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Definitions already in the dictionary can be voted "up" or "down" by any site visitor.
Definitions already in the dictionary can be voted "up" or "down" by any site visitor.


Once a definition is included in the dictionary, editors may review it and remove it if it is against the guidelines. However, those definitions which have proven popular by voting cannot be removed, and an editor may only recommend removal of five definitions in a 24-hour period.<ref>[http://www.urbandictionary.com/editor/remove.php Definition removal form]</ref>
Once a definition is included in the dictionary, editors may review it and remove it if it is against the guidelines. However, those definitions which have proven popular by voting cannot be removed, and an editor may only recommend removal of five definitions per 24-hour period.<ref>[http://www.urbandictionary.com/editor/remove.php Definition removal form]</ref>


On the Urban Dictionary Forum,<ref>[http://feedback.urbandictionary.com/forums/2095-urban-dictionary Urban Dictionary discussion forum]</ref> registered members can discuss enhancements or problems they experience with the site, and vote for changes to be made. Forums are places of lively discussion; recent subjects include: "Allow users to upload sounds and images",<ref>http://feedback.urbandictionary.com/forums/2095-urban-dictionary/suggestions/14621-allow-users-to-upload-sounds-and-images?ref=title</ref> "Get rid of stupid definitions from being first on lists",<ref>http://feedback.urbandictionary.com/forums/2095-urban-dictionary/suggestions/26825-get-rid-of-stupid-definitions-from-being-first-on-?ref=title</ref> and "Allow editors to delete more than 5 bad definitions per day".<ref>http://feedback.urbandictionary.com/forums/2095-urban-dictionary/suggestions/138404-allow-editors-to-delete-more-than-5-bad-definition?ref=title</ref>
On the Urban Dictionary Forum,<ref>[http://feedback.urbandictionary.com/forums/2095-urban-dictionary Urban Dictionary discussion forum]</ref> registered members can discuss enhancements or problems they experience with the site, and vote for changes to be made. Forums are places of lively discussion; recent subjects include: "Allow users to upload sounds and images",<ref>http://feedback.urbandictionary.com/forums/2095-urban-dictionary/suggestions/14621-allow-users-to-upload-sounds-and-images?ref=title</ref> "Get rid of stupid definitions from being first on lists",<ref>http://feedback.urbandictionary.com/forums/2095-urban-dictionary/suggestions/26825-get-rid-of-stupid-definitions-from-being-first-on-?ref=title</ref> and "Allow editors to delete more than 5 bad definitions per day".<ref>http://feedback.urbandictionary.com/forums/2095-urban-dictionary/suggestions/138404-allow-editors-to-delete-more-than-5-bad-definition?ref=title</ref>

Revision as of 21:33, 10 October 2011

Urban Dictionary
Screenshot of Urban Dictionary's front page
Type of site
Slang dictionary
Available inEnglish, Spanish
OwnerAaron Peckham
Created byAaron Peckham
URLurbandictionary.com
CommercialYes
RegistrationRequired only for editing

Urban Dictionary is a Web-based dictionary of slang words and phrases, which contained over 10.5 million definitions in December, 2010.[citation needed] Submissions are regulated by volunteer editors and rated by site visitors. Time's Anita Hamilton included it on her 50 best websites of 2008 list.[2][3]

History

The site was founded in 1999 by Aaron Peckham while he was a freshman computer science major at California Polytechnic State University. One of the first definitions on the site was "the man", referring to "the faces of the establishment put in place to 'bring us down.'”[4]

The website was referenced in a 2011 District Court complaint by BATF agents to document the meaning of the vulgarism 'murk' as used in a criminal threat.[5]

Content

The definitions on Urban Dictionary are meant to be those of slang or ethnic culture words, phrases, and phenomena not found in standard dictionaries. Most words have multiple definitions, usage examples, and tags.

Visitors to Urban Dictionary may submit definitions without registering, but they must provide a valid e-mail address to facilitate the submission process. Entries become the property of Urban Dictionary.[6] Before they are included in the dictionary, all new definitions must be approved by editors.

Editors are given this set of guidelines to use when approving or rejecting definitions[7]:

  1. Publish celebrity names but reject friends' names. Definitions of first names are acceptable. Names of bands and schools should be published only if they are popular.
  2. Publish racial and sexual slurs but reject racist and sexist entries. Entries can document discrimination and slurs but not endorse it.
  3. Publish opinions. Opinions are useful to readers unfamiliar with a topic and should not be rejected because of disagreement or offense, or inaccuracy.
  4. Publish place names, nicknames and area codes of geographic entities.
  5. Publish nonslang words. Swearing, mis-spelling, or presence of words in an ordinary dictionary are not reasons for rejection and should be ignored.
  6. Publish jokes and sarcasm, but reject inside jokes that only the author's friends would understand.
  7. Reject sexual violence and made-up violent sexual acts.
  8. Reject nonsense. Be consistent on duplicates, reject nonsensical, circular, unspecific entries or those submitted in all capital letters. Non-English words and examples are acceptable, but entries with non-English definitions should be rejected.
  9. Reject ads for web sites, and definitions written as advertising.
  10. Publish if the definition appears to be plausible.

Quality control

Persons submitting definitions must provide a valid e-mail address which is used as a simple process to establish good faith. Every submission must be approved by editors before it is added to the dictionary; editors must register with the site using a valid e-mail address[8] and may vote to accept or reject newly submitted definitions.

After receiving a sufficient differential of "accept" over "reject" votes, definitions are published to the dictionary. There may be hundreds of entries for a term or word, so various and often conflicting "histories" exist.[9] [10]

Individual entries cannot be edited by the registered users en masse.

Definitions already in the dictionary can be voted "up" or "down" by any site visitor.

Once a definition is included in the dictionary, editors may review it and remove it if it is against the guidelines. However, those definitions which have proven popular by voting cannot be removed, and an editor may only recommend removal of five definitions per 24-hour period.[11]

On the Urban Dictionary Forum,[12] registered members can discuss enhancements or problems they experience with the site, and vote for changes to be made. Forums are places of lively discussion; recent subjects include: "Allow users to upload sounds and images",[13] "Get rid of stupid definitions from being first on lists",[14] and "Allow editors to delete more than 5 bad definitions per day".[15]

Traffic and users

As of January 2011, the site contains over 5.6 million definitions. As of April 2009, an average of 2,000 are submitted every day; the site receives approximately 15 million unique visitors per month, with 80% of users being younger than 25.[4] As of January 2011, Urban Dictionary's Alexa rating is 688,[16] with a rating of 322 in the United States[16] and 17,571 sites linking in.[16]

Urban Dictionary has been frequently featured on Tosh.0 with special "words of the week".

See also

Books

  • Peckham, Aaron (2005). Urban dictionary: fularious street slang defined. Kansas City, Missouri: Andrews McMeel Publishing, L.L.C. p. 320. ISBN 0-7407-5143-3. Retrieved January 25, 2010.
  • Peckham, Aaron (2007). Mo' Urban Dictionary: Ridonkulous Street Slang Defined. Kansas City, Missouri: Andrews McMeel Publishing, L.L.C. p. 240. ISBN 0-7407-6875-1. Retrieved January 25, 2010.

References

Notes
  1. ^ "Urbandictionary.com Site Info". Alexa Internet. Retrieved 2011-10-02.
  2. ^ "50 Best Web Sites – Podcast". TIME. Retrieved 2010-01-05.
  3. ^ "Urban Dictionary – 50 Best Websites 2008". TIME. June 17, 2009. Retrieved 2010-01-05.
  4. ^ a b Heffernan, Virginia (July 5, 2009). "Street Smart: Urban Dictionary". New York Times. Retrieved January 25, 2010.
  5. ^ "Feds Consulted Urban Dictionary In Threat Case". The Smoking Gun. 31 August 2011.
  6. ^ Submission form
  7. ^ Guidelines for Editors
  8. ^ Editor sign-up page
  9. ^ Definitions of "hard"
  10. ^ Definitions of "easy"
  11. ^ Definition removal form
  12. ^ Urban Dictionary discussion forum
  13. ^ http://feedback.urbandictionary.com/forums/2095-urban-dictionary/suggestions/14621-allow-users-to-upload-sounds-and-images?ref=title
  14. ^ http://feedback.urbandictionary.com/forums/2095-urban-dictionary/suggestions/26825-get-rid-of-stupid-definitions-from-being-first-on-?ref=title
  15. ^ http://feedback.urbandictionary.com/forums/2095-urban-dictionary/suggestions/138404-allow-editors-to-delete-more-than-5-bad-definition?ref=title
  16. ^ a b c http://www.alexa.com/siteinfo/urbandictionary.com

External links

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Urban_Dictionary&oldid=454937865"