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Urban Dictionary is an Dictionary whose definitions are contributed by users. Most words featured on Urban Dictionary are Slang , particularly ambiguous slang. A paper version of the dictionary was published in 2005 . SITE FEATURES The dictionary was founded by Aaron Peckham , and has more than 300,000 entries growing daily by 1,500 (as of December 2005 ). One of the site's main purposes is to allow users to define words however they choose to define them, hence its slogan: "Define your world." Because of this, most words have multiple definitions. Definitions can be voted on based on a thumbs up/down scale. A running tally of votes is kept for each definition, which are listed in order by rank. Visitors may also view a randomly chosen word to expand their Urban vocabulary. Users can submit sounds of spoken words and images for clarity. Other features of the site include a graffiti "wall" and "Word of the Day," which allows subscribers to receive a daily email containing a select term. QUALITY CONTROL A Quality Control system was established to delete hateful or inaccurate definitions. This had become a large problem on the site, as negative entries began appearing inside definitions, such as a positive description of racial slurs. In addition, non-hateful problems began emerging. For example, the definition pages for the terms "Windows" and "Linux" became a childish back-and-forth argument over which Operating System was superior. Originally, a user that objected to a definition could submit a complaint. Deletion requests were added to a pool that was reviewed by users who choose whether "it stays", "it goes", or "don't know." However, the site's management did not believe this concept worked. Many users recommended users' definitions based on whether they approved of the particular tone or opinions expressed. As a result, this system was abandoned. Under the new Deletion Policy , registered users determine whether a definition should remain or not. Volunteer Editing Submitted definitions do not appear immediately on the main site, instead going through a review process. Currently, when a new definition is submitted, it is entered into the editing Queue . Definitions in the queue are viewed by volunteer editors who then choose to "accept" or "reject" the entry. (Editors, if unsure whether or not a definition is appropriate, can also choose "Don't Know" when reviewing submissions. This choice has no effect on the end tally of entry, and the definition is simply shown to another editor.) Each submission is viewed by a number of editors (the exact number varies, but lies between two and nine), with controversial definitions being viewed by more people. In the end, Majority rules, and those definitions with more "accept" votes than "reject" votes appear on the site. Urban Dictionary claims to have 40,000 volunteers working as editors around the world. Changes to the Editing Queue System Originally, editors saw definitions in the order in which they were submitted. Unfortunately, the rate at which editors reviewed submissions was substantially less than the rate at which users submitted definitions for review. This lead to a huge backlog in entries, with new submissions potentially waiting up to several weeks for review. This became a particular problem with submissions defining current events, as they would not appear on the site until months after the fact. To remedy this, Aaron Peckham, the site owner, instituted a system in which new words (that is, words not yet appearing on the site) would go to the front of the editing queue. Conversely, words with many definitions (such as Emo , which has nearly 700 entries) would wait longer before being reviewed by editors. This system allowed new slang stemming from the latest Bushism s, for example, to appear within a day or two. Editing Guidelines Editors are given a set of ten guidelines to follow when reviewing definitions: #Publish celebrity names but '''reject''' friends' names. #Publish racial and sexual slurs but '''reject''' racist and sexist entries. #Publish opinions. #Publish place names. #Publish non-slang words. '''Ignore''' misspellings and swearing. #Publish jokes. #Reject made up sexual violence. #Reject nonsense. '''Be consistent''' on duplicates. #Reject ads for web sites. #Finally, publish if it looks plausible. These guidelines are not always consistently applied. Editing procedures continue to evolve. MORE THAN JUST SLANG Urban Dictionary also contains names of politicians, bands, Internet Jargon , and Neologisms . Because of Urban Dictionary's popularity among students (the profile posted on the site states that 65% of the users are under 25) definitions of the names of crushes, friends, and enemies are abundant. For some, the site has become both a slang dictionary and an entertaining place to quip and learn about celebrities and trends. Others contend that this shift actually results in an exceedingly low Signal-to-noise Ratio . SEE ALSO EXTERNAL LINKS BIBLIOGRAPHY
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