Template:Did you know nominations/Jumbo slice


 * The following is an archived discussion of the DYK nomination of the article below. Please do not modify this page. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page (such as |this nomination's talk page, the article's talk page or Wikipedia talk:Did you know), unless there is consensus to re-open the discussion at this page. No further edits should be made to this page.

The result was: promoted by Cwmhiraeth (talk) 09:59, 15 January 2017 (UTC)

Jumbo slice

 * ... that a single jumbo slice (pictured) may contain over 1,000 calories? Source: Washington City Paper
 * Reviewed: The Foo Show

Created by WWB (talk). Nominated by Northamerica1000 (talk) at 15:48, 19 December 2016 (UTC).


 * Symbol confirmed.svg New enough, long enough (5,004 characters), neutral, well-cited throughout, no notable close para/copyvio detected. Hook is short and tight, definitely interesting (gross? delicious? YOU decide!), cited to and in ref 2. QPQ done, image CC-BY 3.0. Good to go! Bob Amnertiopsis ∴ChatMe! 02:02, 21 December 2016 (UTC)

I've pulled this from prep because I seriously question the reliability of many of the sources for statements cited to them e.g. -- and much more. These kinds of sources cannot possibly be in a position to make statements about where the term "jumbo slice" originated, or what is "traditional". Even in major news publications, cooking and travel sections are held to a far lower level of fact checking than usual, because readers are expected to understand that terms like traditional must be taken with a grain of salt. The entire article seems to be built by weaving stuff like this together.  E Eng  17:29, 11 January 2017 (UTC)
 * Traditionally, jumbo slices are offered with only two options: cheese and pepperoni. is cited to what appears to be some kind of student-newspaper filler service
 * Individual slices can measure more than 1 foot (0.30 m) in length, weigh approximately 1 pound (0.45 kg), and require folding to eat. and The term "jumbo slice" was first used in Adams Morgan by Chris Chishti, owner of Pizza Mart, are cited to what appears to be local "shopper".


 * Original author here. I understand the nature of your concerns and appreciate the caution, but I think they are misplaced here. All sources used are reported, bylined news stories. It's true that one of these is a student paper, however WP:CONTEXTMATTERS should apply, i.e. these sources are perfectly reliable for the subject. And then I'm not sure which publications you refer to as a "shopper"; Eater DC is a web-only publication is staffed and part of a national network, while the City Paper is the longstanding, well-respected alternative newspaper for the DC metro area. I think the DYK nomination should be returned to the queue. WWB (talk) 20:18, 11 January 2017 (UTC)


 * I'm happy to accept your characterization of the sources except for your conclusion that they're "perfectly reliable for the subject" -- because, as you say, CONTEXTMATTERS. On what would a student newspaper base the statement that "Traditionally, jumbo slices are offered with only two options: cheese and pepperoni"? Traditionally where? When? And what source gives us that "A jumbo slice is an oversized New York-style pizza sold by the slice to go, especially in the Adams Morgan neighborhood"? Who says it's especially in this neighborhood? Do you really contend that there haven't been pizza slices termed "jumbo" all over the country, if not the world, since well before this local phenomenon appeared? It's only slightly stranger than pinpointing the origin of the concept of "large".  E Eng  23:04, 11 January 2017 (UTC)
 * I have copy edited the article and added another source verifying the content of the hook (source). North America1000 04:31, 12 January 2017 (UTC)
 * I'm sorry to be the wet blanket here, but my concern isn't just with the hook (in fact, I didn't even get as far as worrying about the hook) but with the sources on which the article itself is based. Travel guides like this have almost no reliability value, because they almost always simply repeat promotional material they're fed by their own subjects.  E Eng  04:51, 12 January 2017 (UTC)
 * Thanks for re-opening, North America. And I hope you will reconsider your position, User:EEng. I don't understand why you challenge the statement, made by a student reporter, that the Adams Morgan pizza shops typically offer only cheese and pepperoni jumbo slices. This is hardly an WP:EXCEPTIONAL claim and there is no presumption in guidelines that student media is unreliable. When I say it's reliable "for the subject" I mean it in the same way TechCrunch can often be RS for tech industry topics, but less likely so for political topics. Likewise, the AU student paper is reliable for matters close to its campus.
 * This is not simply a history of large pizza slices; this is a history of a food-related phenomenon in Washington, DC. For all your questions of "says who?" the answers are found throughout the article: The Washington Post, Washington City Paper, Associated Press, and other reliable sources have acknowledged the phenomenon. So, it is my sincere hope that you'll take this entry seriously, even though the subject matter is obviously fun. I see from your user page that fun is something generally important to you. Surely you can support this carefully written article on a lighthearted topic for DYK recognition. WWB (talk) 14:29, 12 January 2017 (UTC)

I do like fun, but I don't build articles around it. The article has a "Phenomenon" section which begins "The original jumbo slice pizzerias are located on 18th street in Adams Morgan, a neighborhood known for its many drinking establishments." This is cited in an article which reads, in its entirety:

"In March, when Kerry Guneri opened his Pizza Boli's franchise on 18th Street NW in Adams Morgan, he decided to plug one of his feature products. In the window on the southern side of his store, he posted a neon sign reading "Jumbo Slice" in green and red over a picture of a slice of pizza.

The move didn't sit well with Chris Chishti, owner of the Pizza Mart shop three doors down. Chishti, who has been serving jumbo slices since 1997, had a more modest plastic "Jumbo Slice" sign of his own. His slabs of pizza began with a pie 18 inches in diameter, he says. They grew to 22 inches, then 28, and eventually a sprawling 32-inch pie—becoming, along the way, a staple for hungry late-night barhoppers. "When you have new competition, you have concerns," says Chishti. "You have to be very careful, especially when they go putting up signs like that."

Then, in early July, his new competitor compounded the provocation by installing a pair of additional signs reading "Original Jumbo Slice." Chishti immediately got on the phone with his signmaker. "I called my man and said, 'We need one that says "Real Original Jumbo Slice,"'" he says. The sign—nearly identical to the Pizza Boli's signs, only with "Real" on top—was installed that very day. "Everyone knows who the original is," Chishti says. "That's why we put 'Real Original' up there. They come in and try to steal our idea."

Although Guneri can't put a date on when his chain began selling jumbo slices, he holds that Pizza Boli's slices are every bit as original as Pizza Mart's. "I make the slices original," says Guneri. "My slice is as original as the way they've made it in Italy for 2,000 years." "This guy, he's going crazy with the signs," Chishti says. As he speaks, a crew of workers on ladders is affixing a new, custom-made red-and-green awning to his store. "It's like he's trying to run everyone out of business."

"I don't know what to tell you," says Guneri, whose store also sports a red-and-green awning. "The guy's intimidated." The decorating war isn't cheap. According to Guneri, a neon "Jumbo Slice" sign runs between $700 and $800. Neither establishment, however, is ready to sign a truce or a nonexpansion treaty. "I try to keep up with him, that's all," says Chishti. "When he gets fancy, I'm just responding to it." "That's his business; this is mine," says Guneri. "What do I need more signs for? This place is lit up like a whorehouse as it is.""

So two local pizzerias had an advertising war that happened to focus on that word. The remainder of the paragraph describes their prices and decor, and that there's a lot of litter and fights at night, as at any late-night eatery near bars. How is this a "phenomenon" any more than any other two competing establishments in an advertising war a phenomenon?

These two places are the "originals". Where are the rest? You mean other pizzerias using the word jumbo? The word jumbo is entirely generic, and there have been jumbo burgers, jumbo drinks, and jumbo pizzas for 100 years. In fact, the article itself says that, 'Koronet Pizza in the Morningside Heights neighborhood in New York City began selling slices from 30-inch (760 mm) pies in 1990,[12] and describes itself as a purveyor of "jumbo slice" pizza' -- predating the Morgan Adams pie fight. So again I ask, how is this a "phenomenon", and how is it somehow centered on Morgan Adams? It's just this neighborhood gimmick, plus a few other pizzerias that were using the word jumbo anyway.  E Eng  15:45, 12 January 2017 (UTC)


 * I think clearly Jumbo slice is in quite good shape, and if you compare it against other food-related articles and bring in some more context, it is certainly DYK worthy.


 * For example, the ORES score on this article shows it in the "good article" range, in terms of structure, referencing and completeness. But even beyond the machine learning algorithm that compares this article against the known universe of other good articles, the notability of this term in NYC, DC and Chicago, and that it has been written about in respected and established media outlets needs to be recognized. We cannot expect the writings about food to have the same sources for writings about geopolitics, medical research or legal proceedings. Therefore, alternative media, local media, food-specific publications are all de riguer for this space. Wikipedia has to recognize this and evaluate it, as mentioned, in its proper context. The Washington City Paper is an award winning media outlet in the area, and its past editors like David Carr, Erik Wemple and David Plotz have been tapped for The Washington Post, The New Yorker, The New York Times, Slate, Atlas Obscura, etc. It's no "shopper" if that's what  is referring to earlier.


 * Consider that Wikipedia has articles about other "offshoots" of particular foods that are notable and have established articles, such as deep-fried pizza, breakfast sausage, dim sim [sic], cinnamon roll, or Cobb salad, just to name a few. In fact, like Cobb salad, jumbo slice is interesting and has garnered specific coverage for the disputed origin story. Also, a perusal of Category:Pizza_styles shows jumbo slice certainly fits with the types listed there.


 * I'm going to rebalance parts of the article about NYC and Chicago to mesh with DC, but otherwise it is good to go, and certainly faithful to what one sees in DYK all the time. -- Fuzheado &#124; Talk 17:52, 12 January 2017 (UTC)
 * Cinnamon roll, Cobb salad, and breakfast sausage are all extremely well-known eats whose notability is beyond question. ("Dim sim" and deep-fried pizza, maybe.) I'm still waiting for a source supporting that jumbo slice is a "phenomenon" beyond a size of pizza slice that apparently became the subject of a war of competing window signs. (The "specific coverage for the disputed origin story" is clearly unreliable, since it's seemingly oblivious to the fact, mentioned in this very article, that "jumbo slices" were being sold elsewhere before either of these two shops were even in business -- not surprisingly, since jumbo is a completely generic term.)


 * There are serious sources on the history of food (e.g. ) and there's no reason there wouldn't be one on this too, if it's bona fide. As to an automated evaluation "showing" that the article is in GA "range" (whatever that means), I assume you're joking.  E Eng  18:34, 12 January 2017 (UTC)


 * If the subject of this article is genuinely not notable, then it should be brought to AfD. If it's notable enough to sustain a Wikipedia article, then there's no reason it's not notable enough for DYK.   Gamaliel  ( talk ) 18:56, 12 January 2017 (UTC)
 * Forget notability, I'm still waiting for someone to explain the article's internal contradictions, such as stating at one point that this "phenomenon" began in the mid-90s, and at another that "jumbo slices" were being sold elsewhere in 1990.  E Eng  19:16, 12 January 2017 (UTC)
 * EEng, I don't think it's much of a mystery: first Koronet in NYC made very large pies it quietly called "jumbo", later several DC pizza joints came up with the same idea, and their rivalry created awareness of the subject sufficient for notability. That the City Paper's 4400-word piece didn't mention the NYC entry doesn't delegitimize it; local press tends to cover local matters. (And here is an article by a well-known food writer comparing the two cities' jumbo slices.) I think the article can and should be clarified, but the hook is solid, and you haven't identified any problems that should preclude it from appearing in DYK. If you disagree, please point to the DYK criteria you think is lacking, and I can fix it. WWB (talk) 19:49, 12 January 2017 (UTC)
 * DYK requires verifiability, and that requires reliable sources. "That the City Paper's 4400-word piece didn't mention the NYC entry" does delegitimize it, if you're using it in the article to support the statement that "The original jumbo slice pizzerias are located on 18th street in Adams Morgan", which you just said isn't true -- and almost everything important in the article is cited to that one source. I can believe that the "jumbo slice" might be a recognized object (kind of like "supersize"), but all this stuff about Adams Morgan is local hype -- a google search shows countless pizza places offering jumbo slices, so if you can find a source talking about the actual origin of the jumbo slice concept -- as more than just an intensifier of large that any number of purveyors would have come up with on their own -- and how it spread, and cut out all the hype about these two particular pizzerias, then we might have something. The problem is that after you remove the Morgan Adams sutff there's not much let, as the article now stands.  E Eng  20:35, 12 January 2017 (UTC)

EEng, I've already conceded the article requires some clarification about Koronet using the term "jumbo slice" earlier, however the fact remains it has beceome a recognized (and reliably-reported) part of DC culture. Here are two books (excerpt at links) which bolster the case for its association with DC: Pizza: A Slice of American History and Lexicon of Real American Food. So, its association with DC "especially" should not be in much doubt. If I am to revise the article to reflect its New York "origins", would you consider supporting this DYK? WWB (talk) 21:32, 12 January 2017 (UTC)
 * Absolutely. Now we're getting somewhere. But toss all that stuff about litter and the cops.  E Eng  21:35, 12 January 2017 (UTC)
 * Well, no. All of that tells the full story of the jumbo slice phenomenon in DC and is cited reliably. WWB (talk) 21:41, 12 January 2017 (UTC)
 * WP:NOTINDISCRIMINATE. Litter and scuffles are standard at all-night pizzerias and have nothing to do with what's being served. Please, keep the article to stuff that serves the reader's understanding of the subject.  E Eng  21:46, 12 January 2017 (UTC)
 * The article is obviously not just about enormous slices, but also the crowd they attract. This has been noted in the introduction since the very beginning, and there is nothing indiscriminate about it. As far as I can see—credit to NYC for its predecessor status aside—your argument is a rotating set of WP:IDONTLIKEIT complaints that rest on impugning widely accepted sources as somehow unreliable. WWB (talk) 22:00, 12 January 2017 (UTC)
 * Now, now, we're making marvelous progress, so let's not run off the rails at this late hour. The cornerstone of the paragraph elaborating this alleged tie between jumbos and neighborhood problems is the statement that "The jumbo slice phenomenon has also been a source of frustration for neighborhood residents." But I checked the source cited (Lengel) and the closest he comes to saying anything like that is, We get our share of drunks," he said. But "frankly, people who come for falafel are usually a different kind of drunk than the pizza drunks. There's no fights here. You've made a good job of supporting that a jumbo slice is indeed a recognizable dish, and even that it's somehow associate with DC. The war-of-the-window-signs is a nice touch. But side detail about how 11 years ago a group of nearby pizza joints were a litter source is completely discursive, and quoting one particular resident who dislikes the pizza itself is just ridiculous -- there's always someone who doesn't like any given thing. (If a source said, "Indeed, after several hours of stopping and querying hundreds of passersby, this reporter was unable to find even a single person willing to express a dislike for X", then that would be worth including.)  E Eng  22:30, 12 January 2017 (UTC)
 * Well, I don't agree with all of your criticisms, but I will review and revise the article in the morning US Eastern time and we'll see if I can address enough of them that you'll consent to support this DYK. Thanks, WWB (talk) 22:41, 12 January 2017 (UTC)
 * Look, I'm not in charge, I just (shall we say) have some influence. You don't have to do everything I happen to want, though I would urge you to take my advice about the litter and so on. As long as you let the new sources (re jumbo as a dish instead of a seemingly local phenomenon) drive the content, I'm fine.  E Eng  22:45, 12 January 2017 (UTC)

Hello, EEng. As promised, I have revisited the entry and made some adjustments: I've made some other small changes, but these are the most important relating to your stated concerns as I understand (and agree with) them. Still, the notability of the jumbo slice is clearly inseparable from the phenomenon, as reflected in nearly every reliable source in this article, so the overall scope of the article remains the same. What is your opinion now? WWB (talk) 14:22, 13 January 2017 (UTC)
 * Chief among them is expanding on NYC's Koronet and moving its placement from near the end to near the beginning, also noting that their pies were oversized since 1981. I've also added a NY Times article to note its following among Columbia students, similar to the crowd in DC. I wish there was more to be found in reliable sources about Koronet, but alas.
 * Above you mentioned Lengel as insufficient to verify neighborhood consternation, so I have added another instance of Jamieson here, which is much more clear about this point.
 * I have slightly trimmed details about the mess left behind, and considering the age of the source with no newer sources to suggest anything has changed one way or another, I have changed phrasing to present perfect.
 * I've trimmed some other extraneous information, like the current price in DC.
 * The Origin and rivalry section is now Usage and rivalry, avoiding the previous error of suggesting that the term was first used in DC.
 * And where the article once used the somewhat presumptuous term "traditionally" it now uses the rather more prosaic "typically".
 * The important thing is we now have competent sources for the idea of the jumbo slice as a distinct dish. I think the three paragraphs on a sign war, complete with the names of proprietors (and ending with the announcement that no one even cared) should be reduced to two sentences; the interior decor of these particular shops is not information about jumbo slices in general; and overall there's a lot of fancruft such as the sizes of cheese deliveries. Maybe some day I'll come back and show you what I mean, but these aren't DYK matters. Pinging the reviewer for a new tick.  E  Eng  19:14, 13 January 2017 (UTC)
 * Symbol confirmed.svg This has been really neat to watch unfold. Kudos for working to make the changes to this page! As for DYK, article now stands at 6,061 characters, is neutral and well-cited throughout, no close para/copyvio concerns noted in spotcheck/Earwig. Hook is short enough and cited to/in refs 2 and 4, and certainly interesting. QPQ done, image CC-BY-3.0. I'd say this is ready to go!  Bob Amnertiopsis ∴ChatMe! 01:12, 14 January 2017 (UTC)
 * Thanks, and you as well, . Glad we could bring this to consensus and make the article better as well. Best, WWB (talk) 17:14, 14 January 2017 (UTC)