User talk:Defenestration
Hello "Defenestration" and welcome to Wikipedia. A few tips for you:
- Peruse Wikipedia:Welcome, newcomers and associated pages.
- You can experiment in the Wikipedia:Sandbox.
- Sign talk page entries with ~~~~, which is automatically converted to a name and date.
- Ask questions on Wikipedia:Village pump.
- Happy wikipediaing, Elde 01:52, 1 Feb 2004 (UTC)
Just as a question: I would have thought defenestration refers, in actual usage, only to throwing someone (not something) out of (rather than from) a window, an archaic punishment especially of vigilantism for specific crimes such as treason (most famously the Catholic administrators for the Austrians in Prague, which started the Thirty Years War). I think it's a good nick, but is the term really used otherwise? Clossius 10:16, 12 Mar 2004 (UTC)
- I am utterly ignorant of the etymology of my user name. Or at least I was, before you inspired me to learn of it. I had only been familiar with the word itself (which I found amusing), and not of the official practice (which I still find amusing, though certainly less so). To answer your question: as far as contemporary usage goes, my definition looks to be more or less correct, though I have reworded it slightly to more accurately reflect that (out of rather than from, as you suggest). In retrospect, however, it was probably not the best choice for a Wikipedia user name, as my initial instinct when editing is typically to leave intact as much as possible, rather than discard it. Oh well. Defenestration 07:17, 13 Mar 2004 (UTC)
- Ok, I might have been Eurocentric here; for me, Defenestration was really the Prague 1618 event:
- File:Defen1618.jpg
- (There is a much more famous painting of the Virgin Mary taking the three defenestrated Catholics in her arms and making them land smoothly, but I didn't find that one, and anyway, it's a post-defenestration scene.) But the metaphorical or jocular or PC use of the term was news to me; I rather like it and will use it from now on as well.
- I really like the "non-intrusive" editing policy, by the way, i.e. to leave what can be left and only to change what has to be changed. Clossius 09:08, 13 Mar 2004 (UTC)
I noticed you did some minor work on the addiction article. There is some new information there by Scottperry that doesn't seem to jibe with conventional approaches of professional associations working in that field of medicine. The information might be valid (though I found no Google hits for mass behavioral addictions) and none of it was attributed to a source - it was referenced as "one definition of addiction"
A new table layout was somewhat forced, as well, with a 334 px table leading off the screen area in smaller windows. Would you mind watching that article to see if new information seems valid in the context of your experience? Talbiano 04:41, 19 Apr 2004 (UTC)
- I've been avoiding making major changes to that page for a while; it needs a fair amount of work, and I haven't been up to it recently. I agree with your opinions in regard to Scottperry's changes, though. Most, if not all of them, look to be of a dubious or pointless nature, particularly the table you removed. I've started a copyedit/overhaul of the article, which I will probably be uploading sequentially. In the meantime, I'll keep an eye on it. Defenestration 07:31, 22 Apr 2004 (UTC)
Defenestration, you should be very happy to know that fans of Merriam-Webster OnLine have voted the word...er, what else......defenestration as their most favorite word of 2004! No lie! http://www.m-w.com/info/favorite.htm —Catdude 05:27, 15 Jun 2004 (UTC)