Conversation started Aug 30, 2016 at 15:20.
Lawrence
Lawrence
Aug 30, 2016 15:20
@Mitch Fair enough. Since (1) dictionary and thesaurus lookups are now almost just a matter of typing the word into the address bar of the web browser; and (2) the UI of the site is such that even the tour and FAQ / help pages are often overlooked, I'm not sure there's any point in hosting a dictionary / thesaurus on EL&U. Is there some underlying merit to the meta post that I've missed? (not rhetorical)
Mr. Shiny and New 安宇
Mr. Shiny and New 安宇
Aug 30, 2016 15:44
@Lawrence I don't think people realize that you can search for definitions on google.
I'm not being snarky or sarcastic. They just don't realize it.
People have asked for dictionary integration into ELU before:
7
Q: Feature suggestion: dictionary lookup on double-click or context menu

JeffSaholSince we have recommended online reference sources, wouldn't it be nice to be able to access these directly from the site? I could see having either a right-click context menu to allow choosing which dictionary/thesaurus to use, or allowing the user to save a preferred resource that would be acce...

discussion feature-request design
I think, given the fact that trillions of people have posted dictionary-lookup questions here, that the built-in (on mac) or web-based (google, onelook, dictionary.com, etc) dictionaries aren't being used.
Sounds like a great idea for a userscript... — Shog9 ♦ May 25 '11 at 23:20
I think Shog misses the point of this feature. It's not power users who need to know how to look up words. It's users who guaranteed won't have a userscript installed, or a bookmarklet.
The best thing would be if we had some kind of definition tool that popped up definitions or made tooltips or whatever for questions while they're being asked. What we want is to prevent questions from being asked if the question is just "look this up in the dictionary"
However, we also want people to demonstrate research, and I'd worry that all our questions would go from "what's the meaning of X" to "What's the meaning of X? your built-in help didn't help"
Cerberus
Cerberus
Aug 30, 2016 16:13
I think that might actually help!
Mitch
Mitch
Aug 30, 2016 16:35
@Lawrence I guess you don't see my (lack of a) point. I want it to be undeleted so it can be discussed. I'm not in favor one way or the other (yet).
I am annoyed by people coming to ELU for definitions or synonyms (that they can get from google as already mentioned)
I am also annoyed by ELU feature requests that seem like changes to the software (pre-emptorially for the SE developers benefit). That kind of feature seems way outside the engineering scope of SE.
There should be a Close link to dictionary thesaurus. I am always shocked that people find it easier to go through the SE login/registartation process, typing up markup, and typing a wordy question that is in essence "What's another word for 'bucket' that rhymes with 'mail' and starts with a 'p'?"
But if it's possible to autocreate such a link, I guess that's engineering progress, the self flushing toilet reduces bacteria transfer.
We all live on google, yet people can't seem to be able to search
Mr. Shiny and New 安宇
Mr. Shiny and New 安宇
@Mitch Why shouldn't we request changes to the SE software for our benefit?
Mitch
Mitch
@Mr.ShinyandNew安宇 in their shoes, I'd be annoyed at such a request because it seems like a weird one-off that wouldn't be useful for any other site, and the other sites would then want their weird one-offs.
 
Conversation ended Aug 30, 2016 at 16:49.