On Wikipedia, writers and editors contribute lots of brilliant prose, but occasionally some patent nonsense. This falls into a couple of categories:
- Total nonsense, i.e., text or random characters that has no assignable meaning at all.
- Stuff that, while apparently meaningful after a fashion, is so completely and irremediably confused that no intelligent person can be expected to try to make head or tail of it.
Not to be confused with...
The following, while often regrettable, are not patent nonsense. Check the Deletion policy for information on how to handle these things:
- Patented content or copyrighted works
- Really poorly written stuff (See Why Aren't These Pages Copy-edited?)
- Partisan screed, or opinion masquerading as fact
- Religious excogitations
- Incompetent and/or immature stuff
- Flame bait entries
- Vandalism (See dealing with vandalism)
- Text translated or written by someone who is not a native English speaker
- Hoaxes
- Fictional story material (characters, settings, etc. which are only interesting to fans)
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 brilliant prose.
- Move it to the latest Bad jokes and other deleted nonsense page.
- Move it to the article's talk page.
- Move it to the user's talk page.
- Remove it from the article if there is anything left in the article after that.
However, if anybody objects, because they believe that the content is not total nonsense, then it's best to discuss the issue with them, and try to reach a consensus. In particular, if someone says that they think they can rework the "nonsense" into something worthwhile, then please give them some time and space to do so.
If an article contains nothing but patent nonsense, use your good judgment to decide whether to:
- list it on Wikipedia:Votes for deletion
- replace it with a link to Wikipedia:Speedy deletions
- delete it straightaway (only if you are a sysop)
- add the tag {{nonsense}}, which automatically lists it on CAT:CSD