Do we have a policy on answers in the comments?

I don't know if it's a policy per se, but it's a dumb idea because comments are temporary by definition.

I've thought it'd be a good idea to start posting answers consisting nearly exclusively of answers provided in comments just for the heck of it

There should be an option to flag a comment as "not a comment". ;)

I once posted an answer on English.SE and someone accused me of getting it from an answer posted as a comment, which I had not read. I replied in a comment that I had looked through other answers for answers already posted but not through comments for answers already posted, and my comment got a bunch of +1s. But had I seen the answer comment, I wouldn't have put that answer, as one expects English.SE to be pretty much the worst place to plagiarize. So if we want answers, they can't be comments.

Posting answers as comments is basically saying "I want to put this as an answer, but I have a phobia of putting myself out there and getting downvotes in return." So the answer to your question about answer comments is to be able to flag them and lose rep for posting answers as comments, thus making people more scared of answer comments.

@MaskedMan "too chatty"

Wow the word answer looks really weird to me now. I've killed it.

@enderland obsolete

nah, obsolete normally has different connotations

I thought you were being facetious; I was.

@JackArbiter Maybe you can comment an answer to this question (because it is on hold).

The emoji for I'm being facetious is :P

Can we put images in a comment? ;)

Nah there'd be poop emojis everywhere.

I'm pretty sure you can put emojis in comments though

💩

whaaaaaaaat I've been missing out

oh poo! 💩

How do you do that? :poo: doesn't work. What is the syntax?

@JackArbiter Posting answers in comments is much more common on SE sites that have a "answers must be properly referenced" policy (whether formal or informal). English.SE, as far as I can tell, has an informal policy that detailed answers with references are preferred, so quick "here is the term I think you are looking for but I don't have time to look it up" responses tend to go in comments until someone summarizes them into a referenced answer.

Skeptics.SE has a much more formal policy that answers must be properly referenced, so "I don't have a reference, but I suspect the answer might be..." responses go in comments.

@MaskedMan I just cut and pasted Enderland's emoji

@BradC I get you. But having almost done it myself, I think a lot of people don't want to be the first one out with an answer to have it be drastically off-base. Depends on the circumstance (and the site) I guess.

@JackArbiter Yep it's been discussed pretty extensively on meta.English.SE: 4 years ago, 3 years ago, 10 months ago, and I agree, it does depend highly on the culture that has developed around the site in question.

Remember, don't steal from the company.

dilbert.com/strip/1996-07-15

Remember, don't leave a spreadsheet with everyone's salary on the copier.

dilbert.com/strip/2017-02-12