Talk:Longcat

Did you know nomination

The following is an archived discussion of the DYK nomination of the article below. Please do not modify this page. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page (such as this nomination's talk page, the article's talk page or Wikipedia talk:Did you know), unless there is consensus to re-open the discussion at this page. No further edits should be made to this page.

The result was: promoted by Lightburst (talk) 00:50, 13 June 2023 (UTC)

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[[File:|140px|Longcat in the early 2000s ]]

Longcat in the early 2000s

• ... that Longcat (pictured) was long? Source: "Longcat, the internet meme icon, dies aged 18". CNET.
  Martinus, Danial (September 22, 2020). "Remember Longcat? The internet meme icon has finally passed away at the age of 18". Mashable SEA.
  Thalen, Mikael (September 20, 2020). "Longcat, meme legend, dead at 18". The Daily Dot.
  "'Pokémon Sword and Shield's Gigantamax Meowth looks a lot like Longcat meme". Inverse.
  Hughes, Matthew (May 24, 2019). "Longcat lives!". TheNextWeb.
  Keith (May 21, 2007). "Longcat is GONE". Subeta.
  McWhertor, Michael (October 16, 2019). "Thicc Pikachu and Longcat Meowth coming to Pokémon Sword and Shield".
  "Longcat, the stretchy feline internet meme, has died aged 18". The Independent. September 22, 2020.
  Tariq, Qishin. "So long, Longcat – Internet bids farewell to feline behind famous meme". The Star.
  • Reviewed: Template:Did you know nominations/Brooklyn Union Gas Company Headquarters

Created by JPxG (talk). Self-nominated at 20:52, 9 June 2023 (UTC). Post-promotion hook changes for this nom will be logged at Template talk:Did you know nominations/Longcat; consider watching this nomination, if it is successful, until the hook appears on the Main Page.

• Article was created 9 June. No issues of copyvio or plagiarism. All sources appear reliable. Hook is interesting and sourced. QPQ is done. Great article. Thriley (talk) 22:08, 9 June 2023 (UTC)

@Thriley and JPxG: The nomination only had an image caption so I moved the image here, but the image is not free so we cannot use it. I hope that we might add sections before promotion, because ATM this looks like a stub. It is a fun subject and might be a good quirky hook. Lightburst (talk) 13:58, 10 June 2023 (UTC)

Thank you. Sections would be good. It is 1693 characters, so meets the minimum. Thriley (talk) 16:32, 10 June 2023 (UTC)

Citation for longness

@Artem.G: @Bedivere: To be clear on the disagreement so far: are we being requested a citation for the claim that Longcat was long? I believe that this is present in nearly all of the references in the article. jp×g 21:31, 11 June 2023 (UTC)

The cat is not known for "being long" as it is alleged, rather, quoting the article itself, "became popular on Futaba Channel, where it was nicknamed "Nobiko" ("Stretch" in Japanese) some time around 2005 or 2006, after a photo was posted of the cat being held with "outstretched paws" such that its body looked extremely long" Bedivere (talk) 21:38, 11 June 2023 (UTC)

I don't really understand how it became controversial, but it's "Longcat", not "Memecat", "FutabaChannelCat" or "CatThatLooksLongCat". Long is even in its name! (Or in the meme's name, doesn't really matter.) Artem.G (talk) 04:40, 12 June 2023 (UTC)

The article is about the cat named Shiroi, and the cat is known for being the subject of an internet meme as it looked "extremely long" in a photo that became popular on the Internet. The meme is named "Longcat". That is self explanatory. Bedivere (talk) 05:20, 12 June 2023 (UTC)

I am aware of what that part of the article says, since I wrote it. This specific sentence is cited to the Mashable article, which says: And perhaps, one of the greatest memes of that era was Longcat, which stemmed from a photo of a white cat being held up in the air, displaying it's unusually long body, thus its name [sic]. The statement that "Longcat is long" verges on WP:SKYBLUE territory to begin with, but on top of that, it's explicitly in the cited reference... jp×g 22:39, 12 June 2023 (UTC)

@JPxG has unilaterally reinstated the "being long" sentence on the info ox, despite there being no consensus in that sense. There is no certainty this cat was even long, the cat was the subject of an internet meme that dubbed it longcat. That's it Bedivere (talk) 17:53, 4 December 2023 (UTC)

This is so silly. There have been three people here (me, Artem and you), and out of them you are the only one who insists that Longcat was not long. At worst, it is "bilateral" for us and "unilateral" for you. I don't understand what the problem is; it's not like this is vandalism, it literally said that from the moment the article was written. There are plenty of sources that back this up if you read the article. jp×g🗯️ 19:50, 4 December 2023 (UTC)

Longcat may be long. I did not say it was not long. I did say that the cat is known for being the subject of an internet meme where it is portrayed in a photograph as long. That does not equal being known for being long. Cheemz is known as a stupid dog? Cheems actually says the dog is known as an "Internet celebrity". If that sums up better what Longcat is, then that should be. Bedivere (talk) 03:13, 5 December 2023 (UTC)

Lack of Japanese sources is quite unusual

Is there no Japanese source for any of this information? If so, it should included. Otherwise, you should consider deleting this questionable article about "White" (that's what "shiroi" literally means, not "longcat".) 128.186.121.74 (talk) 17:10, 20 June 2023 (UTC)

On the English Wikipedia, we prefer to use English-language sources when possible. QuicoleJR (talk) 20:37, 20 June 2023 (UTC)

@128.186.121.74: I will admit to not speaking Japanese, and most sources seem to be unclear on the name of the cat: "Longcat" was the nickname given by American posters, and she had some other name in Japanese. But was she named "しろい" i.e. "Whitey" and nicknamed "のびこ", or named "のびこ" and nicknamed "しろい"? If you can read these sources, I would very much appreciate you adding them as references to the article. It would improve it greatly. jp×g 01:16, 21 June 2023 (UTC)

Other sources

For archaeologists, here are some links that I could not cite in the article:

• https://www.gaiaonline.com/guilds/viewtopic.php?t=11094687&page=1
• https://editthis.info/insurgency/Longcat_Flooder
• https://web.archive.org/web/20070508200501/http://wikichan.org/index.php/Subeta
• https://web.archive.org/web/20071117083718/http://wikichan.org/index.php/Subeta
• https://web.archive.org/web/20071117032739/http://wikichan.org/index.php/Longcat
• https://web.archive.org/web/20060413161336/http://www.encyclopediadramatica .com/index.php/Longcat

jp×g 20:13, 9 June 2023 (UTC)

RfC: is Longcat long?

Longcat (2002 – 20 September 2020) was a Japanese domestic cat that became the subject of an Internet meme due to her length. The "known for" field in the infobox, at the time of the article's writing and per the above talk page section, said:

• 1) "Being long"

Over the last year, an editor has been advocating that it instead say:

• 2) "Subject of an Internet meme"

Must it be changed? jp×g🗯️ 07:40, 6 August 2024 (UTC)

Survey (RfC: is Longcat long?)

• 1. When I wrote the article, it said this. This is not a particularly hot-button topic, so the previous talk page section only had three participants, but two of them were fine with this. Nobody seems to have a problem with this language other than the one editor. I am happy to provide references to support the claim that Longcat was long.

And perhaps, one of the greatest memes of that era was Longcat, which stemmed from a photo of a white cat being held up in the air, displaying it's unusually long body, thus its name.

As far as I can tell, there is not really much of an argument against it. jp×g🗯️ 07:40, 6 August 2024 (UTC)

Was Longcat known for "being long" or "being the subject of an internet meme (as a result of a photo showing the cat as excessively or interestingly long)". I think the wording you propose is not correct. Did the cat receive any award or recognition for being particularly long? Or was it known only as a result of the meme? Did they break any records? The cat may be remembered as a result of the meme, not because they were "long". Bedivere (talk) 15:07, 6 August 2024 (UTC)

Seeing as you and I have been having this exact same discussion for over a year, I am not hopeful on the odds of us reaching an agreement here. Briefly, and for the benefit of onlookers:

While it's true that the photo emphasizes the length of the cat, it is also true that the cat was unusually long -- every source agrees on this and, indeed, it was part of the cat's nickname. It does not need to have been the world's longest cat; there is not an International Cat Length Exposition Committee to determine this. I think the amount of evidence you're demanding for this claim is unreasonable. jp×g🗯️ 20:32, 6 August 2024 (UTC)

I'll word my position differently, then: Longcat was unquestionably an internet meme and was widely known as such; was it really known for "being long" or for being an internet meme? I think the response is clear. Bedivere (talk) 01:38, 7 August 2024 (UTC)

• 1 (second choice: discard field entirely). To be sure, Bedivere is correct that not every long cat is longcat, and this one is important because it's the one that became internet-famous... but... I think this is a little too reductive and meta for the Infobox. Someone curious about the Mona Lisa does not want to hear that it's important because it's important and art historians say so and it's popular; they want to hear about the smile, or the brushwork, or da Vinci, etc. If it's truly felt that "being long" is too silly, the correct thing to do is remove the field. (Checking other stuff in 2006 memes category, stuff like Snakes on a Plane does not have a field saying "this movie is a meme!".) The status as a meme can be attested to in prose, then. SnowFire (talk) 08:02, 7 August 2024 (UTC)

  That is a sensible approach! Thanks Bedivere (talk) 14:13, 7 August 2024 (UTC)

• Both — don't know why it has to be one or the other, the cat can be known for two things, which appears to be the case here. Put it in an ubl and everyone can be happy, maybe, I hope. {{unbulleted list|Being long|Subject of an Internet meme}}

• Being long
• Subject of an Internet meme

— Isaidnoway (talk) 18:08, 18 August 2024 (UTC)

• I think the current wording is fine, though I'm open to it being "subject of an internet meme due to her length". A simple "being long" is too vague though and should not be used. Unnamed anon (talk) 22:32, 22 August 2024 (UTC)
• Both – I agree with SnowFire that you wouldn't normally say "known for being well-known", but as Dirk Strider once said, Memes were floating signifiers without signifieds. The article's sources mostly introduce her as the subject of a meme. It's the reason she has lasting significance. But at the same time, it's worth saying why she was the subject of that meme – because she was long. jlwoodwa (talk) 15:33, 29 August 2024 (UTC)
• 1 - option two kind of sounds like "known for being known". — Rhododendrites ^talk \\ 02:29, 1 September 2024 (UTC)