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For example, say I want to ask if William Whitaker's Words is accurate. Is that on-topic?

Note that I'm not asking if questions like "What online dictionaries are available" are on-topic -- I'm asking if specific questions about Latin resources are on-topic.

My instinct is "no" -- which is why I didn't post it -- but I can't put my finger on why, so I'm looking for arguments on either side.

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  • I wanted to post a question asking about how to find people with whom to speak Latin, so I would also be interested in replies to this question.
    – Flounderer
    Feb 24, 2016 at 3:16
  • @Flounderer That seems to me more like a "seeking resources" question.
    – Nic
    Mar 4, 2016 at 19:37

2 Answers 2

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Giving a one-line opinion of a website, dictionary, or any resource for that matter isn't something we want to be (caught) doing.

Answers are likely to be highly opinion-based ("Yeah, it's great, I use it all the time!" or "I'd stay away from that if I were you. When I used it in my Latin 101 homework I got a D!").

But you can ask a question about a single word that you wondered about

William Whitaker's Words lists X₁ as a translation of Y. I always thought that Y meant X₂. In what context can X₁ really be used as a translation of Y? [or whatever]

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  • "Answers are likely to be highly opinion-based" Which is why my example is specifically about the accuracy of a resource, which would ideally be backed up with sources (I.e. Where it draws its information). Still, you raise a good point in that no matter how good the question is, it's likely to attract bad answers, so I'm agreeing with you now.
    – Nic
    Feb 24, 2016 at 11:36
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    @QPaysTaxes For this kind of information, reviews at Amazon, etc. probably represent a better resource anyways.
    – hBy2Py
    Feb 24, 2016 at 12:07
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My sense is that they are likely too broad. You can make any answer about dictionaries or other resources "objective" in some sense by comparing it to other similar resources, but that seems likely very difficult to answer in a SO-friendly format.

What seems on topic is, as Earthliŋ says, is asking about one specific word or phrase, with answers being objective by comparing that to other resources.

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