# Ever look up something on wikipedia just to see what someone wrote about it?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-look-up-something-on-wikipedia-just-to-see-what-someone-wrote-about-it/476656>\
**Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\
**Created:** [December 11, 2008, 1:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-look-up-something-on-wikipedia-just-to-see-what-someone-wrote-about-it/476656 "2008-12-11T01:54:02Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![BellRungBookShut-CandleSnuffed](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bcef8e/32.png) [@BellRungBookShut-CandleSnuffed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BellRungBookShut-CandleSnuffed)\
**Post date:** [December 11, 2008, 1:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-look-up-something-on-wikipedia-just-to-see-what-someone-wrote-about-it/476656/1 "2008-12-11T01:54:02Z")

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For example, I just looked up [jalopy](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jalopy). Now, I know what a jalopy is. I did not previously know that they are referred to as bazou in Québecois.

Now I do.

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**Author:** ![Smeghead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f1d935/32.png) [@Smeghead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smeghead)\
**Post date:** [December 11, 2008, 3:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-look-up-something-on-wikipedia-just-to-see-what-someone-wrote-about-it/476656/2 "2008-12-11T03:11:43Z")

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Well, yes…that’s sort of the only reason I look things up…

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**Author:** ![BellRungBookShut-CandleSnuffed](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bcef8e/32.png) [@BellRungBookShut-CandleSnuffed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BellRungBookShut-CandleSnuffed)\
**Post date:** [December 11, 2008, 3:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-look-up-something-on-wikipedia-just-to-see-what-someone-wrote-about-it/476656/3 "2008-12-11T03:15:26Z")

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Perhaps I wasn’t as clear as I could be 🙂

Have you ever looked something up on wiki that you’re familiar with the definition of just to see how someone else defines it? The extra bits of trivia are interesting, but I’m also curious as to how other people categorize things. It’s kind of similar with dictionaries and definitions. Some words are straightforward in their definition. Others might have negative connotations to some people, but other people might not see them like that. It’s just one of those “how do you perceive my reality” situations, I guess.