Talk:wait a minute

RFD discussion: March–May 2018
verb. SOP --Otra cuenta105 (talk) 18:55, 24 March 2018 (UTC)


 * keep. I agree it's SOP, and if it were the only definition in the entry, I would agree it should not be included, but given the use as an interjection, does it not make it in the same way we include literal senses of phrases that are also idioms? Kiwima (talk) 19:07, 24 March 2018 (UTC)
 * I'm not convinced, KW. --Otra cuenta105 (talk) 19:33, 24 March 2018 (UTC)


 * Weak delete--I was leaning towards keeping at first due to the unliteral use of the phrase, but sense two of minute allows for the nonliteral use to be SoP, and even includes the phrase as its example with "minute" as the part. --SanctMinimalicen (talk) 20:31, 24 March 2018 (UTC)
 * Solidified my vote based on Equinox's point. --SanctMinimalicen (talk) 22:41, 2 April 2018 (UTC)
 * I'd be inclined to keep both senses. SemperBlotto (talk) 20:36, 24 March 2018 (UTC)
 * Keep it, and what about hang on a minute? DonnanZ (talk) 20:41, 24 March 2018 (UTC)
 * Delete; see sense 2 of minute: "(informal) A short but unspecified time period." It even gives this as a usage example! "Wait a minute, I’m not ready yet!" PseudoSkull (talk) 19:11, 26 March 2018 (UTC)
 * Convert to &lit. ←₰-→ Lingo Bingo Dingo (talk)  14:18, 28 March 2018 (UTC)
 * Convert to . Per utramque cavernam (talk) 21:28, 28 March 2018 (UTC)
 * Keep the nominated verb sense "Wait for an unspecified short period of time" without conversion to &lit. It may be SOP with respect to the particular definition of "minute", but it is unclear how much that sense of minute is used outside of "wait a minute" phrase. http://idioms.thefreedictionary.com/wait+a+minute gives multiple idiom dictionaries (which do not count for WT:LEMMING as proposed, but anyway). --Dan Polansky (talk) 10:00, 31 March 2018 (UTC)


 * (Wait | hang on | hold on | just) a (minute | moment | mo | jiffy)... nothing special about this one. Delete. Equinox ◑ 22:30, 2 April 2018 (UTC)


 * Delete/Convert to . Equinox has demonstrated convincingly that this is SOP. —Granger (talk · contribs) 12:11, 29 May 2018 (UTC)
 * Convert to &lit. The interjections are idiomatic, but the verb sense is literally wait a minute. bd2412 T 15:05, 29 May 2018 (UTC)

RFD discussion: March 2019–March 2020
Sense 2: "Listen to me; pay attention". That is arguably the pragmatic intent, but I don't see it as a separate sense. It's more like "literally wait a minute [and don't go away yet]" because you have more to tell them. It's the same "wait a minute" as a warning when you want to stop somebody walking into the trap you just spotted, etc. etc. Equinox ◑ 22:07, 31 March 2019 (UTC)
 * Not a separate sense to what? Do you mean it is the same sense as sense #1, or that it is a SOP? In these uses “wait” is an urgent advice to suspend action until further notice (sense 2 of ), and "a minute” clearly stands for an unspecified period of time (sense 2 of ). Aside: I think this is actually an informal sense of the two-word term “ a minute”. Pragmatics aside, this would indeed appear to be a sum of parts. The difference with sense 1 given for, I think, is that there the speaker is addressing themselves, interrupting their spoken-out-loud thought process. But that is, ultimately, also not more than a pragmatic difference with the underlying literal meaning, the action to be suspended being the ongoing uttering of the train of thought. With a little further effort I expect we can also argue away the third sense. --Lambiam 22:41, 31 March 2019 (UTC)
 * Deleted - TheDaveRoss  19:03, 29 March 2020 (UTC)