Talk:main strength

Deletion debate

The following information has failed Wiktionary's deletion process.

It should not be re-entered without careful consideration.

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Non-idiomatic sum of parts: main + strength. Defined as "the most important positive attribute of a person or thing". Equinox ◑ 20:26, 19 March 2010 (UTC)

Very strong delete. Mglovesfun (talk) 22:47, 19 March 2010 (UTC)

Delete. ---> Tooironic 23:36, 19 March 2010 (UTC)

Keep. I believe that main strength is an archaic expression meaning something like "physical strength". From what I can tell it seems to be a descendant of an Old English expression. Though no OneLook reference has it, I'd bet it appears in OED. Someone with access to OED should check my beliefs, but it should not be rashly deleted.

Following is a citation that suggests that it is not SoP:

Also see Fernald. DCDuring TALK 00:36, 20 March 2010 (UTC)

That seems keepable, but the current definition should go. Equinox ◑ 00:37, 20 March 2010 (UTC)

Is that just main#Noun (attributively) + strength?​—msh210℠ 17:18, 22 March 2010 (UTC)

Which sense of (deprecated template usage) main are you referring to? The obsolete sense of "strength": "strength strength"? Is there yet another archaic/obsolete sense of main?

This expression seems idiomatic in that it uses some archaic sense of "main". The confusion expressed in this discussion is prima facie evidence that it is idiomatic. Similarly, we lack the archaic (deprecated template usage) might and main. DCDuring TALK 14:40, 23 March 2010 (UTC)

Deleted only meaning in the entry. Mglovesfun (talk) 10:09, 29 March 2010 (UTC)