Talk:Ratchet (device)

The most common

shouldn't this page be the primary? It seems that all the other meanings derive from this one, which is certainly the most common usage. --DropDeadGorgias (talk) 16:13, August 17, 2005 (UTC)

Good writing

Just wanted to compliment the authors of this article on good writing. It explains the mechanism clearly in a way that nonmechanical readers can understand, without bloat. That's all too rare on WP. Great job! --Chetvorno^TALK 02:07, 7 March 2011 (UTC)

Requested move 14 February 2022

The following is a closed discussion of a requested move. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made in a new section on the talk page. Editors desiring to contest the closing decision should consider a move review after discussing it on the closer's talk page. No further edits should be made to this discussion.

The result of the move request was: no consensus. (closed by non-admin page mover) Sceptre (talk) 14:32, 25 February 2022 (UTC)

---

• Ratchet (device) → Ratchet
• Ratchet → Ratchet (disambiguation)

– The disambiguation "device" is not needed in the title since this seems to be primary topic. Tinton5 (talk) 03:11, 14 February 2022 (UTC)

• Oppose, "Rachet" with only one T is not the common name for this device. 162 etc. (talk) 04:04, 14 February 2022 (UTC) Edited to add It appears that OP has updated this requested move and is now proposing a move to Ratchet. Still oppose. 162 etc. (talk) 07:12, 14 February 2022 (UTC)
• @Tinton5: I assume you made an error as Ratchet is a disambiguation page. That said, I think there is a solid argument that Ratchet (device) is primary topic by longterm significance so you may want to modify your move request along those lines. If you would rather withdraw it I may end up requesting a move such as that myself. ᴢxᴄᴠʙɴᴍ (ᴛ) 05:06, 14 February 2022 (UTC)
• Oppose per WP:PRIMARYTOPIC. Ratchet (slang) gets significantly more pageviews. - Station1 (talk) 06:33, 14 February 2022 (UTC)

  Pageviews are not the sole criterion used to determine primary topics. The ratchet device has been used for more than a hundred years in a wide array of tools and other machinery; it has far more longterm significance than a slang term coined in the 1990s. ᴢxᴄᴠʙɴᴍ (ᴛ) 10:44, 14 February 2022 (UTC)

  Agree that they are not the sole criterion, but they are usually the best because they are an objective measure of what the majority of people actually want to read about when they search for a specific title, as opposed to what a handful of editors think they should want to read about because it's more "significant". Station1 (talk) 17:35, 14 February 2022 (UTC)

• Strong oppose the TV series gets 31,520 views, the slang word gets 5,442, the video game character gets 1,502, the instrument gets 1,172, the album gets 395, the Transformers character gets 371, the song gets 141 and the Robots character gets 13 compared with only 3,284[[1]] for the device. Crouch, Swale (talk) 10:37, 14 February 2022 (UTC)

  TV series is "Ratched" not "Ratchet", based on Nurse Ratched, so it doesn't count as part of this disambiguation. And as for my argument that the slang word is not of the same primariness, see above. ᴢxᴄᴠʙɴᴍ (ᴛ) 10:48, 14 February 2022 (UTC)

• Support per WP:PTOPIC #2 (long-term significance). This is the original and long-standing use, and the slang word and the video game character are apparently transient. While popular culture topics commonly receive more pageviews than the basic topics such as this device, we traditionally give more weight to the latter. No such user (talk) 12:40, 14 February 2022 (UTC)
• Support -- device is primary topic due to its long-term significance. And likely also the most commonly sought meaning, as evidenced by a "define ratchet" query to Google. Lambtron talk 14:06, 14 February 2022 (UTC)

  When I do that on Google, I get about 3 times as many hits for the slang term as for the device on the first page of results. Station1 (talk) 17:35, 14 February 2022 (UTC)

  Strange. When I do that on Google I don't get "hits" -- I get a definition for the mechanical device. Lambtron talk 17:52, 14 February 2022 (UTC)

• Oppose, keep DAB at base name.--Ortizesp (talk) 15:38, 14 February 2022 (UTC)
• Support. The device is the primary topic. Rreagan007 (talk) 01:35, 15 February 2022 (UTC)
• See the outgoing traffic from the dab page: https://wikinav.toolforge.org/?language=en&title=Ratchet – there's definitely no primary topic with respect to usage. – Uanfala (talk) 14:33, 15 February 2022 (UTC)
• Oppose We have to balance an assessment of both usage and long term relative significance. While I think the argument that the ratchet is the primary in terms of long term significance is strong, in terms of usage, and in terms of aiding current reader navigation, that is very much not the case. The current situation therefore feels like a good solution to balance both the longterm concerns and the need to ensure our disambiguation structure is designed with the reader in mind.--Yaksar (let's chat) 17:53, 15 February 2022 (UTC)
• Support. Very clear primary topic. -- Necrothesp (talk) 14:36, 16 February 2022 (UTC)

The discussion above is closed. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page. No further edits should be made to this discussion.

Proposal: Delete detailed explanation of Brownian Ratchet

Does it make sense for this article to provide a detailed explanation of Brownian Ratchet under the heading "In theoretical physics"? It seems to me that Brownian Ratchet is not a "device", and therefore is not particularly relevant to this article. I propose the following:

• Add Brownian Ratchet to See_also, with a short description if that's deemed appropriate
• Delete the section "In theoretical physics"

Lambtron talk 21:04, 10 December 2024 (UTC)

Agree. WP:UNDUE WEIGHT. This is not the place for an explanation of this topic. Results in a lot of duplication. --Chetvorno^TALK 22:41, 10 December 2024 (UTC)

Done. I didn't notice it earlier, but Brownian ratchet was already in see_also. Lambtron talk 16:56, 11 December 2024 (UTC)