Talk:Doe/Archive 1

Julie Andrews would be proud
Whoever put "Doe: a deer, a female deer" there deserves kudos for a mild and understated but excellent reference. Thank you! Kilyle (talk) 23:17, 15 May 2008 (UTC)
 * I second that! Glovestealer (talk) 12:23, 18 May 2008 (UTC)
 * This anonymous user concurs. Unfortunately, it's likely to be removed at any moment for being unencyclopedic, but hey. It put a smile on my face. If you're reading this and was considering removing the reference, please don't! :-) 151.68.7.129 (talk) 19:54, 20 January 2009 (UTC)
 * Aren't female Rabbits called Does? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 71.37.128.23 (talk) 07:32, 28 July 2010 (UTC)

D.O.E. - Dead on arrival
With no citation or link, I question the inclusion of "dead on arrival" (i.e. D.O.A.) It needs either a citation or to be removed. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Rootwile (talk • contribs) 19:17, 27 August 2010 (UTC)

speaking of female deer
Surely that is the most common meaning of the word, couldn't we find a way to move it up to the top of the list? Beeblebrox (talk) 06:03, 25 October 2010 (UTC)
 * I've edited the article to put this meaning first. Beeblebrox (talk) 23:36, 9 November 2010 (UTC)
 * I've edited the article to put this meaning first. Beeblebrox (talk) 23:36, 9 November 2010 (UTC)
 * It is not the primary topic per WP:PRIMARY. If you think it is, then propose a page move at WP:Requested moves. older ≠ wiser 00:54, 10 November 2010 (UTC)
 * Could you possibly give a more specific explanation of how you made that determination? WP:PRIMARY does not appear to be at all relevant to this situation. I am not proposing that the page be moved, it seems appropriate to have a disambiguation page. However, if you open any dictionary you will find that the first, and possibly only, definition is an adult female deer, as in the Wiktionary page on this word. I always find it dismaying when I propose a change, wait a full two weeks for a reply and get none, and then find myself reverted right away when I make the change and the only explanation is some broad declaration. I would really appreciate a more detailed and reasoned responser that specifically details why you disagree with my assessment. Beeblebrox (talk) 01:33, 10 November 2010 (UTC)
 * Sorry, that should have been WP:PRIMARYTOPIC. In particular, If there is no primary topic, the term should be the title of a disambiguation page. Doe is the disambiguation page, so by definition there is no primary topic for the term "doe". If the page were at Doe (disambiguation) and some particular topic were at "Doe", then that would be the primary topic. older ≠ wiser 02:49, 11 November 2010 (UTC)
 * This is where the whole thing breaks down for me. You can find a policy that, if interpreted very rigidly, would appear to support your position. What I don't believe you have done is provide a reason why we can't let good old fashioned common sense tell us that in the majority of cases when someone says "doe" they are not referring to a song by the Breeders, a tool for reasoning about nonlinear systems, a concept from patent law, or any of the other very obscure abbreviations and initialisms that currently precede the entry on the deer. This is a situation where we need to remind ourselves why we are doing this. Dab pages serve to help users navigate the encyclopedia, not to show off how well we know all our content policies. If following that policy would prevent us from making the page more helpful to the readers, the people this is all for, then this is the perfect time to ignore that rule. It saddens me that so many Wikipedians insist lately on slavish obedience to obscure policy details and we have to have these kinds of discussions over such a simple, common sense issue. Beeblebrox (talk) 20:59, 11 November 2010 (UTC)


 * It's been nearly a week and nobody has refuted or even responded to the above post. Per WP:SILENCE I am thinking it may be time to restore my previous edit. Beeblebrox (talk) 19:28, 17 November 2010 (UTC)
 * Sorry, but WP:PRIMARYTOPIC and WP:MOSDAB are pretty clear. With the current configuration of articles there is no primary topic for "doe". The meaning of female animal could perhaps be listed first, but it shouldn't be formulated as the primary topic. older ≠ wiser 00:13, 21 November 2010 (UTC)
 * Ok, that is exactly what I originally proposed. Instead you decided to use policy like a blunt object to edit war and ignored comments here until an edit is actually made. Beeblebrox (talk) 00:17, 21 November 2010 (UTC)
 * Not sure what you mean by "originally proposed". Your edits consistently formatted the page as if there were a primary topic and I can't follow in your discussion here that you made such a proposal. Lack of response is not necessarily equate to support.  older ≠ wiser 03:48, 21 November 2010 (UTC)
 * Look at the top of this section: "couldn't we find a way to move it up to the top of the list?" I realize that when you seemingly stopped being interested in discussing this that did not equal a vote of support from you. Anyone can see that I endeavored to get more input on this before changing it again. WP:SILENCE seems applicable. In any event since you have not chosen to revert the newest version can I assume you will not be raising any procedural objections and that we can let the matter rest now? Beeblebrox (talk) 08:11, 21 November 2010 (UTC)