Hmmm. I flagged this:
How to choose a lens to get a shallow DOF effect?
asking it to be merged into this:
Can I get a shallow DOF using a kit lens?
Because apart from camera brand and models vs. babies, they really are the exact same question.
But instead, 5971 got merged into How can I get dramatic shallow DOF with a kit lens?, which is another question on the same topic, with the unfortunate problem that the accepted answer isn't necessarily the best one. And maybe even more problematic from a "future duplicates" point of view, question 5493 confuses things by calling it a "bokeh effect", which isn't really quite right.
The question is really "Is it possible to get shallow DOF with the kit lens?" and I think that's specific enough that it warrants being separate from "What causes shallow DOF?" in general. And "how does bokeh relate to shallow DOF" is a whole 'nuther issue.
(And meanwhile 9425 is still open, but I assume that's not for long.)