Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/For Want of a Nail

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 keep‎. as it looks like most of the problematic content has now been purged from the article. Liz ^{Read! Talk!} 23:06, 23 July 2023 (UTC)[reply]

For Want of a Nail[edit]

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DICDEF followed by an EXAMPLEFARM. Great for TVTropes, but not WP. Plenty of sources, but all they do is provide examples, which by itself does not confer notability. Perfect example of CARGO. Just Another Cringy Username (talk) 21:01, 9 July 2023 (UTC)[reply]

Note: This discussion has been included in the list of Language-related deletion discussions. Just Another Cringy Username (talk) 21:01, 9 July 2023 (UTC)[reply]
Keep Definitely could stand improvement, but it is a proverb that has been discussed as such [1][2][3]. XOR'easter (talk) 22:23, 9 July 2023 (UTC)[reply]
The Oxford Dictionary of Literary Terms uses it as an example of a rhetorical climax. It is also cited as illustrating how to make a sorites using symploce. XOR'easter (talk) 22:34, 9 July 2023 (UTC)[reply]

OK, since it was pretty clear that we could prune the example farm and write a sourced analysis with these sources, meaning that we surely are now in the realm of AfD not being cleanup rather than having to blow up everything and start over, I went ahead and did that. It's not a great article by any stretch of the imagination, but it's not TV Tropes either. XOR'easter (talk) 17:45, 11 July 2023 (UTC)[reply]
Delete This is essentially a transplant of a TVtropes article. --TheInsatiableOne (talk) 09:17, 10 July 2023 (UTC)[reply]
~~Delete~~ - A well known proverb is very likely a valid subject for a Wikipedia article. "List of every time a well known proverb was referenced", which is what this mess is, is not. I was initially going to suggest just stubifying it by removing the example farm and just leaving in the lead and analysis section, but then I saw those are both completely unsourced. No prejudice against actually creating a genuine article on the topic after deletion, but the current version should not remain. Rorshacma (talk) 01:49, 11 July 2023 (UTC)[reply]

Comment - Still not a great article, but its now more or less what I had in mind when I was considering suggesting stubifying it. As such, I'm striking my delete vote. Rorshacma (talk) 05:23, 12 July 2023 (UTC)[reply]

Relisted to generate a more thorough discussion and clearer consensus.
Relisting comment: To discuss improvements made during the discussion
Please add new comments below this notice. Thanks, Star Mississippi 20:20, 16 July 2023 (UTC)[reply]

If just an ordinary frequent user is permitted to comment, I would like to see this article kept in. I just used it in communicating with a friend who pulled ancient hand made nails out of an ancestral home in Norway. They were not horse shoe nails, but I thought the proverb was apt just for our amusement. I also did find another source that turned the proverb into an essay on the need for organizations, from armies to corporations, to pay attention to the smallest details to avoid disaster. This is the link in case it can provide substance. https://web.citadel.edu/root/images/commandant/assistant-commandant-leadership/for-the-want-of-a-nail.pdf Perhaps it might also apply to the case of the small cracked insulation tile that doomed the Challenger space shuttle in 1986 (and of course I checked this with Wikipedia just now). 2601:152:4001:4370:CDD3:529D:2E57:8B9F (talk) 07:23, 22 July 2023 (UTC)[reply]

Keep. Well known proverb, meets WP:GNG per sources from XOR'easter. Link farm has been removed. ARandomName123 (talk) 06:38, 23 July 2023 (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.