Seems like, people who can't explain how to solve the issue suggest closing the question. What a shame!

That's usually not the reason someone votes to close, and when it is, it's usually appropriate. (Questions are closed, after all, when they can't be answered properly on this site, so if someone with 3k can't answer it in a way that's useful to the site there's a decent chance it can't be answered.) In future, please try to avoid assuming the worst of folks who are mostly just trying to do a good job moderating the site.

I don't like assuming the worst of folks but how can I do otherwise when I got an excellent answer hence the question could and can be answered properly.

Well, it's pretty difficult. It requires the humility to realize that (for example) an answer one sees as excellent, others may not see as anything special. (There is one upvote on the answer at present, after 14 hours, and I assume it's yours.) Also, the discernment to tell the difference between someone who is wrong and someone with unsavory motives or who is recklessly incompetent. Finally, the humility to realize how easy it is to come up with plausible-sounding (but wrong) rationales to argue against something that affects you personally.

But if you don't assume good faith of someone when you have as little as a single reason to suppose they are clearly wrong, you're really not assuming good faith at all. It is entirely possible for someone to be wrong for good reasons (or right for bad reasons), and it's important to keep an open mind precisely at the point you are tempted to close it.

I see it much simpler than you do. I am a learner of English. This website is for simple issues related to English. My question is valid. I see no reason to close it. My assuming good faith of someone depends on that particular someone. Those people who didn't even try to answer but decided to close assumed good faith of me? I beg your pardon, but my question is not OFF TOPIC as they state it.

If you can prove that my question is OFF TOPIC then you will prove that your position deserves good faith until then I don't see your comments to be fair.

In other words, you must agree with someone's conclusions to respect their expertise or good intentions. I'm sorry, it does not work that way in any field. No one's opinions are reliable enough for that.

When you say "you must agree with someone's conclusions to respect their expertise" you aim it at yourself as well.

(It's worth clarifying a couple of misconceptions. First, "off topic" does not mean "unrelated to learning English", it means "custom site-specific close reason". Second, I did not vote to close this question, so I am not defending my decision to do so; I am defending a general method and approach that good close voters follow.)

OK. Give me the real reason why they decided to close it.

I'm not sure what you mean by "aim it at yourself"

I mean you have to do yourself what you tell others to do.

if you expect me to respect your expertise enough to let you single-handedly dictate question appropriateness… well, no, that's obviously not going to happen

The same is here.

I disagree with those who decided to close it.

No one else is trying to single-handedly dictate question appropriateness.

Fine. Show me why my question should have been closed.

I'm not really sure why you're asking me to vote to close your question.

I already said I hadn't voted on it myself, didn't I?

Are you equivocating?

I never asked you to close the question.

That said, arguably the vote for dictionary lookup could be justified as, for example, searching Bing for "pity" immediately shows two noun definitions, one with and one without an article

And fitting those definitions into your two examples for "pity" shows that the one with an article can't fit the meaning.

Why do we have forums then if we have dictionaries? Let's resort to them.

Show me that article in the dictionary.

Yes, that's what that close reason is for.

ELL is not a good substitute for a dictionary, so in any case where a dictionary can actually answer the question, we close the question.

(The article for pity is bing.com/search?q=pity&form=OSDSRC)

This article is only clear if you already know the difference.

Hmm. That may well be. In that case the proper thing to do is to look at the definitions you can find and explain as best you can what you were and weren't able to figure out from them. Questions that are edited after closing get a chance to be reopened.

You seem to see the world only through yourself without thinking that others may see it differently. And ESL students may have difficulty understanding simple things.

You are unfair.

(The definition at dictionary.com/browse/shame shows a similar pattern.)

You can see it only if you already know it. It's not that easy.

I know ESL students might have difficulty understanding simple things. But if they can't use a dictionary at all, they clearly can't usefully communicate in English on this website, and so we can't help them...

After reading the explanation I got I understood the difference.

You are being snooty.

Are you the owner of the website?

I'm trying to be practical, because the ELL SE site just isn't designed, and couldn't be designed, to help everyone with all their ESL problems.

Really? How do you know that?

Are you the owner of the website?

I got help by the way on the site.

Through reading dozens of discussions starting from the Area 51 definition days, through years of meta, and lots of commenting, as well as general experience on other SE sites.

But, of course, if I don't own the website all that expertise is so much chopped liver.

I got an excellent answer thanks to the man who answered and to the website. It shouldn't be your concern what this site can or can't do unless you pay for its maintenance.

It's my concern for the same reason I have ever bothered answering, or chatting, or commenting.

It's a self-inflicted concern. How many languages do you know?

"Self-inflicted"? That's an odd way to say "I got an answer for free from someone who wished me well"

(two answers, even, since all this chatting is easily worth another answer.)

I got the answer form another man.

You didn't answer my original question.

How many languages do you know except English?

I don't believe that matters.

Of course, because it shows that you are incompetent.

Well, no. You can be employed as a professional ESL teacher even if you're monolingual.

Try to respect others, my remote friend.

So, you know only English.

I know such teachers, who can't explain anything properly.

To speak and to explain are not the same.

If you were learning a foreign language you would be more humble in your judgments of questions of others'.

I think you are under 40.

Still a long way to go and learn how to respect others who don't fall into your "correct" view of life.

I'm going to have to frame these. ;)

So am I)))

I gave you really good advice, I am sure you appreciate it.

Thank you for lovely chatting.

See you around.