# Using wiki **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [February 27, 2006, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/using-wiki/346372 "2006-02-27T21:18:15Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Cerowyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/82dd89/32.png) [@Cerowyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cerowyn)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2006, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/using-wiki/346372/1 "2006-02-27T21:18:15Z")
Your attention please: The International Association of Pedants would like to make it known that “wiki” is a technology. It is not short for Wikipedia. I’m at a loss for why people feel that they are forced to use the wrong phrase in an effort to save themselves the pain of typing those extra five letters to actually **properly** identify their source. We don’t say “oh, I read it on Board” when we mean the Straight Dope Message Board. Why, then, did I stumble across _six_ posts in just a few minutes that all use “wiki” to mean “Wikipedia?” Gah. Okay, got it out of my system now. Sorry to rant\*. Carry on, nothing to see here. - I hope you’ll notice that I put this in MPSIMS to save **Giraffe** from having to move it as an insufficiently rantish rant for The Pit. ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2006, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/using-wiki/346372/2 "2006-02-27T21:28:35Z")
But I read and update Wiki all the time. Most people I know do not say or spell Wikipedia. The website is [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main\_Page](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_Page). Notice the Wiki in there. It is a common usage. If you type a search phrase in Google and include the word wiki, it points you to a wiki article quicker than wiki can. If you search on Wiki in wikipedia you get [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wiki](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wiki) It wiktionary you get: **Noun** wiki Any website based on any kind of Wiki software which enables users to add to, edit and delete from the site’s content quickly. So your point while valid is hopeless. Next you’ll be mpsimsing people who use Google as a Verb. Jim 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Omniscient](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omniscient/32/3290_2.png) [@Omniscient](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omniscient)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2006, 9:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/using-wiki/346372/3 "2006-02-27T21:36:44Z")
Am I the only one who finds it amusing that within the rant\* the OP didn’t even mention what wki actually means? Thankfully Jim was here to pick up the slack. \*-using the term loosely. ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2006, 9:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/using-wiki/346372/4 "2006-02-27T21:47:56Z")
Second time I posted this today and for totally different reasons: **Following is a list of Wikipedia editors and their SDMB usernames. Please add yourself if you belong on this list.** [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Teeming\_Millions](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Teeming_Millions) Jim ---
**Author:** ![Antigen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/848f3c/32.png) [@Antigen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Antigen)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2006, 9:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/using-wiki/346372/5 "2006-02-27T21:52:00Z")
> [@Cerowyn](#): > > We don’t say “oh, I read it on Board” when we mean the Straight Dope Message Board. No, but we do say we read it on the Dope. And I use Kleenexes, too, no matter what the brand name on the box says they really are. You gonna beat me up? 😛 ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2006, 9:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/using-wiki/346372/6 "2006-02-27T21:57:48Z")
> [@Cerowyn](#): > > …snip… > The International Association of Pedants would like to make it known that “wiki” is a technology. …snip… You know as a Computer Programmer I find that calling “wiki” a “technology” instead of “an excellent example of Freeware code” is quite a disturbing habit. 😉 Jim (just kidding, I don’t really care) ---
**Author:** ![garygnu](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/garygnu/32/2924_2.png) [@garygnu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/garygnu)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2006, 10:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/using-wiki/346372/7 "2006-02-27T22:04:20Z")
Sorry, “Wiki” _is_ short for “Wikipedia,” whether you like it or not. It is _also_ a technology. This sort of thing happens quite a bit in English, and also with engineering acconyms and abbreviations. IIRC, abrevs. are used quite a bit 'round here. TTFN. ---
**Author:** ![FatBaldGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ecd19e/32.png) [@FatBaldGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FatBaldGuy)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2006, 10:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/using-wiki/346372/8 "2006-02-27T22:11:47Z")
So, could someone from the International Association of Pedants give a cite to somewhere that Wiki is used other than Wikipedia? I’ve never heard of it in any other context. ---
**Author:** ![Cerowyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/82dd89/32.png) [@Cerowyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cerowyn)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2006, 10:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/using-wiki/346372/9 "2006-02-27T22:15:25Z")
> [@FatBaldGuy](#): > > So, could someone from the International Association of Pedants give a cite to somewhere that Wiki is used other than Wikipedia? I’ve never heard of it in any other context. From **What Exit** ’s linked Wikipedia page (where **garygnu** undoubtably noted that there is no mention of “wiki” as an abbreviation of “Wikipedia”), you can find their [list of wiki sites](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_wikis). ---
**Author:** ![Rysto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ecccb3/32.png) [@Rysto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rysto)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2006, 10:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/using-wiki/346372/10 "2006-02-27T22:47:04Z")
> [@FatBaldGuy](#): > > So, could someone from the International Association of Pedants give a cite to somewhere that Wiki is used other than Wikipedia? I’ve never heard of it in any other context. [Sure.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wiki) ---
**Author:** ![garygnu](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/garygnu/32/2924_2.png) [@garygnu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/garygnu)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2006, 11:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/using-wiki/346372/11 "2006-02-27T23:18:45Z")
> [@Cerowyn](#): > > From **What Exit** ’s linked Wikipedia page (where **garygnu** undoubtably noted that there is no mention of “wiki” as an abbreviation of “Wikipedia”), you can find their [list of wiki sites](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_wikis). Hey, now. You know as well as I do I could change that using wiki. Furthermore, the 'pedia doesn’t have to say it to make it true. My point was that abbreviations (etc.) can mean different things to different people. Fiat alone can’t change this. I see no reason why one can’t use context to figure this out. Would you be OK if Wikipedia was abbreviated using a capital “W”? (for the record, I write out the whole word, in most cases) ---
**Author:** ![Cerowyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/82dd89/32.png) [@Cerowyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cerowyn)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2006, 11:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/using-wiki/346372/12 "2006-02-27T23:46:28Z")
> [@garygnu](#): > > Hey, now. You know as well as I do I could change that using wiki. > Furthermore, the 'pedia doesn’t have to say it to make it true. > My point was that abbreviations (etc.) can mean different things to different people. Fiat alone can’t change this. > I see no reason why one can’t use context to figure this out. > Would you be OK if Wikipedia was abbreviated using a capital “W”? > (for the record, I write out the whole word, in most cases) The fact that some people use a word in a particular way does not make it “right.” English is a language notoriously susceptable to such abuse, which is why I identified my outburst as pedantic. I’m well aware that I’m swimming upstream with this, which is another reason I felt it mild enough to go in MPSIMS rather than The Pit. ---
**Author:** ![cowgirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8c91f0/32.png) [@cowgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cowgirl)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2006, 11:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/using-wiki/346372/13 "2006-02-27T23:53:49Z")
**thunderous applause for the OP** I use non-Wikipedia wikis more than I use Wikipedia. And, for wiki=Wikipedia loyalists, how do you distinguish between different [Wikimedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_Foundation) projects? It would be almost like using “Beta” instead of “VCR.” (Poor analogy, I know, because Wikipedia will not become obsolete because of a competitor, but it’s the best I could do.) Wikipedia may be the only wiki you are currently familiar with, but there are many others (and there can only be more on the way). Using “wiki” instead of “wikipedia” is inaccurate, and it impedes communication with people who are more wiki-literate. ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2006, 12:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/using-wiki/346372/14 "2006-02-28T00:08:32Z")
> [@cowgirl](#): > > **thunderous applause for the OP** > > I use non-Wikipedia wikis more than I use Wikipedia. > > And, for wiki=Wikipedia loyalists, how do you distinguish between different [Wikimedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_Foundation) projects? > > It would be almost like using “Beta” instead of “VCR.” (Poor analogy, I know, because Wikipedia will not become obsolete because of a competitor, but it’s the best I could do.) Wikipedia may be the only wiki you are currently familiar with, but there are many others (and there can only be more on the way). Using “wiki” instead of “wikipedia” is inaccurate, and it impedes communication with people who are more wiki-literate. I mainly use Wikipedia and of course it is the most famous and most publicized and the largest. I do use other Wikis. **To Wiki** is becoming a verb that means to look it up. English is a living language. \*\*To Google \*\* is already accepted. To the point where in a high level Microsoft meeting they were talking over some do technologies and one of the Techies in the meeting said “give me a second and I’ll Google it”, causing a Marketing VP to cringe. (This is probably just an urban legend but a it might have happened) Jim ---
**Author:** ![cowgirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8c91f0/32.png) [@cowgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cowgirl)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2006, 12:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/using-wiki/346372/15 "2006-02-28T00:12:23Z")
> [@What Exit?](#): > > I mainly use Wikipedia and of course it is the most famous and most publicized and the largest. I do use other Wikis. > **To Wiki** is becoming a verb that means to look it up. I use “to wiki” to mean “put something on a wiki and edit it that way, rather than talking about how we should write it.” (“to wiki [something] up” is to put it up on a _wiki (n.)_ page, so that we can _wiki (v.)_ it.) Honestly, I do use it that way. And I will continue to. History will decide … ---
**Author:** ![Interrobang](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/interrobang/32/17463_2.png) [@Interrobang](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Interrobang)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2006, 12:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/using-wiki/346372/16 "2006-02-28T00:23:46Z")
> [@Cerowyn](#): > > The fact that some people use a word in a particular way does not make it “right.” By the same token, the fact that some people would prefer that other people not use a word in a particular way does not make it “wrong.” If you’d like to convince people to change their habits, telling them they’re just plain wrong is not usually the most effective way to do it. What abbreviation for Wikipedia would you prefer? People will abbreviate it, you know. They abbreviate you as U, so they’ll damn sure lop off 5 characters just for the heck of it if they want to. ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2006, 12:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/using-wiki/346372/17 "2006-02-28T00:28:32Z")
> [@cowgirl](#): > > I use “to wiki” to mean “put something on a wiki and edit it that way, rather than talking about how we should write it.” (“to wiki [something] up” is to put it up on a _wiki (n.)_ page, so that we can _wiki (v.)_ it.) > > Honestly, I do use it that way. And I will continue to. > > History will decide … Well how do you feel about Google as a verb? It is a good recent example. I agree Wiki as a verb can go many ways, we will have to wait and see. But I think we are in agreement it will become a verb. I’ve got one more because of some recent news stories. Wiki (v) 1. To look something up 2. To put it up on a _wiki (n.)_ page, so that we can _wiki (v.)_ it. 3. To smear someone on the internet using a publically edit internet site. Jim ---
**Author:** ![garygnu](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/garygnu/32/2924_2.png) [@garygnu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/garygnu)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2006, 12:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/using-wiki/346372/18 "2006-02-28T00:32:10Z")
> [@Interrobang!?](#): > > By the same token, the fact that some people would prefer that other people not use a word in a particular way does not make it “wrong.” > > If you’d like to convince people to change their habits, telling them they’re just plain wrong is not usually the most effective way to do it. > > What abbreviation for Wikipedia would you prefer? People will abbreviate it, you know. They abbreviate you as U, so they’ll damn sure lop off 5 characters just for the heck of it if they want to. Here, here. Well spoken, Bruce! ---
**Author:** ![Winston\_Smith](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e95f7d/32.png) [@Winston\_Smith](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Winston_Smith)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2006, 12:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/using-wiki/346372/19 "2006-02-28T00:40:05Z")
> [@What Exit?](#): > > So your point while valid is hopeless. Next you’ll be mpsimsing people who use Google as a Verb. > > Jim 😉 I implemented a wiki at work to catalog documentation. My boss hates it ‘cause it’s not _sexy_. He’ such a weenie. ---
**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2006, 1:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/using-wiki/346372/20 "2006-02-28T01:13:00Z")
> [@What Exit?](#): > > You know as a Computer Programmer I find that calling “wiki” a “technology” instead of “an excellent example of Freeware code” is quite a disturbing habit. 😉 It can’t possibly be excellent. The thing’s written in PHP. 😛 [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/using-wiki/346372.md?page=2)