I think the problem is how over-reaching the definition of dish is, because in addition to it sometimes being used in lieu of plate, it can also refer to other food-holding containers such as trays and bowls.
So how should we treat dish? Should we clean up the tag and alias it to plate, or should we have all plates, trays, and bowls implicate dish?
EDIT: Would also like to note the existence of the dishes tag, which seems even more ambivalent to me. Isn't that the definition for dinnerware?
I'm surprised these tags are still separate. Because people sometimes tag images with only one of dish or plate for 'flat food serving containers', quite a lot of images can be missed when we search for either: dish -plate
According to dictionaries and wikipedia, dish or dishware refers to food serving vessels in general. Thus, I propose that dish should be the general tag that plates, bowls, etc. implicate.
Also, dishes is a silly tag that should redirect to dish. In general, an assortment of things don't deserve its own tag (e.g. utensils, instruments) unless it is a fairy specific set like a tea set.
This issue has been brought up multiple times before but went unresolved (e.g. topic #13125 ).
EDIT: Danbooru is not letting me create "imply plate/bowl -> dish" based on a heuristic, but my point stands. Another option is going through all 824 dish posts and replacing them with more specific tags (most are just plates).
I see dishes as a useful tag for finding posts where dishes are being washed or dried (post #1368420, post #3006807, post #3922535) or posts where there are simply lots of dishes (post #945475, post #1969097). There is no other tag or combination of tags that can replace it in this capacity. Trying to find these posts by searching for bowl or plate is like trying to find laundry posts by using the tags for individual articles of clothing.
Dish, on the other hand, is just another redundant umbrella tag. It only exists so taggers won't have to bother deciding between bowl/plate/saucer/tray/whatever. It serves no unique function and probably shouldn't exist.
I can see your case for dishes. I just think having both dishes and dish is unnecessary.
The ideal option is going through every dish posts and being more specific. As you noted, dish is useless, and having both dish and plate without implications is actually harmful to searches.
LMAO. I just found out plate stack is also a thing. I get that there are subtle differences between a stack of just plates and various dishes, but the problem is most taggers DON'T distinguish. How should we go about this problem?
For now, I propose the obvious. In the meanwhile, I am going to manually inspect every post in dish -plate and tag plate, bowl, etc. In addition, I'm going to add a warning in wiki page for dish that more specific tags are recommended.
p.s. Starting from oldest posts... Help would be greatly appreciated.
Outside of cases where the plate flexs, like post #1342101, what exactly is the visual identifier of a paper plate? You have post #4092627 tagged paper plate, but visually it's no different from post #5258095's plate. Most of the posts seem to rely on the fluted pattern on the plate, but the fluted pattern is something that even normal plates can have, so it's not visually unique to paper plates.
Outside of cases where the plate flexs, like post #1342101, what exactly is the visual identifier of a paper plate? You have post #4092627 tagged paper plate, but visually it's no different from post #5258095's plate. Most of the posts seem to rely on the fluted pattern on the plate, but the fluted pattern is something that even normal plates can have, so it's not visually unique to paper plates.
I didn't tag post #4092627, but you can tell whether a plate is a paper plate by shape (flat/flexible) and context (e.g. other disposable cups and chopsticks, see post #4930019). That said, I only found the tag during my crusade against dish. I don't know its full history.
aquamarin said: I am going to manually inspect every post in dish -plate and tag plate, bowl, etc. In addition, I'm going to add a warning in wiki page for dish that more specific tags are recommended.
p.s. Starting from oldest posts... Help would be greatly appreciated.
I actually managed to complete this. I can safely claim that dish is used most commonly when plate is more specific and adequate. The second most common use of dish is when saucer is more appropriate.
