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2021-12-04T19:43:29Z

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{{short description|Criterion for speedy deletion}}
{{pp-move-indef}}{{redirect|WP:PATENT|the policy on self-published sources|WP:SPS|the essay on patents as reliable sources|WP:PATENTS}}
{{redirect|WP:PN|the how-to guide on creating and modifying editnotices|WP:EDN|Wikipedia page names|WP:Page name}}
{{subcat guideline|content guideline|Patent nonsense|WP:PN|WP:NONSENSE|WP:PATENT}}
{{Guideline list}}
Wikipedia writers and editors contribute a lot of [[Wikipedia:Featured articles|brilliant prose]], but occasionally some '''patent nonsense'''. This falls into two categories:

# Total nonsense, e.g. text that purposefully has no meaning at all ([[lorem ipsum]]) and random text (banging on the keyboard).
# Content that, while apparently intended to mean something, is so confusing that no reasonable person can be expected to make any sense of it. See [[word salad]]. If the meaning cannot be identified, it is impossible to accurately copy-edit the text.

==Not to be confused with ...{{nbsp}}==
The following should '''not''' be speedily deleted ''as patent nonsense'' (though some might meet [[ Wikipedia:Criteria for speedy deletion |other speedy-deletion criteria]]). There are other ways to deal with these things: editing to fix the problem(s); possibly [[ Help:Reverting |reverting]] or [[ Help:A quick guide to templates |tagging]]; or see the [[ Wikipedia:Deletion policy |deletion policy]].
* [[Wikipedia:Libel|Libel]]ous, defamatory, or slanderous comments, no matter how silly. They should be removed immediately if not supported by a reliable source, and possibly [[Wikipedia:Revision deletion|revision deleted]] by an [[Wikipedia:Administrators|administrator]]. In extreme cases, libellous edits may be [[Wikipedia:Suppression|suppressed]] by an [[WP:Oversight|oversighter]]. See [[Wikipedia:Biographies of living persons]].
* Poorly written content that can be improved, such as text containing many grammar errors. See [[Wikipedia:Basic copyediting]].
* Text without links. Consider tagging it with {{tl|Underlinked}}.
* Text not written using the [[Latin alphabet]] or otherwise not written in English, unless it is genuinely gibberish. See [[Wikipedia:Pages needing translation into English]].
* Text poorly translated or written in English. For examples of what would fall under this category, see [[All your base are belong to us]] or [[Engrish]].
* [[Wikipedia:Vandalism|Vandalism]], including joke edits, [[Wikipedia:Don't create hoaxes|hoaxes]], (irrelevant) obscenities and other immature material, is not ''necessarily'' the same thing as patent nonsense, but should be treated similarly (see below). Some nonsense may be a mistake, badly formatted text or [[Wikipedia:Test edits|test edits]], without malicious intent, and [[ WP:AGF | tact may be needed]].
* [[WP:Copyright violations|Copyright violations]], nonsense or not. These should be removed immediately (not merely [[Wikipedia:Deletion policy#Incubation |moved]]).
* [[Wikipedia:Plagiarism|Plagiarism]], nonsense or not, unless it is also a copy violation. Instead, the plagiarized content should be properly attributed.

==Dealing with patent nonsense==
There are various ways to deal with total nonsense—use your good judgment to decide which is most appropriate:
* Replace it with [[WP:DEV|a well-written article]].
* [[Wikipedia:Text move|Move]] it to the page's [[Wikipedia:talk page|talk page]].
* [[Wikipedia:Userfication|Move]] it to the user's talk page.
* Remove it from the article if there is any acceptable content left in the article after that. Often patent nonsense is easy to [[WP:UNDO|undo]].

Do consider that it might have been a test edit, and [[WP:BITE|don't bite the newbies]] by calling them vandals in this case, but instead warn them with a personal note or by using the uw-test series of warning templates ([[Template:Uw-test1]]). Where vandal intent is clear [[WP:WARN|warn]] using the uw-vandalism series of warning templates, and [[Wikipedia:Guide to administrator intervention against vandalism|report them as vandals]] if they continue.

However, if a user objects because they believe the content is not patent nonsense, discuss the issue and try to reach a consensus. In particular, if someone offers to rework the "nonsense" into worthwhile content, please allow them reasonable time to do so.

If a page contains nothing but patent nonsense:
* First, examine the page history to determine whether the patent nonsense present replaced other earlier content. If so, restore the page to the latest revision before the content was replaced by patent nonsense. [[WP:WARN|Warn]] users responsible for introducing patent nonsense as above.
* Otherwise, identify it for [[Wikipedia:Criteria for speedy deletion|speedy deletion]] by placing {{tl|db-g1}} or {{tl|db-nonsense}} at the top of the page. [[WP:WARN|Warn]] and report as above.

==See also==
{{Wikipedia glossary}}
*[[Colorless green ideas sleep furiously]] (article), a notable instance of grammatically correct nonsense
*[[Buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo]], another example
*[[Sokal affair|The Sokal hoax]] (article), nonsense that made it to ''[[Social Text]]''
*[[Word salad]]
*[[Wikipedia:Complete bollocks]]
*[[Wikipedia:Deletion policy]]
*[[Wikipedia:Policies and guidelines]]
*[[Wikipedia:Criteria for speedy deletion#G1]], Wikipedia's speedy deletion criterion dealing with patent nonsense.
{{Wikipedia policies and guidelines}}

Wikipedia:Patent nonsense - Revision history

Tachyony: Imported page