Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Miscellaneous/2020 April 11

= April 11 =

Regarding No original research (controversial question)
Does adding WP:OR edits will result in lawsuits? SpinnerLaserz (talk) 17:08, 11 April 2020 (UTC)


 * Do you mean, "does the policy result in lawsuits?", or "do violations of the policy result in lawsuits?" I think in both case the answer is "No". The Wikimedia Foundation (WMF) has been involved in several lawsuits, but in all cases the WMF was not the plaintiff but the defendant. Violation of our policies is not forbidden by law, so it is hard to see what the basis of a lawsuit against a violator would be. I cannot speak for the WMF, but I can imagine they might seek to obtain a restraining order against an organized and sustained malicious attack on the integrity of the project; however, attacks have thus far been mitigated by non-judicial means. --Lambiam 17:24, 11 April 2020 (UTC)
 * Remember however that lawsuits can result from stuff you do on Wikipedia, regardless of which policies you do or don't follow. In other words, while adding OR to an article may not result in a lawsuit because you added OR, writing in an article that someone is a paedophile could. Nil Einne (talk) 19:06, 11 April 2020 (UTC)

Chess piece part
Is there a name for the pedestal-like part of a chess piece? Specifically, I want to say something like: The alfil (elephant) piece was depicted as elephant tusks atop a [thing]... 107.15.157.44 (talk) 21:00, 11 April 2020 (UTC)
 * Text in our article Staunton chess set suggests that "base" is a recognised term. The article also suggests that its designer was influenced by the neoclassical style of architecture, in which the wider base of columns is indeed referred to as a "pedestal", so I think you would be able to use either of those terms without readers misunderstanding. {The poster formerly known as 87.81.230.195} 90.203.117.240 (talk) 21:29, 11 April 2020 (UTC)
 * Thanks. I didn't want somebody later to mention that "everybody knows that part is called a harplesnoof". 107.15.157.44 (talk) 23:20, 11 April 2020 (UTC)
 * The website of the Official Staunton Chess Company in Shropshire uses the term "base". Alansplodge (talk) 11:31, 12 April 2020 (UTC)
 * I like harplesnoof better, though. --Lambiam 19:37, 12 April 2020 (UTC)

"Plinth" seems like the best term to me. Temerarius (talk) 00:41, 13 April 2020 (UTC)
 * That term is also used for a base for raising a whole chess board, so there is a possibility of confusion. --Lambiam 09:30, 13 April 2020 (UTC)
 * Here "plinth" is used for the bottom part of a Staunton chess piece – at least, that is what I think they mean to say, the supporting curved column they mention being the part above the base where you grab the piece, best seen in the king queen pieces, and not so much in the knights. --Lambiam 09:44, 13 April 2020 (UTC)