An Online Dictionary

Have you heard of Urban Dictionary? It is a different from regular dictionaries in these ways:

1)      It is not associated with any big-name dictionary from the past.

2)     Most of its content is slang words and phrases, especially the ones trending on the Internet.

3)     And like so many things today, its definitions are a “product of the internet hordes”, writes Clio Chang. Anyone can add a definition, and other users get to up-vote or down-vote it.

4)     The definitions then get ranked based on those up and down votes and the most popular ones show up first.

A side-effect of this mechanism is that people try to come up definitions that will be popular. Sometimes this leads to humorous definitions. Like the Devil’s Dictionary of old time. At other times though, it leads to racist and sexist definitions. Of course, whether or not the likes of Chang like to admit it, racist and sexist definitions can be funny too… sometimes. Take the second most popular “definition” of tennis star Serena Williams:

“(Serena Williams is) a large, muscular, ape whose Hollywood credits include the lead role in 1998’s Mighty Joe Young.”

Who exactly would believe this to be a true description? And let’s face it: political correctness aside, Serena’s muscularity is the first thing that hits you in the face when you see her. Is this a not-so-nice joke? Sure. But is there anything worth getting all worked up about?

Chang hits the nail on the head when she says the reason such (and far worse) entries don’t get deleted by the site owners is that they are popular, which leads to more page views and eventually money. But doesn’t that say more about us, the people who surf and view such sites, than the site itself?

To me, ranting against such sites is yet another instance of the Old School mindset that believes only certain authorities have the right to call out definitions for terms. I guess living up to that standard that so many claim to believe, namely that words mean whatever a large enough set of people decide it means, is a very hard thing to do. Urban Dictionary’s founder, Aaron Peckham uses that very argument when he said:

“Most dictionaries are objective. Urban Dictionary is completely subjective. It’s not presented as fact, [but] as opinions. I think that can be a lot more valuable… It teaches you what things really mean, according to a lot of people.”

Just goes to show that some standards are easy to talk about but hard to live up to.