# 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:** 12\ **Page:** 2
**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, 1:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/using-wiki/346372/21 "2006-02-28T01:24:41Z")
> [@friedo](#): > > It can’t possibly be excellent. The thing’s written in PHP. > > 😛 Hey I program in RPG ILE on an AS400, PHP is modern for me. 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, 2:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/using-wiki/346372/22 "2006-02-28T02:27:27Z")
> [@What Exit?](#): > > Well how do you feel about Google as a verb? It is a good recent example. Fantabulous. But unlike “wiki,” it only has one commonly-understood meaning. > [@](#): > > I’ve got one more because of some recent news stories. > > Wiki (v) > 3. To smear someone on the internet using a publically edit internet site. Oh? What stories? Wiki does mad things to libel laws. ---
**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, 2:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/using-wiki/346372/23 "2006-02-28T02:36:36Z")
> [@cowgirl](#): > > …snip… > > Oh? What stories? > > Wiki does mad things to libel laws. This is the Main thread: [The Danger of Wikipedia AKA "A false Wikipedia ‘biography’](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=347364&highlight=wikipedia) To Googol could of course also mean to multiply by 10[sup]100[/sup] 😉 Jim ---
**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:** [March 4, 2006, 5:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/using-wiki/346372/24 "2006-03-04T05:12:47Z")
I just came across [this Post](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=7163101&postcount=8) and I thought I would toss it in here. > [@ZipperJJ](#): > > [sorta](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nordonia) > > I never thought to Wiki my hometown, and there’s an interesting blurb in there about the origin of it’s name. Cool. Here is Wiki being used the way I described. Verb form. Jim ---
**Author:** ![Excalibre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/898d66/32.png) [@Excalibre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Excalibre)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2006, 4:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/using-wiki/346372/25 "2006-03-05T04:26:42Z")
> [@What Exit?](#): > > To Googol could of course also mean to multiply by 10[sup]100[/sup] 😉 > > Jim That strikes me as a bizarre contention. Does “to thousand” something mean to multiply it by 10[sup]3[/sup]? It’s silly to argue about this from any kind of prescriptivist standpoint, since it’s obvious that people are not amenable to changing the way they talk to suit others. Nevertheless I find it irritating that for some reason people on the internet feel some bizarre need to abbreviate every goddamn word they possibly can. It’s particularly annoying when discussing pop culture, where for some reason every movie or book out there has to be referred to by its initials, even when there’s no context that might clue the rest of us in to what the author is trying to discuss. That kind of laziness is irritating and it definitely impedes communication. But it’s not really a matter of people “misusing words” - it’s just that apparently most people are too goddamn lazy to type out entire phrases and too goddamn stupid to figure out when context isn’t making their meaning clear. ---
**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:** [March 5, 2006, 4:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/using-wiki/346372/26 "2006-03-05T04:42:01Z")
> [@Excalibre](#): > > That strikes me as a bizarre contention. Does “to thousand” something mean to multiply it by 10[sup]3[/sup]? > > It’s silly to argue about this from any kind of prescriptivist standpoint, since it’s obvious that people are not amenable to changing the way they talk to suit others. Nevertheless I find it irritating that for some reason people on the internet feel some bizarre need to abbreviate every goddamn word they possibly can. It’s particularly annoying when discussing pop culture, where for some reason every movie or book out there has to be referred to by its initials, even when there’s no context that might clue the rest of us in to what the author is trying to discuss. That kind of laziness is irritating and it definitely impedes communication. But it’s not really a matter of people “misusing words” - it’s just that apparently most people are too goddamn lazy to type out entire phrases and too goddamn stupid to figure out when context isn’t making their meaning clear. So how do you really feel about it? 😉 The google verb was a silly joke by the way, indicated by the wink of course. So how do you feel about Google having become a verb? Jim ---
**Author:** ![Excalibre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/898d66/32.png) [@Excalibre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Excalibre)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2006, 6:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/using-wiki/346372/27 "2006-03-05T06:07:11Z")
> [@What Exit?](#): > > So how do you really feel about it? 😉 > > The google verb was a silly joke by the way, indicated by the wink of course. > > So how do you feel about Google having become a verb? > > Jim 🙂 Google is a perfectly good verb. Turning nouns into verbs, and vice versa, is one of the most elegant processes in the English language. [small]Goddamn kids today with their abbreviations and initialisms and leaving tracks all over my lawn . . . [/small] ---
**Author:** ![Excalibre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/898d66/32.png) [@Excalibre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Excalibre)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2006, 6:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/using-wiki/346372/28 "2006-03-05T06:08:13Z")
Oh for the love of Christ. We don’t have the \ tag? I hate everything. ---
**Author:** ![matt\_mcl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ab992/32.png) [@matt\_mcl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/matt_mcl)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2006, 12:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/using-wiki/346372/29 "2006-03-05T12:18:29Z")
People, look, the OP isn’t complaining about the use of the verb “to wiki”, he’s complaining about the use of the verb as meaning “to edit Wikipedia” when there are thousands of other wikis in existence. “To google” isn’t analogous because there’s only one Google search engine. It’s as if I were using the verb “to website” to mean “to access MSN Hotmail” specifically. The URL of a Wikipedia article has /wiki/ in it because it is a wiki. But it’s not Wiki, if you follow me. A wiki is a website set up in such a way that its content can be remotely edited. Wikipedia is just one example. ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2006, 12:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/using-wiki/346372/30 "2006-03-05T12:27:42Z")
> [@cowgirl](#): > > It would be almost like using “Beta” instead of “VCR.” Think you mean VHS? As to the OP: the usage is already so widespread that you’re dealing with a [sticky wiki](http://www.worldwidewords.org/qa/qa-sti2.htm). ---
**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:** [March 6, 2006, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/using-wiki/346372/31 "2006-03-06T18:45:37Z")
> [@matt\_mcl](#): > > People, look, the OP isn’t complaining about the use of the verb “to wiki”, he’s complaining about the use of the verb as meaning “to edit Wikipedia” when there are thousands of other wikis in existence. I understand why **Cerowyn** is complaining. But nagging people about their choice of abbreviations isn’t going to change their behavior. Telling people not to abbreviate “editing Wikipedia” isn’t going to change it, either. The only thing that might work is coming up with a catchier abbreviation that also satisfies the urge to be more accurate. ---
**Author:** ![slortar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6bbea6/32.png) [@slortar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/slortar)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2006, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/using-wiki/346372/32 "2006-03-06T18:53:12Z")
> [@Rysto](#): > > [Sure.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wiki) Need I even point out that that is an extremely fun URL to say out loud? It’s almost as good as smock. Smock, smock, smock, wiki. Wiki, wiki, wiki. Smock. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/using-wiki/346372.md?page=1)