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Urban Dictionary is an online internet dictionary whose definitions are written by users. Most words and phrases featured on Urban Dictionary are slang, particularly new, urban, or ambiguous terms. With an Alexa ranking as one of the 2000 highest web traffic sites, Urban Dictionary is the "Internet's unofficial slang authority".*
The dictionary was founded by Aaron Peckham and went on-line in October 14, 2001. As of December 2005, it had more than 300,000 definitions and was growing daily by 1,500. Words with multiple definitions are listed in order of users' thumbs-up or -down votes. Votes, limited to one per user for each entry, are tallied simply by clicking a thumb next to the definition. Poor definitions are effectively buried under higher ranked definitions. Often, thumbs-up votes are influenced as much by an entry's humorousness as by its accuracy.
Site features
Users can also submit audio recordings of the subject word or an image of it. The "Jump Off" page in the "newest" section shows trends among new words such as most frequently defined, brand new words, and words gaining popularity most quickly. Other features of the site include a "graffiti wall" and "word of the day" via email. Cell phone users with a WAP browser or email capability can lookup definitions without a terminal.
Quality control
The quality control system reduces the number of hateful, personal, or inaccurate definitions as well as spam.
Volunteer reviewers
Originally, a user that objected to a definition could submit a complaint. Deletion requests were added to a pool that was reviewed by users to choose whether "it stays", "it goes", or "don't know." However, this approach was abandoned because many volunteer reviewers approved definitions based on whether they agreed with the tone or opinions expressed.
Under the revised reviewing system, newly submitted definitions are entered into the editing queue before appearing on the site. Volunteer editors vote to accept or reject definitions in the queue based on the guidelines below. Words with no other definitions on the site go to the front of the queue. Conversely, words with many definitions (such as emo, which has over one thousand entries) wait longer before being reviewed by editors. This system allows new slang, such as the latest Bushism a'la "you forgot Poland", to appear within a day or two.
Each submission is reviewed by a number of volunteers (the exact number varies, but lies between two and nine), with controversial definitions being viewed by more people. Definitions with more accept votes than reject votes appear on the site. Urban Dictionary claims to have 40,000 volunteer reviewers. Volunteer reviewers are Urban Dictionary users who choose to 'edit'.
Reviewer guidelines
- Publish racial and sexual slurs but reject racist and sexist entries. Entries can document discrimination but not endorse it. People use slurs in everyday speech, so they should be published.
- Publish opinions. Opinions can be useful to readers who are unfamiliar with a topic. Don't reject an entry because you disagree or are offended. Don't reject an entry because you think it's inaccurate.
- Publish place names.
- Publish non-slang words. Ignore misspellings and swearing.
- Publish jokes and sarcastic entries. Reject inside jokes.
- Publish celebrity names but reject friends' names.
- Reject made-up sexual violence.
- Reject nonsense. Be consistent on duplicates.
- Reject ads for web sites.
- Finally, publish if it looks plausible. You might not have heard the word, but it could be the next hyphy.
Many definitions not meeting these guidelines remain on the site because the guidelines are not consistently applied or, in some cases, ambiguous. Quality control procedures continue to evolve.
More than just slang
Urban Dictionary also contains internet jargon, neologisms, politicians, and bands.
Because of Urban Dictionary's popularity among teenagers (the profile posted on the site states that 65% of the users are under 25) definitions of the names of crushes and enemies are abundant. Urban Dictionary is where tweens go to learn the meaning of obscenities they've never heard before. On the other hand, many cutting edge slang terms and trends hit the site early on in their development, so thirty somethings go there to learn to sound hip again. For some, the site has become both a slang dictionary, a source of entertainment, and a means to "Define your world" (the site's slogan) by publishing their own definitions.
Unlike Wikipedia or Wiktionary, Urban Dictionary contributors can be reasonably certain that, as long as they follow the guidelines, their definitions will be published and remain on a high traffic site, albeit not necessarily on a high visibility page if the definition is not well received. The site's opinionated, edgy tone is another sharp contrast to the Wikimedia approach. The downside to this Inclusionism approach and unexacting quality control is a low signal to noise ratio and – by Wikipedia standards – wall-to-wall vandalism.
See also
External links
Bibliography
- Urban Dictionary (2005) – 2,000 of Urban Dictionary's funniest, smartest definitions. A catalog of popular culture that users helped to write. (Fall 2005, Andrews McMeel, ISBN 0740751433)
- The Baltimore Sun, December 1, 2005.
"Urban Dictionary"