Changing the primary meaning

WaniKani Feedback
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This is a small complaint, but I wish that WK would add all the old words to the “allow” list, including the old secondary meanings when they completely change the primary meaning of an established vocab word. I don’t have a problem with them updating the vocabulary meanings obviously, but it’s annoying when I put in the same meaning I used for weeks or months for it suddenly be marked incorrect. I’m not sure if this is just a covert way to force the user to reset the word down a level or two so they relearn the more “correct” meaning, but it’s aggravating, especially if you don’t have double check scripts. Then I have to refresh the session so I don’t get the word reshuffled back down in the SRS system. This happens kind of frequently. For example the word 余裕 which I had been using “surplus” and “unneeded” (secondary meaning) as answers interchangeably had been updated:

Moved “leeway” to the primary meaning, added “room to spare” as the alternative meaning, moved “surplus” to the allow list, added “margin,” “time to spare,” “money to spare,” “energy to spare,” “margin for time,” “margin for money,” “margin for energy,” “something to spare,” “margin to spare,” and “flexibility” to the allow list, moved “room” to the warning list, added “space,” “calmness” and “composure” to the warning list, and updated the meaning explanation.

So I typed “unneeded” and it marked it wrong. No big deal, but this happens with a lot of the content updates. Also, sometimes they do have a notification (like with 惑う）so I’m not sure why some don’t. I guess the secondary meaning is not included.

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I understand your frustration. At the same time, if someone told me that 余裕 meant unneeded I would think that they don’t actually understand what 余裕 means or how it’s used.

Ideally definitions like that would never be included in wk, but they were and they’re trying to correct their mistake by removing that inaccurate translation. I’m sure youd agree you don’t wanna learn anything wrong.

It would be nice if they could detect when an answer a user regularly used has been removed or blocked, though. Then they could tell you beforehand that you no longer can use the answer you’ve been using…

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Yeah, that’s what I mean. That there’s some sort of notification or shake animation that says, “Hey, we’ve improved/changed the translation” or something instead of marking what was previously acceptable as wrong. I want them to update the translations, just wish it was more clear. It can be a bit confusing. But like I said, not a big deal.

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Hey MiracleGro, thanks for the feedback! :slightly_smiling_face:

We usually make sure that all meanings we no longer deem acceptable get added to the warning list so that learners who had previously learnt said meanings don’t get punished for it. But, if you ever run into any items where we haven’t done that, do let us know (you can send us an email or even send us a quick chat message) and we’ll make sure to correct it as soon as possible.

In the case of 余裕 though, are you perhaps confusing it with 余計?

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I probably confused it :sweat_smile: I just have had a lot of issues lately where the meanings were changed. Thanks for the response!