Definitions

Sorry, no definitions found. Check out and contribute to the discussion of this word!

Etymologies

Sorry, no etymologies found.

Support

Help support Wordnik (and make this page ad-free) by adopting the word open lists.

Examples

    Sorry, no example sentences found.

Comments

Log in or sign up to get involved in the conversation. It's quick and easy.

  • I remember the days before open lists. We discussed it on features, then John brought it in, then tweaked it a bit in response to feedback. I think the results so far have been very positive. There are many open lists and a lot of them have become very fun places. They're also lists that have a decent life, as it were, in the Wordiespan of attention, because of the collaborative aspect. Once again I thank John, because he got it substantially right from the outset and that is one of his (many) outstanding talents.

    April 25, 2008

  • Hear, hear! I could not agree more. Thanks, John. *raising a piece of fudge in your honor*

    April 25, 2008

  • I heart open lists. Most of mine are.

    April 25, 2008

  • Yeowsuh boss! :o)

    April 25, 2008

  • I feel the same way. Being a Wordie neophyte, I wasn't around for the era before open lists, and I find it hard to believe that there ever was such an era. It just feels so natural to collaborate on lists!

    April 25, 2008

  • Yes, ter. How could they live in closedlistocene?

    April 25, 2008

  • Yes, we were a primitive people then.

    April 25, 2008

  • Where are all my fellow control freaks? I mean, I'd love to join in and wallow in this communal lovefeast dedicated to open lists. But the truth is, I don't want all my lists to be public. Because eventually there would come a day when some well-intended soul would add a 'word' like 'accomodation' or 'opthalmology' and not understand why I suddenly went all ballistic on their ass.

    In a world where my cats mock me openly, it's important to know that I have control of my lists. Not all of them, but some, at least.

    April 25, 2008

  • Of course! I have private lists as well - everybody needs his privacy.

    April 25, 2008

  • Don't know about anyone else, but I was agreeing to the idea of open lists and how smoothly John set up that function, not to having all open lists, all the time. I agree that it's nice to keep a few to oneself--nothing wrong with that. But there are times when it's just more fun having everyone pile on; don't you think? :-)

    April 25, 2008

  • I list both ways, too.

    April 26, 2008

  • I know what you mean sionnach. I've made only a few of my lists open because I want to retain control. But I've been happy with my open lists, especially Well-mixed metaphors, which has had a couple of dozen great contributions since I looked at it last. (Excuses started strong, but then died out.)

    The creator of a list can delete off-topic or unwanted listings and comments (though it seems rare for anyone to delete comments, except duplicates). What do people think about the owners curating open lists? (I specifically noted that I might do that on Panvocalic polyglot.)

    April 26, 2008

  • Gangerh, that's a fabulous pun; I hope it was intended. I only list one way…

    April 26, 2008

  • Mollusque, the only way I "curate" my open lists is by deleting duplicates, and I've only done that maybe three times. I figure that since words added by a non-listowner aren't counted toward that person's total, it does no harm. (But I still feel a little guilty.)

    April 26, 2008

  • Should we infer from your comment r_t that if I were to bestow one of my priceless, uniquely wonderful, carefully crafted madeupical words on a list started by you (or anyone else except me), that it is your word total would be augmented and not mine?

    I remember the harsh early days of Wordie, the kitties desperately trying to tap in my words in Morse code before the candle went out. Me desperately trying to work out the best orthographic representation of the coarse strangled grunts that formed the basis of our communication back in the old days. Walking uphill barefoot in the snow 5 miles to and from the one room schoolhouse every day.

    We've come a long way indeed.

    April 26, 2008

  • No, I don't think it adds to either person's total, does it? That is, if you're adding a word (madeupical or not) to my list, it isn't counted for you or for me. Or have I been confused all this time?

    April 26, 2008

  • Whatever! I add words wherever I can. And you know, I always hope someone will join me here, one day.

    April 26, 2008

  • Word count and why the s-udgeon word isn't yet 'most-Wordied'. My analysis is that you can add a word to ANY list once and you get 1 added to YOUR 'words added' total. If you subsequently add that word to ANY other list you get 0 added to YOUR 'words added' total. It's the Wordie who adds the word who gets the count, not the list owner. And every Wordie gets just one count for each word. You can't score more than once for the same word. And each word gets a score of 1 for every first time each Wordie puts it on ANY list. And 0 if that same Wordie adds it to any other list. If ANOTHER Wordie adds the word to ANY other list it scores 1 again. And that's why I haven't added schadenfreudgeon to every Open List! Clear as mudgeon really!

    April 26, 2008

  • Well, if this is really how it works, it's very well designed in my opinion.

    Bravo, John!

    April 26, 2008

  • Your inclination, sarra, is correct. And I am humbled by your recognition. Thanks for telling me.

    April 26, 2008

  • Although I haven't paid close attention to the counting scheme, gangerh's extremely clear explanation of how it works is pretty much how I thought it did. And, as Pro said, it seems exactly right, i.e. it matches the way one feels it ought to work. That John is a smart young man.

    April 26, 2008

  • I've just giggled for about thirty seconds at “inclination”, too. Yippee! (It's late…)

    April 26, 2008

  • Young, sionnach? For some reason I always envisioned him as ancient, quite bald, bent double by his hours over a hot keyboard, shuffling to the train muttering extracts from New York Times articles under his breath.

    Oh, and blind. I'm quite sure he's blind. All the truly great seers and prophets are blind, aren't they?

    April 26, 2008

  • Gangerh, thanks for the much clearer explanation of How Words Count. Apparently I was paying attention, but only to a certain degree. ;-)

    I thought John was a Japanese schoolgirl.

    April 27, 2008

  • I thought he was a little teapot.

    April 27, 2008

  • Short and stout.

    April 27, 2008

  • How come clicking to 'See all open lists' doesn't give you all open lists?

    May 11, 2009

  • open list is my middle name.

    May 19, 2017

  • I have a list for that.

    May 19, 2017