Funny Things to Type Into Urban Dictionary

Customs-powered dictionary of slang terms

Urban Dictionary

Screenshot Screenshot of Urban Dictionary front page as of 2018
Available in	English
Owner	Aaron Peckham
Created past	Aaron Peckham
URL	world wide web.urbandictionary.com
Launched	1999; 23 years agone  (1999)
Current status	Active

Urban Dictionary is a crowdsourced online lexicon for slang words and phrases, operating under the motto "Define Your World."^[1] The website was founded in 1999 by Aaron Peckham. Originally, Urban Lexicon was intended as a dictionary of slang or cultural words and phrases, not typically institute in standard dictionaries, but information technology is at present used to define any word, event, or phrase (including sexually explicit content). Words or phrases on Urban Dictionary may have multiple definitions, usage examples, and tags. As of 2014, the lexicon had over vii 1000000 definitions, while around 2,000 new entries were being added daily.

History

The site was founded in 1999 by Aaron Peckham while he was a freshman calculator scientific discipline major at California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo. He launched the site to compare urban slang used past university students in different parts of California. He had previously created a spoof version of the Inquire Jeeves web search engine while studying at Cal Poly merely airtight the website later he received an infringement letter of the alphabet.^[2] He created Urban Lexicon initially as a parody of actual dictionaries, which he thought tended to be "stuffy" and "take themselves too seriously".

For the get-go five years, the site generated revenue but did not make a profit. In 2003, the website gained wider attention after a news article revealed that a judge of the Loftier Court of Justice in the United Kingdom had used Urban Dictionary to assist interpreting slang lyrics in a case involving two rappers.^{[3] [4]}

Past 2009, the site had listed around 4 1000000 entries and received well-nigh two,000 new submissions per solar day.^[5] In April 2009, the site registered fifteen meg unique visitors, while 80 percent of its monthly users were younger than 25. In July 2009, Peckham explained to The New York Times that Urban Dictionary is not Wikipedia,^[6] because it doesn't attempt neutrality: "Every single give-and-take on here [Urban Dictionary] is written by someone with a point of view, with a personal feel of the discussion in the entry."^[7]

The website was later referenced in a 2011 District Court complaint by Bureau of Booze, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) agents to document the pregnant of the vulgarism "murk", equally used in a criminal threat.^[8]

Over a 30-day flow in March and April 2011, 67,000 people wrote 76,000 new definitions for Urban Lexicon, while 3,500 volunteer editors were registered. In an April 2011 article in The Guardian titled "In praise of urban dictionaries", Peckham revealed an overview of 10 rules that he had devised for the site's content: "Publish celebrity names, merely reject 'real life' names. Turn down nonsense, inside jokes or annihilation submitted in capital messages. Racial and sexual slurs are immune, racist and sexist entries are non."^[9]

At the offset of 2014, 32-twelvemonth-old Peckham resided in San Francisco, U.South, and, while he did not reveal verbal figures, he informed the media that the site was "stable and growing", and generated enough profit for both him and the site'south maintenance. Peckham continued as the site'south sole employee and maintained that he was not interested in venture funding or an initial public offering (IPO) : "It is weird to be in Silicon Valley and want to be contained and non exist on track to IPO or want an acquisition ... Only I think something special would be sacrificed if that were to happen." The site'southward audience at this phase was predominantly male person and aged between 15 and 24.^[2]

As of January 5, 2014, fifty% of the site's traffic was mobile and the iPhone app had been downloaded virtually three one thousand thousand times.^[10] Although English entries were by far the most common prior to the multilingual transition, some words from languages that take been incorporated or assimilated into English-speaking societies were published, including those from Swahili, Arabic, and the Fula languages.^[xi]

Content

In the context of Urban Dictionary, "definitions" include not only literal definitions, but also descriptions. Equally such, "to define" a word or phrase on Urban Dictionary does not necessarily entail providing a strict definition; simply a clarification of some aspect of the word or phrase could suffice for inclusion in the dictionary.

Originally, Urban Lexicon was intended as a dictionary of slang, or cultural words or phrases, not typically found in standard dictionaries, but it is now used to define any word or phrase. Words or phrases on Urban Dictionary may have multiple definitions, usage examples, and tags.

Visitors to Urban Lexicon may submit definitions without registering, but they must provide a valid email address.

Quality command

By default, each definition is accustomed or rejected based on the number of "Publish" or "Don't Publish" votes information technology receives from volunteer editors. The editors are not bound past any criteria for the approval or rejection of definitions. Editors previously needed a valid email address, only information technology is no longer required, equally three options are provided for new words: "Add It!," "Keep Out!," and "I Can't Decide." However, a Facebook or Gmail business relationship is required to post a new definition.^[12] Editors are not allowed to edit entries for spelling, wording or punctuation.

Problems with content

Urban Dictionary has been criticized for hosting and failing to remove offensive submissions, including ones containing racist and sexist content.^[xiii] For instance, the abundance of racist definitions of "ancient" prompted a petition calling for their removal on Change.org which received over vii,000 signatures.^[14]

Urban Dictionary 'due south guidelines list "hate speech, bullying, or any other statements meant to discriminate or incite violence against others" every bit a reportable offense.^[fifteen]

Usage

At the outset of 2014, the dictionary had over seven 1000000 definitions, while ii,000 new entries were being added daily.^[ii]

In Nov 2014, the Advertise page of the website stated that, on a monthly basis, Urban Lexicon averages 72 million impressions and 18 one thousand thousand unique readers. Co-ordinate to Peckham in Jan 2014, just nether 40% of the site'southward traffic is international, while the site'southward audition was predominantly male person and aged betwixt fifteen and 24.^{[2] [10]}

By July 2020, the lexicon had over 12 1000000 definitions.^[16]

Application

Legal cases

As of 2013, Urban Lexicon has been used in several court cases to ascertain slang terms non found in standard dictionaries. For example, the slang term "jack" was used to ascertain the proper noun the defendant used for his team, "the jack boys."^[17] Urban Dictionary was also used in a District Court complaint where a human being posted a threat on a gun exchange Facebook page to "murk that cocksucker".^{[viii] [17]} The crowd-sourced dictionary was besides used in a sexual harassment courtroom example in Tennessee to define the phrase "to nut" as "to ejaculate".^[17]

Other

In the United States, some state Departments of Motor Vehicles refer to Urban Dictionary in determining if certain license plates are advisable or not. For example, a man in Las Vegas was allowed to continue "HOE" as his license plate later managing to convince the state, with the use of Urban Dictionary, that it meant "TAHOE", as in the vehicle made by Chevrolet, since that was already taken.^[nine]

IBM had programmed Watson to use Urban Dictionary. After having all the words and definitions incorporated into Watson, it began responding to researchers' questions with profanity, leading the programmers to remove it from its memory and adding an additional filter to prevent it from swearing in the future.^[eighteen]

In August 2019, The Malacañang Palace reacted to a definition on the site referring to Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte, defining him as "deceptive, sly, fake" and other words. Presidential spokesperson Salvador Panelo said the definitions of "duterte" are "exact opposites" of the traits of President Duterte, and that Duterte to them ways "honest, incorruptible, politically-willed person, courageous, selfless, honest, transparent and all good things...and other synonymous terms." The spokesperson also admitted he had never heard of the site earlier, and believed that anti-Duterte groups were backside the definition.^[19]

Linguists go along to use Urban Dictionary for charting the development of slang terms, particularly those from the early 2000s before the advent of many social media platforms.^[xx]

Meet likewise

• Reference.com

References

1. ^ "Define your world". Urban Dictionary . Retrieved April 7, 2018.
2. ^ ^{a b c d} Jenna Wortham (January three, 2014). "A Lexicon of Instant Argot". The New York Times . Retrieved Nov 17, 2014.
3. ^ Schofield, Jack (November 12, 2007). "From abandonware to Zelda". The Guardian . Retrieved November 17, 2014.
4. ^ "Rap lyrics confound judge". BBC News Online. June six, 2003. Retrieved November 22, 2015.
5. ^ "Alumni in the News: Summer & Fall 2009". Cal Poly Magazine. California Polytechnic State University. June 2009. Archived from the original on December 25, 2014. Retrieved November 17, 2014.
6. ^ Noonan, Erica (July 5, 2009). "Virtual smackdowns Cross-border rivalries spill onto the Internet, where even residents have fun tweaking hometowns". Boston Globe . Retrieved April 29, 2021.
7. ^ Virginia Heffernan (July 1, 2009). "Street Smart: Urban Dictionary". The New York Times . Retrieved November 17, 2014.
8. ^ ^{a b} "Feds Consulted Urban Dictionary In Threat Case". The Smoking Gun. August 31, 2011.
9. ^ ^{a b} Johnny Davis (Apr 21, 2011). "In praise of urban dictionaries". The Guardian . Retrieved November 17, 2014.
10. ^ ^{a b} Jenna Wortham (January five, 2014). "Urban Dictionary'due south Next Stage: Global and Mobile". The New York Times . Retrieved Nov 17, 2014.
11. ^ Pueyo, Isabel (2009). Education Bookish and Professional English language Online. p. 169.
12. ^ "Approve new words - one. Should this be in Urban Lexicon?". Urban Dictionary. Urban Dictionary. January 31, 2015. Retrieved Jan 31, 2015.
13. ^ Chang, Clio (July fifteen, 2017). "Why Urban Dictionary Is Horrifically Racist". The New Republic.
14. ^ Lieu, Johnny (February 2, 2018). "Urban Dictionary deletes racist and offensive entries for 'ancient' post-obit outrage". Mashable.
15. ^ "Urban Dictionary Content Guidelines". Urban Lexicon . Retrieved June xix, 2020.
16. ^ "Rethinking the Dictionary". urbandictionary.blog . Retrieved September 12, 2020.
17. ^ ^{a b c} Kaufman, Leslie (May 21, 2013). "For the Word on the Street, Courts Recall an Online Witness". The New York Times . Retrieved February 28, 2017.
18. ^ Humphries, Matthew (January 10, 2013). "Teaching Watson the Urban Dictionary turned out to be a huge mistake - News". @geekdotcom. Archived from the original on February 12, 2015.
19. ^ Romero, Alexis (August 21, 2019). "Palace disputes 'na-Duterte' urban dictionary entry". The Philippine Star . Retrieved December 5, 2021. {{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
20. ^ Ro, Christine (November xiii, 2019). "How Linguists Are Using Urban Dictionary". JSTOR Daily . Retrieved January 4, 2020.

Further reading

• Peckham, Aaron (2005). Urban dictionary: fularious street slang defined . Kansas City, Missouri: Andrews McMeel Publishing, 50.L.C. pp. 320. ISBN0-7407-5143-iii.
• Peckham, Aaron (2007). Mo' Urban Dictionary: Ridonkulous Street Slang Defined. Kansas City, Missouri: Andrews McMeel Publishing, L.50.C. p. 240. ISBN978-0-7407-6875-0.

External links

• Official website

goddardskint1998.blogspot.com

Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Urban_Dictionary

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