A while-ish ago, I suggested a tag synonym here. After this while-ish, it's still stayed at 0 votes. While this could mean that its upvotes and downvotes canceled out, I really doubt that because it seems unlikely, given what the actual synonym is. First of all, I want to know how long it takes before someone actually votes on it. Second of all, please vote on it!
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3Usually forever, since hardly anyone is aware of the synonym list, let alone able to vote for synonyms, let alone aware that they're able to, let alone checking that list to do so.– TARSCommented Aug 15, 2019 at 13:52
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@TARS On that note, I know the dashboard exists but it still took me a while searching around to remember how to get to it so I could add the link in my answer.– TheLethalCarrot ModCommented Aug 15, 2019 at 14:02
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2 Answers
Tag synonym suggestions are largely ignored unless specifically raised.
There's no easy way to navigate to the tag synonyms page, and I'd guess very few if any people regularly check for tag synonym suggestions. Also the system won't automatically bring any proposed tag synonym to the attention of users able to review it (e.g. there's no review queue for tag synonym suggestions). So if you just propose a synonym and let it lie, it's very unlikely to be seen. You could ask for help in chat, or better on meta, to get a tag synonym approved.
It's often useful to get moderator help for tag synonymisation. The merge tool (only available to diamond mods) is usually better to use than the synonymisation tool, since it leaves no trace of the synonym tag hanging around on old questions even though it can't be added to new ones. For very clear cases you might consider raising a mod flag, but apparently it's possible that someone might consider two tags "clearly synonymous" which actually aren't at all. That brings me to the second point ...
Your particular suggestion was very wrong and has been rejected.
It's no longer visible on the page you linked to in the OP, but from comments and the other answer here I gather that you proposed novel as a synonym of books or vice versa. As has already been explained to you in comments, these two are not remotely synonymous, either as tags on SFF.SE or even as English language words. Many books are not novels, so the words are not the same, and for our site it's useful to break down the general books tag into subcategories like novel and short-stories with their own tags. So the community rightly downvoted your tag synonym suggestion enough that it disappeared.
answered Aug 15, 2019 at 22:20
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1”There's no easy way to navigate to the tag synonyms page” If you mean the dashboard, there is, it’s just very easily missed. IIRC it’s on the tags page at the bottom as a tiny link.– TheLethalCarrot ModCommented Aug 16, 2019 at 6:44
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1@TheLethalCarrot I don't count that as an easy way to navigate to it ;-)– Rand al'Thor ModCommented Aug 16, 2019 at 6:48
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Me neither for some reason my brain parsed out ”easy” and I just read it as ”There’s no way...”– TheLethalCarrot ModCommented Aug 16, 2019 at 7:03
Tag synonyms take an indeterminate amount of time to be voted on due to how they work. As far as I know there is no automatic system that notifies anyone to vote on a tag synonym request. People need to visit the tag page or Tag Synonym Dashboard.
Then that user needs an answer score for that tag of at least 5:
Users with a total answer score of 5 or more on the tag, can vote for tag synonyms.
The best way to speed up the process is to either ask a meta question on it, preferably beforehand asking if it is a good idea, ask in chat or flag for moderator attention. I would use the last option sparingly though and where it is essentially a clear cut case.
A note about this request
This request should get declined as the tags have different uses. Just in regards to story-identification questions novel is used when trying to identify a novel and books is used when identifying a series or when we don't know what sub type of book it is i.e. they say book but don't specify between novel, novella, short story, etc.
answered Aug 15, 2019 at 13:54
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Hate to disagree, but "novel" is considered a synonym of "book" by thesaurus.com– user112267Commented Aug 15, 2019 at 13:56
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6@Voldemort'sWrath The words might be synonymous but that doesn't mean their usages as tags on SFF are.– TheLethalCarrot ModCommented Aug 15, 2019 at 13:57
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2Uh...not even the words are remotely synonymous. A genuine dictionary or encyclopedia might be more helpful there than some random internet thesaurus app made for poets seeking word recommendations.– TARSCommented Aug 15, 2019 at 13:58
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@TARS - thesaurus.com is a widely recognized source for finding synonyms. That's what a thesaurus does. It gives you synonyms...– user112267Commented Aug 15, 2019 at 14:06
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2"book" also applies to anthologies, picture books (e.g. Spacecraft 2000 to 2100 AD) and any auxiliary works like The Science of Discworld.– DavidWCommented Aug 15, 2019 at 14:06
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2@Voldemort'sWrath You need to realise that tag synonyms aren't word synonyms, there is a distinct difference between them. The tag usages need to align not just the word meaning, which arguably doesn't in this case anyway.– TheLethalCarrot ModCommented Aug 15, 2019 at 14:08
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@TheLethalCarrot - I'm not disagreeing with you. I'm disagreeing with TARS...– user112267Commented Aug 15, 2019 at 14:09
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@Voldemort'sWrath I know your comment was a reply to his one.– TheLethalCarrot ModCommented Aug 15, 2019 at 14:10
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1@Voldemort'sWrath Still a thesaurus has another purpose and accuracy requirement than a genuine word definition. I'm not sure you really want to argue every book is a novel and every novel is a book, since I see that not feasible. The terms just aren't synonymous, their usage in song lyrics and colloquial talk nothwithstanding. But anyway, I agree that this is ultimately tangential to the actual meta discussion.– TARSCommented Aug 15, 2019 at 14:15