Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Pofigism

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The following discussion is an archived debate of the proposed deletion of the article below. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page (such as the article's talk page or in a deletion review). No further edits should be made to this page.

The result was delete despite the cleverness of this hoax... ---J.S (T/C/WRE) 13:04, 22 June 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Pofigism

Pofigism (edit|talk|history|links|watch|logs) – (View log)

Delete a smart joke which looks like a genuine philosophical article. It was created by known joker who once moved Soviet Ballroom dances to Soviet Bathroom dances. This is a mock Russian term derived from the expression "a mne po figu", i.e. "I don't care (e.g., what happens)". It is used colloquially to refer to an attitude of indifference, passsive neutrality, etc. In other words, it is a Russian langaage dicdef, i.e., doesn't fit even English wiktionary. `'юзырь:mikka 18:20, 15 June 2007 (UTC)

Warning to contributor: much as I enjoyed reading it, I have to warn you that this kind of editing is disruption of wikipedia and you may get yourself blocked from editing. On the other hand, your article will be very welcome in Uncyclopedia. `'юзырь:mikka 18:24, 15 June 2007 (UTC)

  • Comment - the Radio Free Europe reference states the following:
    The comments on the celebrations, suggesting that Russians were defying the economic crisis with their unwary optimism, were challenged by a headline in the last pre-holiday issue of the business daily Kommersant (by the way, most Russian newspapers have ceased publication until Jan. 12). Rather than optimism, the paper described the feeling as "pofigism" -- a colloquial expression best translated as "utter carelessness."
  • While I think the English term is more appropriately "apathy," and I agree "it is a Russian language dicdef," that is a WP:RS. And, although I am not apathetic about this, I will abstain for now. --Evb-wiki 18:37, 15 June 2007 (UTC)
  • Actually, the way the term is presented in the article is a WP:HOAX, so delete. --Evb-wiki 18:40, 15 June 2007 (UTC)
    • There is no single appropriate English term here, a typical untranslatability problem with vague words. While "apathy" is close, this term has a different emotional load. Like I wrote, the term "pofigism" is literally the " 'I don't care' attitude", or as Free Europe put it: the "Devil-May-Care Mood", which has a broad spectrum, from happily messing with something dangerous not thinking about consequences, to apathic doing nothing. `'юзырь:mikka 19:22, 15 June 2007 (UTC)
      • Are you sure that English has no word for such recklessness, wantonness, abandon, indifference, and disregard? I'm sure that wikt:пофигизм would welcome it if you could think of any. Uncle G 21:48, 15 June 2007 (UTC)
        • You don't believe that Russia can still beat America in some ways? :-) `'юзырь:mikka 01:32, 16 June 2007 (UTC)
          • What does America have to do with it? Uncle G 11:19, 16 June 2007 (UTC)
        • Even if it does, this topic is not applicable to Wikipdia (see WP:NOT. Delete without remorse. --Nonstopdrivel 01:22, 16 June 2007 (UTC)
  • Comment Does the fact that there is no English translation indicate that English speakers are uptight about everything? ~ Infrangible 01:48, 16 June 2007 (UTC)
  • Пофигизм iself is a perfectly legit encyclopedic topic, as it's a significant part of Russian mentality (along with Russian avos'), but the article is original research in its present state, so it should be deleted, unless it's completely rewritten. MaxSem 08:38, 16 June 2007 (UTC)
    • Disagreed about "russian mentality". Assigning various negative traits to whole nations is creeping racism. Thank you for pointing out for another bunch of crap in Russian avos'. I will try to figure out what to do with it. `'юзырь:mikka 17:54, 16 June 2007 (UTC)
  • Pofigist gives 15400 hits in google, пофигизм gives 252000 and пофигист gives 429000. I am sure it would be a huge gap in wikipedia's coverage if it had no article on such topic. And how can it be a hoax? Can you please point out any incorrect information in the article. There are several sources describing the issue. In fact the topic is somewhat difficult to describe in encyclopedia as it is both ethical term as well as an issue in Russian art. There are also several "pofigist societies". Anyway I think the improvement of the article would be much more positive than deletion.--Certh 18:37, 16 June 2007 (UTC)
    • The sources do not even come close to suggesting the term refers to a "philosophical and ethical teaching." It merely refers to an attitude or a way of approaching life. Regarding the idea of improving the article, you are free to give it a go. --Evb-wiki 19:04, 16 June 2007 (UTC)
    • Counting Google hits is not research. Research involves actually reading the things that the search engines find. When you do so, you'll find that quite a lot of those hits are discussion fora where people have chosen "pofigist" as their pseudonym. If you want to make a case for keeping which actually holds water, look through what the search engine returns and see whether you can find any actual sources in there, and cite them. Sources that merely use the word in discussions of other things aren't any good, either, as they are of no use in constructing a proper article. As already pointed out above, for example, the Radio Free Europe article that you've cited doesn't actually discuss the concept of pofigism at all. Sources! Sources! Sources! Uncle G 19:23, 16 June 2007 (UTC)
  • Delete unless it's completely rewritten. Pofigism is just a Russian slang word, means being totally indifferent to everything. // vh16ru talk 05:49, 21 June 2007 (UTC)
  • Delete per vh16 above. I'm from Belarus and we mostly share the culture with Russia, so I know Russian slang. -- Paul Pogonyshev 15:16, 21 June 2007 (UTC)
  • Delete per being an obvious prank. May be rewritten though, if presented as a slang term as numerously stated above. --ssr 19:39, 21 June 2007 (UTC)
The above discussion is preserved as an archive of the debate. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page (such as the article's talk page or in a deletion review). No further edits should be made to this page.