism will become a dictator if she/he has power.
    – user60033
    Sep 4, 2021 at 15:40
  • Why has 'Apadana' become 'user60033'?
    – Michael Harvey
    Sep 6, 2021 at 6:42
  • @MichaelHarvey the user said they would delete their account if no one apologised “I expect an apology or an honest satisfactory reason, or I'll leave this website proudly.”. And... no one did.
    – Mari-Lou A
    Sep 8, 2021 at 14:48
  • @Mari-LouA - will he get his joining and answer fees refunded?
    – Michael Harvey
    Sep 8, 2021 at 15:01
  • @MichaelHarvey It's always a bit sad when someone deletes their account. The user stubbornly refused to mention the point that many were making, i.e. the lack of detail in the questions. In fact, they completely ignored it. It's ironic that apadana said Somebody who cannot hear any criticism will become a dictator if she/he has power. So I suppose we got lucky in the end.
    – Mari-Lou A
    Sep 8, 2021 at 15:08
  • 1
    I’m voting to close this question because the question is a question about a question that can only be accessed via the provided link which is broken.
    – EllieK
    Sep 17, 2021 at 17:57

1 Answer 1

Reset to default
4

From the OP's profile page I see a lot of questions that share the same characteristic: lack of details.

  1. The verb "equate" in mathematical sense The question although clear consists of just a single sentence.

  2. How writie "several millijoules" in shortened form? "several mJs" or "several mJ's"? The question although clear consists of two requests.

  3. "copper in liquid state" or "copper in the liquid state"? The question asks which sentence is correct. Not much detail there if any.

  4. "by" or "by using" or "using"?. Here the OP compares three similar sentences and asks if they mean the same and if they are all correct.

  5. Is "strongly" an acceptable adverb for the verb "transfer"? This on the other hand does show some research and effort, there's a dictionary definition and the OP is basically asking if the sentence is constructed well.

Questions can be clear but if they lack details and explanation as to why a user is asking in the first place, they're not very interesting or useful to the community.

In general, there's evidence to suggest that OP considers the site a free proofreading service.

11
  • Can you show me in the rules of this website that a question should make it clear why the questioner asks it? This is utterly ridiculous. All those questions are valid clear English questions. Some people are generous enough to answer them. Some other are jealous or malevolent or want to feel they have power and vote for the question being closed. This is annoying. I'll leave here if this continues.
    – user60033
    Sep 3, 2021 at 13:35
  • 1
    @apadana how many of your questions have been closed for lack of detail? None of the ones I listed were closed. EDIT one has now been closed I think that was a bit unfair. You have a choice: shrug it off and continue to ask the community the meaning of a word or if a sentence is grammatical OR you can try to make the question a bit more interesting. You're not the only user who asks the same type of proofreading question time and time again. Maybe this time the users who voted to close this question wanted you to take notice and add some details. It's not difficult.
    – Mari-Lou A
    Sep 3, 2021 at 13:57
  • First, you didn't answer my question in the comment above. Second, if you dislike somebody or dislike people in general you can assume that any grammar question they ask is for proofreading. The question I asked is about English grammar. End of story.
    – user60033
    Sep 3, 2021 at 13:58
  • If it is a proofreading question, why did I ask the answerers to give reason for their answers? That's because I wanted to learn grammar rules. So obvious.
    – user60033
    Sep 3, 2021 at 14:02
  • 2
    @apadana I create a sentence but I'm unsure of the wording. I ask "Is this grammatically correct/idiomatic? If I ask this type of question repeatedly I become complacent, lazy and people will get bored, because the only person who is interested in the answer is me the OP. Think of the greater good, think of helping to build a fantastic repository, think of writing a good question that will be fun or interesting for others to read.
    – Mari-Lou A
    Sep 3, 2021 at 14:06
  • When a question occurs to you when reading or writing a sentence it doesn't make it a proofreading question. Almost all questions begin this way. The problem is that you judge people's intentions when you have no right to do.
    – user60033
    Sep 3, 2021 at 14:49
  • @apaderno, One of the things that was unfriendly and annoyed me was this statement by Mari-Lou A. My own behavior towards her was not completely friendly so I have no complaints. I learned many things here from generous people for which I'm grateful. But I need more freedom.
    – user60033
    Sep 4, 2021 at 20:56
  • 2
    All those questions are valid clear English questions. yes, but many actually do lack detail and that's the whole point. A question consisting of one sentence? Do you think it cannot be improved? If it is a proofreading question, why did I ask the answerers to give reason for their answers? That's because I wanted to learn grammar rules. So obvious You're right, asking whether a sentence is grammatical = correct is not proofreading but, technically, copyediting. You didn't ask "why" in Q1, Q2, Q4, or Q5. I didn't check further back, so maybe last year you asked "why" more often.
    – Mari-Lou A
    Sep 5, 2021 at 10:03
  • @Mari-LouA, Yesterday proofreading, now copyediting! Things are evolving! In Q1, I didn't say "why?" because you can't say why a verb, say "evolve", can take an object or not. In that question I was asking about something similar. In Q2, I asked about a convention, a rule. I can't ask why that rule exists. I implicitly asked "what rule does govern here?" In Q4, I was asking about difference in meaning between 3 phrases. They either mean the same or there are differences or nuances. I can't ask why they mean the same! And see Q5 yourself! How can a "why" be used there?
    – user60033
    Sep 5, 2021 at 16:51
  • @Mari-LouA, Since you respect the guidelines very much (!), I quote from them: "You should only ask practical, answerable questions based on actual problems that you face."
    – user60033
    Sep 5, 2021 at 16:57
  • I was a science student when writing many of my questions. So it's not strange that many of the problems I faced were related to that sort of things.
    – user60033
    Sep 5, 2021 at 17:01