The Reading Room

Q: Is there an idiom that can be used to describe the specialty of a situation/object?

11:59 AM

Should this be migrated to ELU as a word request? It seems only tangentially related to literature.

Bookworm

For instance, "the <best part> of living alone is the privacy." (I'm looking for a rather well-known phrase originating from literature, like how 'Achilles' heel' is used to describe a fatal flaw.)

william-shakespeare terminology greek-literature wording-choice

@Randal'Thor That's outside our scope. I checked whether ELU already had such a question, didn't find anything like it and migrated it.

12:17 PM

Even if they had, migration wouldn't be a bad idea. They can still close it as duplicate.

Also, it's annoying that I always first click the useless one of the two "migrated" links that links to the MSE discussion rather than the original question.

@Tsundoku And I retagged it and edited a bit for clarity over there.

@NapoleonWilson If it already exists on the (potential) target site, I tend to avoid "tossing rubbish over the wall".

12:32 PM

@Tsundoku Well, if it's rubbish, of course. But rubbish that doesn't have a duplicate is also rubbish.

In that case, I'd rather simply close it here with a comment saying "You can find the answer at X"

I don't know what the close-vote queue on ELU is like, but the low-quality posts queue currently has over 30 items in them. So it's nicer for them if you check first if it would be a duplicate or not.

I tend to think a duplicate of a good question is also likely to be a good question. Duplicates being good signposts and so on.

(Alternatively, I could ramp up my participation in their queues...)

@Tsundoku ELU's Close Votes queue currently has over 300 items in it.

Mostly, in my experience, low-effort poorly-researched questions (they have a special close reason for "do your research first").

The one you migrated seems OK for them since it has an example sentence/usage of the requested idiom (that's their minimum requirement for word/phrase request questions).

@Randal'Thor I need to contribute a bit more before I can access that queue ...

1:05 PM

@NorthLæraðr Book: Think Like a Tree :-P

1:15 PM

@Tsundoku But a bad question isn't worth migration anyway, no matter if it exists already or not.

1 hour later…

2:26 PM

I managed to reach rep cap yesterday, which is rather difficult without earning bounties or writing good answers about Tolkien's works.

Seems there's more Maupassant enthusiasts than you thought. ;-)

Oh?

2 hours later…

4:25 PM

Hey @Tsundoku, would you by any chance be willing to read over an alt-text guide to make sure it's accurate? (I seem to recall that you're licensed to do that :D).

4:54 PM

@Mithical Yes, though I can't promise I can do it today.

@Tsundoku Thanks! It's not that long, I'll just copy it into here:

## How to write good alt text

### What is alt text and why should I care about it?

Alt text, or an image description, is what shows up in place of an image when that image fails to load. It's also what a screen reader will read out when someone is using a screen reader to browse the site, as well as what search engines and feeds display. With that in mind, it's an important part of [web accessibility](webaim.org) to include good alt text.

### How do I write good alt text?

Everything depends on the context of the image, but there are a few basic guidelines to keep in mind.

I assume this is specifically for images that aren't embedded in links and that are not purely decorative. The strongest part is the last sentence. (Some people would say, "everything you would say on the phone to someone who can't see the image".)

Q: Meaning of lines from Bilbo's "Song of Eärendil" in "The Lord of the Rings"

5:12 PM

Yeah - it's meant as a general guide, not covering every edge case. (Most images in Q&A aren't links to other places per se.)

Bookworm

This poem is taken from The Fellowship of the Ring, book II, chapter 1 (page 263): Through Evernight he back was borne on black and roaring waves that ran o'er leagues unlit and foundered shores that drowned before the Days began, until he heard on strands of pearl where ends the world the music...

meaning j-r-r-tolkien the-lord-of-the-rings

@Mithical If that's the scope of the guidance, then it's OK. (For images that serve as links, the alt text would need to tell you where the link will take you, rather than describe the image.)

Great. Thanks!

Knight

5:40 PM

What does " I have to catch a deadline now" mean? I asked someone to help me with a problem, he was helping me but in between he said:

> I will answer your questions later today with a full proof. I have a deadline to catch for now.

6:16 PM

Well, that person didn't want to miss a deadline, i.e. do something before the task's scheduled due date.

Knight

Something like job deadline, or homework submission?