Talk:Snipe hunt

"Blaulichtwasser" in German-speaking countries

In German-speaking countries, trainees in ambulance services (rarely in Fire services) are sometimes at the end of the day asked to refill the "Blaulichtwasser" ("Blue-light-water", "Blaulicht" refers to the blue emergency lights of ambulances). Supposedly within the blue beacons, it is the blue-light-water that is important for best visibility and genuine blue colour, similarly to the green and red lamp oil (BTW, also common on German submarines). Usually the trainee will after a short check in the storage area find out that there is no such thing as blue-light water, however, some fire departments have arranged to always store 20-liter-canisters or even 100-liter-barrels of the mysterious fluid. Paramedics and nurses are also sometimes asked to retrieve some new AV-blocks from the storage (which is impossible, as an AV-block is a heart rhythm disorder).

The big problem is: Since this is an inside joke, there is nothing I can really cite as a reference, which would obviosly not be sufficient to the requirement of being verifiable. All I can do to prove it is to google "Blaulichtwasser" or "Blaulichtwasser nachfüllen" ("refill blue-light-water"), and there'll be some really nice pictures of how refilling blue-light-water should be part of the daily maintenance of an ambulance vehicle. --ImmernochEkelAlfred (talk) 01:15, 28 December 2016 (UTC)

Examples section

The long list of supposed examples of the topic, which dwarfs the main part of the article, looks like original research implying a connection not made by the sources. Which of the sources cited explicitly refer to the concept of the snipe hunt and/or fool's errand?

Per WP:NOTEVERYTHING, "Information should not be included in this encyclopedia solely because it is true or useful". At the very least, this extensive list gives undue weight to trivial examples of the topic. I suggest removing the material in this section entirely unless sources exist that show how any of these various other practical jokes are relevant to the subject of snipe hunt. —Sangdeboeuf (talk) 04:08, 7 January 2017 (UTC)

I fully agree. Back in December I deleted some of the worst examples but I guess the rest aren't any better. Dr. K. 04:19, 7 January 2017 (UTC)

Indeed. Most of them seem to be types of fool's errands added when that term redirected to this article. However, I haven't found any published source that treats fool's errands as varieties of snipe hunt. If anything, sources suggest that fool's errand is the more general term – see Fee & Webb (2016, p. 514) and O'Neil (2014).

These examples – sending neophytes to fetch a "box of curveballs", "left-handed screwdriver", "bacon stretcher", etc. – seem only very slightly related to the idea of snipe hunting, which is as much about being left alone "holding the bag" as it is about the quest for a non-existent thing – see Bronner (2012, p. 260); Palmatier (1995, p. 357); and Smith (1957) for instance. Bill Ellis (1981) states also:

Only after being taken to the 'snipe ground' and enduring an eternity of bag holding, flashlight waiving, and clucking, do the uninitiated campers realize that what they had initially taken as a serious event was in fact a joke at their expense.

And Joyce Bynum (1988) states:

'Snipe hunting' is a traditional trick still popular because it is so easily used on a gullible person, who is sent to a remote place to stand for hours holding a bag, waiting patiently for the snipe which never comes.

—Sangdeboeuf (talk) 12:10, 7 January 2017 (UTC) (updated 00:49, 25 May 2017 (UTC))

Y I've removed the list of fool's errand examples. —Sangdeboeuf (talk) 04:08, 14 January 2017 (UTC)

References

Bronner, Simon J. (2012). Campus Traditions: Folklore from the Old-Time College to the Modern Mega-University. Univ. Press of Mississippi. ISBN 978-1-61703-616-3. Bynum, Joyce (1988). "Practical Jokes". ETC: A Review of General Semantics. 45 (4): 369–373. JSTOR 42579481. {{cite journal}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help) Ellis, Bill (1981). "The Camp Mock-Ordeal Theater as Life". The Journal of American Folklore. 94 (374): 486–505. doi:10.2307/540502. JSTOR 540502. {{cite journal}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help) Fee, Christopher R.; Webb, Jeffrey B., eds. (2016). American Myths, Legends, and Tall Tales: An Encyclopedia of American Folklore: 3 Volumes. ABC-CLIO. ISBN 978-1-61069-568-8. O'Neil, Gerard (2014). "The Squonk: A Small Tale From Franklin County". In White, Thomas (ed.). Supernatural Lore of Pennsylvania: Ghosts, Monsters and Miracles. Charleston, SC: History Press. ISBN 978-1-62619-498-4. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help) Palmatier, Robert Allen (1995). Speaking of Animals: A Dictionary of Animal Metaphors. Greenwood Publishing Group. ISBN 978-0-313-29490-7. Smith, Johana H. (1957). "In the Bag: A Study of Snipe Hunting". Western Folklore. 16 (2): 107–110. doi:10.2307/1497027. JSTOR 1497027. {{cite journal}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)

Fool's errand

Sources seem to distinguish between snipe hunt and fool's errand, some stating that the snipe hunt is a particular kind of fool's errand (Marsh 2015, pp. 8, 23, 45–48; Watts 2006, p. 206; O'Neil 2014) – or wild-goose chase (Paris 2008, pp. 104–105) – others suggesting that they are related kinds of pranks (Brunvand 2001, p. 331; Glimm 1983, p. 187). Brown & Brown (2013) state that "A fool's errand is sometimes also called a snipe hunt or a wild-goose chase" by way of introducing a ghost story, but this source is specific to Kentucky and deals mostly with paranormal tales, not practical jokes.

In any event, there seem to be enough reliable sources to create an article such as Fool's errand (prank), or to add to the page April Fools' Day, since April 1st is evidently the traditional occasion for fool's errands (Watts 2006, p. 21; Roberts 2013). Brunvand (1996) is another source on fool's errands, and Marsh (2015) has probably the most coverage. —Sangdeboeuf (talk) 03:34, 8 January 2017 (UTC) (updated 23:41, 24 May 2017 (UTC))

* "Fool's errand" is also classified as Tale type 1296 in the Aarne-Thompson-Uther classification system. —Sangdeboeuf (talk) 02:53, 10 January 2017 (UTC)

References

Brown, Roberta Simpson; Brown, Lonnie E. (2013). "Fool's Errand". Kentucky Hauntings: Homespun Ghost Stories and Unexplained History. University Press of Kentucky. ISBN 0-8131-4382-9. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help) Brunvand, Jan Harold, ed. (1996). American Folklore : An encyclopedia. New York: Taylor & Francis. ISBN 0-8153-0751-9. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help) Brunvand, Jan Harold (2001). Encyclopedia of Urban Legends. ABC-CLIO. ISBN 978-1-57607-076-5. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help) Glimm, James Y. (1983). Flatlanders and Ridgerunners: Folktales from the mountains of northern Pennsylvania. Pittsburgh, PA: University of Pittsburgh Press. ISBN 0-8229-5345-5. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help) Marsh, Moira (2015). Practically Joking. Logan, UT: Utah State University Press. ISBN 0-87421-983-3. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help) O'Neil, Gerard (2014). "The Squonk: A Small Tale From Franklin County". In White, Thomas (ed.). Supernatural Lore of Pennsylvania: Ghosts, Monsters and Miracles. Charleston, SC: History Press. ISBN 978-1-62619-498-4. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help) Paris, Leslie (2008). Children's Nature: The rise of the American summer camp. New York: New York University Press. pp. 104–105. ISBN 0-8147-6750-8. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help) Roberts, Kai (2013). Folklore of Yorkshire. Stroud, UK: The History Press. ISBN 0-7524-8954-2. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help) Watts, Linda S. (2006). Encyclopedia of American Folklore. New York: Facts on File. ISBN 0-8160-5699-4. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)

What... what happened?

December last year, when I first saw this article, it featured a series of examples of snipe hunts as in initiation rituals on newbies in certain professions, which is why I created the discussion section "Blaulichtwasser", asking how to include it. So now I found the time to get a source for it, and POOF, the examples are gone?! I tried reading myself through the edit history, but I can't find why the examples were removed and where to find them now. In the German wikipedia there even is a "List of initiation rituals", featuring all the different pranks played on new employees in certain professions, such as "gear sand" (always the blue, not the red), Siemens air hooks (perfect tool to fix WLAN-wires) and so on and so forth. There was a short list of such ritual pranks in this article, and I was planning to contribute a ritual that I consider to be quite interesting and relevant to a list of examples. Long story short, where have these examples gone and where could I add my famous item? -- ImmernochEkelAlfred (talk) 22:33, 26 January 2017 (UTC)

Nevermind, I literally saw when you edited it, sorry, overread it first. Still, my question stands: Is there anywhere now where I can put in my example? --ImmernochEkelAlfred (talk) 22:35, 26 January 2017 (UTC)

Probably the best thing to do would be to create a new article for it if significant coverage of the topic exists, or else create a List of ritual pranks or similar article. As I mentioned above under § Examples section, my concern is that adding indiscriminate examples to articles runs into undue weight and likely original research. —Sangdeboeuf (talk) 05:30, 27 January 2017 (UTC)

Fair point. I will investigate, whether significant coverage can be claimed. --ImmernochEkelAlfred (talk) 22:02, 29 January 2017 (UTC)

@ImmernochEkelAlfred: After going on my own fool's errand trying to look up such an example in Wikipedia ("striped paint" redirected here, an article which said nothing about striped paint) I've created this article at Fool's errand, restoring the content that was cut from this article.--Lord Belbury (talk) 08:47, 14 November 2018 (UTC)

Duplicate content

The initial two paragraphs contain information that is largely duplicated in the "In North America" section. An attempt should be made to consolidate this to remove unnecessary duplication. Boardhead (talk) 01:51, 17 April 2021 (UTC)

See Wikipedia:Manual of Style/Lead section: "The lead section (also known as the lead or introduction) of a Wikipedia article is the section before the table of contents and the first heading. The lead serves as an introduction to the article and a summary of its most important contents ... The lead should stand on its own as a concise overview of the article's topic." —Sangdeboeuf (talk) 02:01, 17 April 2021 (UTC)