Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Boston slang

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 no consensus, default to keep, merge or transwiki not ruled out. Sandstein 06:30, 19 December 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Boston slang[edit]

I am currently writing the nomination for this AfD with a very heavy heart. The mere nature of this page is extremely difficult to keep an actual encyclopedic entry on it. Also, some of the "slang" listed here is beyond the scope of Boston or even placed upon someone making a joke. I don't think it's really quite possible to keep a list of slang. Maybe articles for Chowdah, wicked, and sweet, but this is not exactly what Wikipedia was created for. Yanksox 00:54, 11 December 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Keep/merge some of it back into Boston accent. --- RockMFR 01:07, 11 December 2006 (UTC)[reply]
Keep and move content to Wiktionary—Use article as an anchor for the actual listing of slang on Wiktionary, and just leave a brief statement about Boston slang on the page. I agree that it's not entirely suitable for Wikipedia. Wiktionary seems to have some good listings of slang though, such as Appendix:Cockney rhyming slang, and it makes sense for this content to be over there. --Jackhorkheimer 01:23, 11 December 2006 (UTC)[reply]
Comment: It seems that a large part of the problem with this article is that many of these terms are neither exclusive nor particularly relevant to the Boston area. - Che Nuevara 02:00, 11 December 2006 (UTC)[reply]
Delete Unsourced, unencyclopedaic. I lived in Boston for many years, and I don't think this article is a good idea - how does something qualify as Boston slang anyways? At least one of the entries says right in it that the term isn't used in Boston. Out!! --Brianyoumans 03:15, 11 December 2006 (UTC)[reply]
Transwiki the content to Wiktionary. Should be kept in the meantime, with the understanding that it will be nuked once it's finished. --Dennisthe2 03:30, 11 December 2006 (UTC)[reply]
Merge & transwiki -- Sj 05:45, 11 December 2006 (UTC)[reply]
Keep I think pages like these are what makes wikipedia great. I'm sure someone can find a way to source this- because it definately needs to be verifiable, but I think it's possible to do. StayinAnon 06:54, 11 December 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Comment- I think if you could manage to find the hundreds of sources the article needs, you would find that 2/3 of the entries don't even belong in this category.--Dmz5 20:47, 11 December 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Comment- Then the article certainly would need a rewrite, but would be worthy of staying. StayinAnon 00:16, 13 December 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Delete A more concise and verifiable list of slang is already included in the Boston accent article --NMChico24 08:01, 11 December 2006 (UTC)[reply]

comment You say concise, and i say inadequate. Boston accent is really a separate topic, and any unique words there should go into here. For that matter, many of the BA terms are unsourced, and some I think in wider use. This is not a subject where precision is either possible or expected.DGG 05:48, 14 December 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Delete Bec-Thorn-Berry 11:26, 11 December 2006 (UTC)[reply]
Delete Unencyclopaedic, unreferenced, and subjective. /Blaxthos 17:12, 11 December 2006 (UTC)[reply]
Transwiki per Dennis -Toptomcat 17:22, 11 December 2006 (UTC)[reply]
Keep. I'll buck the trend; this is a sourced article, very largely accurate, and for pity's sake, there are articles for created fictional languages spoken by a handful of people -- you'd think that genuine slang used by hundreds of thousands would pass muster. It'd be interesting to see such articles for other regions. Ravenswing 21:38, 11 December 2006 (UTC)[reply]
Keep But this cannot stay as a mere lits. We need an encyclopedic article on Boston Slang then the list can be part of it not the entire article. Slang articles have survived in the past only by truely becoming articles not staying on as lits because they violate WP:NOT RaveenS 22:31, 11 December 2006 (UTC)[reply]
Transwiki as a Wiktionary appendix. --Howrealisreal 01:21, 12 December 2006 (UTC)[reply]
Delete Per NMChico24. Also, is every colloquialism noteworthy? In Boston linguistics, the accent is noteworthy; individual terms (per Nom.) are noteworthy; this list of colloquialisms is not. Wiki does not need lists of every colloquialism from every area.146.243.4.157 18:30, 12 December 2006 (UTC)[reply]

I'll bite. What makes an accent noteworthy and colloquialisms not? Most local dialects have both, and at least the latter can be adequately described in print. Ravenswing 19:00, 12 December 2006 (UTC)[reply]

On this latter point, I wasn't providing an answer, I was asking the question; however, my spidey sense has started tingling from reading the arguments in favor of keeping this page. Descriptability ought not be the criterion on which this is judged. Looking at terms like "Toasterville", we can see that the ability to describe a term doesn't make it verifiable or noteworthy. Some individual terms are noteworthy because of cultural knowledge of them (think: the "Chowdah" Simpsons episode). This list simply does not meet the criteria on which wikipedia are judged, and the genre of lists it would create would be an abomination. In a month, we'll all be editing the page created to list Nunavut colloquialisms because someone has taken a personal interest in the Inuktitut language.146.243.4.157 14:22, 13 December 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Keep Although there are many poorly written definitions, there is a lot of useful information here, I think it just needs some major cleanup and it could be made to be encyclopedic. - Robogymnast 22:05, 12 December 2006 (UTC)[reply]
keepDon't let us lose this one. Only problem--as is common with anything about slang, is documentation. I don't think we need a citation to each use to start out with, but there should surely be some effort--there must be something on the web for most of them, and in some local authors

Proving slang is Boston-specific is not easy, but checks against some standard slang dictionaries should help--the criterion has to be slang mainly used in Boston, not only used in Boston.DGG 05:43, 14 December 2006 (UTC)[reply]

keep realistic refference material. it needs more clean up though.Kaz14 06:28, 16 December 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Keep/Merge/Transwiki Any of these options sounds good, although a simple keep would require some rewriting or cleanup.--Grand Slam 7 12:30, 16 December 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Strong delete Most of the words on this list would have any Bostonian save a handful wondering what was said. The majority of this list has no bearing whatsoever on how we speak in or around Boston. In fact, a lot of the terms have more in common with pan-USA youth slang than any relation to Boston specifically. To admin reviewers, watch for sockpuppets among AfD comment and vote editors. OBriain 13:41, 18 December 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Comment I considered posting this on the talk page but decided it was more appropriate here due to AfD reasonings. At the office, I shot this around with several coworkers representing at least 4 parts of Boston and 5 different suburbs plus 3 other hometowns as far away as Cape Cod, the South Coast, and NH.

Words, phrases that are unheard of to Bostonians or are general American slang and unrelated specifically to Boston:

as/like balls (general American slang) bazo (unheard of) beat (general American slang) bomb (1) (general American slang) Boston Special (unheard of) Da Broons (just bad pronunciation; infrequent at best) booted (1) (general American slang) booted (3) (general American slang) The balls (general American slang) cleanser (unheard of, possibly a store reference) The Cawmin (unheard of spelling) cocked (general American slang) Dewey (general American slang, the fact that was a Red Sox player not withstanding) Dot (unheard of; at best, extremely obscure) Down East (general American slang) dust (general American slang) dusted (general American slang) East Bumfuck (obvious, not a distinct term) frappe (general American term) G-Vegas (unheard of; at best, extremely obscure) The Gahden (unheard of spelling) greaser (general American slang) H-Dub (unheard of; at best, extremely obscure) JP (an acronym; not slang and rarely if ever spoken verbally) Let's go Southie let's go (Southie is already on the list, not a noteworthy cheer) like a bastard (general American slang) like the shitballs (general American slang) lit (general American slang) Manch-Vegas (unheard of; at best, extremely obscure) Marsh Vegas (unheard of; at best, extremely obscure) Me'fah or Med'fah (unheard of spellings) milkshake (general American term) Mush (unheard of term) my-in (unheard of as somehow different from "mine") maggot (general American slang) No suh (unheard of spelling, general American phrase) The Orange Dinosaur (not slang) Off the Boat (general American slang) Pats (general American slang) pissa (unheard of spelling; should be pisser) Red Sox Nation (general American term) Retarded (general American slang) Rip-shit (general American slang) says (general American slang; just poor English) shanty Irish (general American slang) shiesty (general American slang) Taxachusetts (general American slang) tonic, boss o' (should be listed as boss o' tonic if at all, obscure) townie (latter part of the definition is general American slang) Two'vm (not slang, just a pronunciation which is definitely not specific to Boston) whoosey-whatchie (general American slang, whosey-whatsey is a more frequent spelling) wicked pissa (unheard of spelling; should be pisser) Yaz (general American slang) you's guys (not Boston slang; New York slang)

Many of the location terms are also incidental, not widespread and extremely obscure, or just as commonly used in reference to those places by the general American people.

In conclusion, while there are words and phrases specific to Boston slang, the list seriously confuses what is and what is not Boston slang. It would be very difficult to maintain it in such a way as only authentic Boston slang is maintained. OBriain 00:11, 19 December 2006 (UTC)[reply]

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.