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This page is an archive of the discussion surrounding the proposed deletion of the page entitled Dinga.

This page is kept as an historic record.

The result of the debate was to delete the article.

  • Claims to be regional North American slang for a railroad crossing. Wikipedia is not a slang dictionary anyway, but the fact that this utterly fails the Google test (no relevant mentions that I could find) renders that moot; the term is clearly not even in widespread use. I personally suspect that this is a newly coined piece of personal or small-group slang being passed off as if in wider use, and is not appropriate for Wikipedia. Delete. —Morven 18:09, 14 May 2004 (UTC)[reply]
    • I've certainly never heard it, and I was a member of a railroad museum. One of the things I helped do was to build an interactive signal display. It has dwarf signals, block signals, semaphores and a pair of wigwag grade crossing signals. There's even an enormous locomotive-type bell of cast bronze in working order that was used as warning at a crossing in Anaheim from the turn of the Twentieth Century to about 1960. No "dinga." And, no Google. Delete. - Lucky 6.9 18:50, 14 May 2004 (UTC)[reply]
    • I've never heard of it either, and according to The Almanac of American Politics, my congressional district has more railroad crossings per capita than any other. Delete. Meelar 21:36, 14 May 2004 (UTC)[reply]
  • A made-up term probably posted by a loose-cannon user who doesn't play by the rules. Delete.--Beelzebubs 03:26, 16 May 2004 (UTC)[reply]
  • I posted this term. I'm from Ontario, Canada and it's just what people call the things. While randomly surfing pages I came across the one for "level crossing" when I was on some other railroad wiki entry, and realized I didn't even know what a "level crossing" was since where I come from people just call them "dingas". I only added it because I felt I could contribute a piece of information that wasn't here. I guess you can delete it if you want, but just don't think I made it up... hell, I personally think it's a pretty strange term myself, and I figured the most comprehensive encyclopedia would cover as much knowledge as possible. Consequently, I'd vote to keep it. -- CASO 22:00, 16 May 2004 (UTC)[reply]
    • The thing is that none of us can find any use of this term anywhere. Google searches don't turn it up, for example. I'm inclined to think that if this usage exists, it's VERY rare indeed, and possibly of very recent origin. Also, one of the things that Wikipedia is not is a dictionary, including a slang dictionary. —Morven 18:25, 17 May 2004 (UTC)[reply]
  • I think I have heard of this term before. Best to err on the side of caution. Stub and hope someone adds more. Vote to keep
  • Got a couple of sockpuppets voting to keep. Looks like junk. Delete. -- Cyrius|&#9998 00:06, May 17, 2004 (UTC)
    • How the hell am I a sockpuppet? I just told you I posted the thing myself. -- CASO 10:36, 17 May 2004 (UTC)[reply]
      • Note: posted by IP address User:158.143.170.45 -- Cyrius|&#9998 19:03, May 18, 2004 (UTC)
      • Your user history said nothing of the sort. However, it was posted by an anon, so I'll give you credit for that. But I just reverted a blanking of this page by another sockpuppet, so we're back up to two. -- Cyrius|&#9998 17:56, May 17, 2004 (UTC)
        • I imagine the reason my user history doesn't show that is because to be frank this is the first time I've ever posted anything to Wikipedia. I didn't realize that you could do that until just this week, and so thought I would try to be helpful and post information where I knew about it. Isn't that the point of this encyclopedia? (and, I might add, I find it very odd that when I did so I was treated with some degree of hostility, as though I was "making stuff up".. Hell, if we all knew eveything in the world, why would we even need encyclopedias. Just because some people haven't heard of something doesn't make it false.) Anyway, I created the entry without an account, so I guess it showed up as Anonymous. I only created one the other day so I'd be able to respond to you guys erasing my info! You said I didn't play by the rules, but I am not sure what rule I contravened by posting information? Also, I don't understand what "sockpuppet" means, other than it has to be something derogatory... -- CASO 19:48, 17 May 2004 (UTC)[reply]
          • Note: posted by IP address User:158.143.170.45 -- Cyrius|&#9998 19:03, May 18, 2004 (UTC)
          • I am not calling you a liar. However, the only people claiming to have heard of this term are a couple of fairly blatant sockpuppet accounts. Wikipedia is not a primary source, and we don't like information that is unverifable. -- Cyrius|&#9998 19:11, May 18, 2004 (UTC)

Well, this debate seems to be getting a little heated. I thought that I would comment on it as well. I am a train enthusiast and belong to the Waterloo Region Model Railway Club. My father and grandfather both worked for the Canadian Pacific Railway and it led to my fascination with trains. Anyway the gentleman who has posted the original note about the 'term' dinga is correct. I believe this term is limited to Southern Ontario (Canada) only, however. It is in reference to the modern-day level crossing signals. In some places the 'dinga-dinga' or 'dinga'is referred to as 'wig-wag' or 'beacon'.

Vote to Keep

jeremy_r 15:05 EST May 17 2004

  • Ok, due to the fact that no one answered my question about what a "sockpuppet" is, I looked it up myself on Wikipedia, and it says the following: "A sock puppet describes a second account created by an existing member of an Internet community, generally to manufacture the illusion of support in a vote or argument.". So, basically you're saying that I created multiple accounts in order to vote in favour of this posting? I'm sorry, but that is absolute unsubstantiated crap. Who do you think you are? I only see two other people who have suggested the entry is valid, and I am most certainly neither of them. Just check their IP addresses and I can guarentee that will prove they are not me. (unless they snuck into my room at night and used my computer) Furthermore, 2 votes probably isn't going to win any debates here since apparently your policy on users contributing information you are not familiar with is to collectively ridicule them for doing so. If something doesn't show up on google that is one thing (though I am sort of surprised by that), or if you don't think it's the type of information you want, but all this crap about sockpuppets, not playing by the rules and accusing me of basically making stuff up or submitting "junk" is nothing short of insulting to anyone who tries to make a contribution to your project. Sorry I even bothered. -- CASO 19:05 18 May 2004 (UTC)
    • Note: posted by IP address User:158.143.170.45 -- Cyrius|&#9998 19:03, May 18, 2004 (UTC)
    • Thanks Cyrius. Unsurprisingly, my IP is the same for all my own posts (which I signed), but how about you post the ones for the two people you claim are sockpuppets? -- CASO 20:15 18 May 2004 (UTC)
      • I told you what a sock puppet was on your user talk page yesterday. If these 'supporters' aren't just your alter egos (and note that differing IPs proves nothing; it's easy enough to access multiple computers), I strongly suspect they're your friends. Again, for both this and Dump poppy (and any other 'regional slang' you add to Wikipedia in future), we're going to need stronger verification than a bunch of suspiciously new users popping their heads in to agree with you. Wikipedia is not a slang dictionary anyway, but for these to rate even a mention we need a good deal more verification that these terms are actually in use. This means usages in print, on web sites (and not ones that you and your friends just cooked up), etc. —Morven 19:23, 18 May 2004 (UTC)[reply]

This page is now preserved as an archive of the debate and is no longer 'live'. Subsequent comments on the issue or the deletion should be placed on other relevant 'live' pages. Please do not edit this page.

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