I found many answers to my deleted questions extremely useful and interesting.

Can't the copy of deleted threads be email-ed to all authors?
or authors be warned to backup them before deleting?

Failing to fit to very vaguely defined tematics/subjects of this board is not synonym of bad behavior.
Especially if all my related questions on the meaning and definitions of words (like language, usage, etc.) are being closed.

If questions do not fit in this board, the author would want to have the texts for posting elsewhere in more appropriate boards.

I had superb answers to my question "Who was mockingbird", I loved them.
Why was it deleted without any warning?
This was the question on the figurative, idiomatic usage (which is in the title of this board!) and meaning of the word mockingbird in novel "To Kill a Mockingbird":

  • Who were the innocences, personified by a mockingbird, that did "sing their hearts out for us"?
    • Collateral subquestion: How many were "a mocking bird"-s in the novel?

Why does not this question fit to FAQ of EN&U?
Why could not I keep copy for reposting in the more appropriate board?

The question remained unresolved to me and still haunts me.

What is out EL&U in my deleted questions on meaning, usage and definitions of words:

  • to Dick or not to dick or to whom?
  • Scunthorpe clbuttical question
  • Is sign/manual/body language for the deaf a language
  • 5
    Why was this question voted down? The fact that the answer is "no" doesn't mean that the question is bad; in fact it is a fine question. I bet that I'd have gotten only up-votes if I had asked it. In fact I might have asked it, though I agree that the best answer is probably negative. I really don't like where this is going. – Cerberus Feb 20 '11 at 3:49
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    @Cerberus: I am guessing there are two reasons this was voted down. One is that it is quite clear that items deleted from EL&U are deleted because they have no place on the site — so it is absurd that EL&U would assist authors of off-topic content in maintaining that content. The second reason is that everyone is probably getting rather weary dealing with vgv8. He seems to put no effort to make sure content is appropriate or follows the FAQ. I can say that, as a mod, I have literally had to work twice as much in recent days solely because of vgv8's off-topic postings. – Kosmonaut Feb 20 '11 at 4:03
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    @Kosmonaut: 1. I agree that the answer should be "no", for the reasons you and the answers below mentioned; but is it absurd? If I unwittingly posted a bad question, I'd still like to keep any answers there were before deletion, because they could still be valuable to me. I might not understand why my question was bad, stupid as I was. Again, I agree that the counter arguments trump this; but it is still not completely absurd in my opinion. – Cerberus Feb 20 '11 at 4:17
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    ... 2. Shouldn't we restrict voting to content, and use flagging and banning for discipline? I know he probably posted this out of spite; perhaps he should just be banned then. It isn't fair that you should be forced to spend so much time on this (which I appreciate, by the way). – Cerberus Feb 20 '11 at 4:18
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    Okay, I was just told that voting works differently on Meta. So never mind. – Cerberus Feb 20 '11 at 5:40

If you're asking questions that are being deleted, you shouldn't be asking these questions in the first place. They're deleted because they don't belong here. Emailing the OP the original answers would only encourage the bad behavior.

  • @waiwai933, Is I understand you are a user as I am. May I ask whether you are authorized to answer this? And what is the point in answering the questions I did not ask? – Gennady Vanin Геннадий Ванин Feb 19 '11 at 9:38
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    @vgv8 Anyone is "authorized" to answer any question. If you go to my meta.SO (the master meta site) profile, you'll see that I have a lot of experience understanding how and why Stack Exchange works. Furthermore, the additional details in my answer are there to explain why things are the way they are and to support my answer. – waiwai933 Feb 19 '11 at 18:14
  • I added tag feature-request to my post. This is not really a question auto-expecting confirmation of existing lack of functionality – Gennady Vanin Геннадий Ванин Feb 19 '11 at 20:35
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    @vgv8: waiwai933 is certainly authorized to answer, and his answer is correct. If off-topic or inappropriate questions still receive full answers, what is the incentive for a user to avoid asking them in the future? The deluge of off-topic questions by you has already made me consider whether the mods need to actually be even faster about deleting off-topic questions. – Kosmonaut Feb 19 '11 at 21:05
  • You should first define what is off-topic. Asking about definitions and/or meaning of English words (and/or expressions) is that you were deleting. BTW, with a 3-8 answers + dozens of comments in them – Gennady Vanin Геннадий Ванин Feb 19 '11 at 21:42
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    @vgv8: Here is some information on what is on topic and what isn't: english.stackexchange.com/faq – Cerberus Feb 20 '11 at 0:49

No. If your questions are being deleted, that means they were not appropriate for the site and ultimately should not have been asked here.

If your posts are continually deleted and/or downvoted this is a strong sign you are in the wrong place.

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