Wikipedia:Don't abbreviate Wikipedia as Wiki

	This page is an essay attempting to critique certain actions by means of a style that may be described as humorous or outrageous. It is nevertheless intended to communicate a serious opinion regarding certain practices on Wikipedia.   edit this template

Wikipe-tan reprimands a foul-mouthed newbie.

See also meta:Wikipedia is not Wiki.

Wikipedia is not the only wiki. Nevertheless, various editors who don't know any better often feel compelled to abbreviate the word "Wikipedia" simply as "Wiki". Understand that "wiki" is a generic term that describes a concept, a class of Internet software, or a type of website. "Wiki" is not a proper name, and there are in fact many wikis in existence, so referring to any one of them using the capitalized "Wiki" is incorrect and can furthermore cause confusion not to mention great psychic pain to experienced users.

To any seasoned Wikipedian or reasonably advanced Internet user, hearing someone use "Wiki" as a nickname for Wikipedia is tantamount to hearing someone call the Internet the "Interweb". Though in context the reference may be obvious, such a blatant misuse of language is nevertheless painful. A useful analogy might be the word "republic". Both the Republic of Ireland and the Republic of South Africa use the same form of government, and both in context are often referred to as "The republic". But Ireland and South Africa are not run by the same organization, and using the term "The republic" in general conversation may cause confusion.

For the health and well-being of the community, when referring to this encyclopedia, either type out the entire word, "Wikipedia", or use the abbreviation "WP". Thank you.

Proper usage guide

The word "wiki" can be used in a number of proper and inoffensive ways. Below we compare and contrast the do's and do-not-do's of "wiki" usage, complete with excessively complex grammatical explanations.

Example #1: Plural noun

"Wikipedia is my favorite website." – User 1 "Well, I don't know about that, but it is certainly the most useful of all wikis." – User 2

Notice that in User 2's comment, the word "wiki" is in its plural form, "wikis", having a plural "s" on its end. Since the plural form of "wiki" always acknowledges its generic nature, this usage is Approved.

Example #2: Singular noun

"Wikipedia pages are loading slowly for me in the last couple hours. Has anyone else noticed this?" – User 1 "Yes, [the/that] wiki seems to be operating slowly today." – User 2

In this example, while the word "wiki" is now in its singular form, and "wiki" does seem to be referring only to Wikipedia, the article "the" or "that" now appears before it. This implies reference merely to one out of a possible many different wikis. Since User 2's usage is still as a generic noun that acknowledges the plural nature of the object it describes, rather than being a proper name for a singular entity, this usage is Approved.

Example #3: Proper name

"Wiki is where I go to research my brain medicines." – User 1

Notice that in this example, User 1 has used "wiki" as a proper name. Since there are many possible wikis that User 1 could be referring to, and since "wiki" is not a name but a generic description for many different websites and software packages, this usage is wrong, blasphemous, offensive, and Highly discouraged.

Example #4: Colloquialisms

"How many admins does it take to change a light bulb?" – User 1 "Let's discuss this off-wiki." – User 2

Some colloquial terms or phrases may incorporate "wiki", but are nevertheless unique terms in and of themselves, not requiring adjustment to accommodate the specific institution being referenced. In this example, "wiki" should not be considered alone, but rather as part of the term "off-wiki". "Off-wiki" is generally used as a stand-in for "outside of the current wiki", which as you can see, implies the article "the". Therefore, as in example #2 above, this usage is Approved.

Discouragement

You can discourage others from abbreviate Wikipedia as Wiki, using the following template and userbox:

Template

Don't abbreviate Wikipedia as Wiki! There are other wikis out there. Wikipedia is just one of them.

When encountering improper "wiki" usage in the wild (on talk pages), the following code can be used to place a graphical warning:

{{daw}}

or

{{Don't abbreviate Wikipedia as Wiki}}

Produces the graphic seen to the right, complete with a link to this essay.

Userbox

Show your support — place {{User notwiki}} on your userpage.

It'll look like this:

	This user feels physical pain when hearing others refer to Wikipedia as "Wiki".

See also

• wiki:WikiIsNotWikipedia, the converse rule.
• {{Notwiki}} – a template geared to explaining the distinction between wiki and Wikipedia at the end of a post about some other matter.