Talk:Linchpin

C20th?

Image subtitle: c20th linchpin with integral sprung circlip retainer.

What's "c20th" supposed to mean? Maikel (talk) 07:20, 6 December 2009 (UTC)

I assume that it was the part number for that exact type, but it is not needed. I've removed it. Wizard191 (talk) 15:08, 6 December 2009 (UTC)

RELEVANCE?

Nearly everyone has heard this word used, and 99.9 times out of 100 - it wasn't anything to do with holding wheels onto anything... —Preceding unsigned comment added by 203.45.103.88 (talk) 14:47, 14 June 2010 (UTC)

Depends what field you work in. For the meaning you are referring to, please visit: wikt:linchpin. Wizard191 (talk) 15:31, 14 June 2010 (UTC)

Judging from the edit history, this article clearly needs a mention of the figurative definition of linchpin. Wizard191, if you feel the need to remove all references to the figurative definition, then you can figure out how to make that reference. However, figurative language that is in common use is commonly written about within articles, frequently with a disambiguation page. Dominicanpapi82 (talk) 02:16, 22 June 2011 (UTC)

There's a wiktionary link in the article; what more do you want? WP:NOTDICT states that Wikipedia articles are not dictionary entries. Period. Wizard191 (talk) 17:43, 16 June 2011 (UTC)

WP:NOTDICT specifically addresses this situation:

"Wikipedia is not in the business of saying how words, idioms, phrases etc., should be used (but it may be important in the context of an encyclopedia article to discuss how a word is used)."

For just one example, read the article on the use of the term lemming as a metaphor.

The word "linchpin" is used as a person who is essential to an activity or project. Dominicanpapi82 (talk) 02:16, 22 June 2011 (UTC)

I think you are misunderstanding the direction of the instructions of WP:NOTDICT. In the list of examples, all of them are about linguistics. This article is about a thing, therefore there is no need to describe how the word is used, because this articles scope is only about a thing, not the metaphorical use of the word. Wizard191 (talk) 18:02, 20 June 2011 (UTC)

No. WP:NOTDICT uses metalanguage because it is an article about language.

I appreciate that you have an emotional attachment to this article, so I will not edit it further. However, I recommend rereading WP:NOTDICT through a different lens, keeping in mind that although Wikipedia asks us to exclude information about the way a word should be used from the encyclopedia, they simultaneously promote inclusion about the way a word is used. Dominicanpapi82 (talk) 02:16, 22 June 2011 (UTC)