Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Sesquipedalophobia


 * The following discussion is an archived debate of the proposed deletion of the article below. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page (such as the article's talk page or in a deletion review).  No further edits should be made to this page.

The result was delete.  MBisanz  talk 02:36, 8 February 2016 (UTC)

Sesquipedalophobia

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This article is about a word not an actual medical condition, and it belongs on wiktionary not in an encyclopedia. Looking through google scholar there is no existing literature about the medical phenomenon it supposedly describes. The only mention I have found in a psychological context is in this review of the Oxford medical dictionary. Here the article only describes the word and uses it as an example of a word that is so exotic that it is surprising to find even in a medical dictionary. Clearly if the word is not even one one might expect o find in a medical dictionary it is not notable as an encyclopedic topic. Wikipedia is not a dictionary. Wiktionary is. There is no significant third party coverage of the supposed condition and only tangential coverage of the word (there are some instances of the word being used, and one or two of it being described - but this is the case for literally every word in the English language) - hence it does not pass WP:GNG.·maunus · snunɐɯ· 02:29, 31 January 2016 (UTC)
 * This review is actually of the Oxford Dictionary of Psychology. In the 3rd edition, sesquipedalophobia appears as an entry in the list of phobias in the appendix, which includes only "phobias that have been discussed in serious publications or catalogued in general or specialist reference works". I'm not wikicompetent enough to judge whether this justifies inclusion in wikipedia rather than just wiktionary. However, there is also an encyclopedia with an entry on this phobia, and it's the The encyclopedia of phobias, fears, and anxieties. I should be able to have a look at it in a couple of days. Sesquipedalophobia is also included in a list of "50 medically acknowledged phobias" in an editorial entitled "MDD's Fun Facts" in Medical Devices Daily. It's apparently a serious publication but, given the title of the editorial, I'm not sure to what extent we can rely on it. Uanfala (talk) 03:28, 31 January 2016 (UTC)
 * Yes, that is evidence the word exists, not that it is an actual or notable condition. I have not been able to find a single source that actually discusses the condition, only sources that mention or briefly discuss the word. ·maunus · snunɐɯ· 03:37, 31 January 2016 (UTC)
 * One of the sources says it's medically acknowledged and the other one implies it might be. But you're otherwise right: I haven't been able to find yet any medical sources that deal specifically with it. On a side note, this is the kind of phobia that I'd expect to have received some treatment outside of proper medical/psychological context. Also, it might be worth searching its synonym: Hellenologophobia. Well, I'll be off now, will rejoin the discussion in a couple of days. Uanfala (talk) 03:53, 31 January 2016 (UTC)


 * References


 * Note: This debate has been included in the list of Behavioural science-related deletion discussions. Shawn in Montreal (talk) 16:20, 3 February 2016 (UTC)


 * Delete. Maybe it's real, maybe it's not.  But if all we can do is a dictionary definition based off of trivial mentions, we're simply duplicating Wiktionary.  Either do a soft redirect there or delete it.  Or maybe make a dumping ground for these questionable phobias. NinjaRobotPirate (talk) 20:56, 3 February 2016 (UTC)
 * Delete (WP:DICDEF with no reasonable prospect of expansion). This article was created for lulz, right? Even if the subject is serious. Tigraan (talk) 12:49, 5 February 2016 (UTC)
 * Comment: I'm trying to see if I can find any relevant information and if I do I will expand the article. Uanfala (talk) 14:16, 5 February 2016 (UTC)
 * Delete at best and mention elsewhere. SwisterTwister   talk  03:35, 7 February 2016 (UTC)
 * Delete. I suspect the sources given have simply be copying the entry on the basis of one or more of the other sources, just as various places have copied misleading things because they find them in Wikipedia.  DGG ( talk ) 23:32, 7 February 2016 (UTC)


 * The above discussion is preserved as an archive of the debate. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page (such as the article's talk page or in a deletion review). No further edits should be made to this page.