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Wikipedia Is Not Amused By Entry For xkcd-Coined Word

ObsessiveMathsFreak writes "Today's xkcd comic introduced an unusual word — malamanteau — by giving its supposed definition on Wikipedia. The only trouble is that the word (as well as its supposed wiki page) did not in fact exist. Naturally, much ado ensued at the supposed wiki page, which was swiftly created in response to the comic. This article has more on how the comic and the confusion it caused have put the Net in a tizzy. It turns out that a malamanteau is a portmanteau of portmanteau and malapropism, but also a malapropism of portmanteau. All this puts Wikipedia in the confusing position of not allowing a page for an undefined word whose meaning is defined via the Wikipedia page for that word — and now I have to lie down for a moment."

36 of 553 comments (clear)

  1. Simple Solution by eldavojohn · · Score: 5, Funny

    Add it to the list in the xkcd article under Inspired Activities and redirect the malamanteau page to that subsection and be done with it. And now for some humor directed back at Munroe:

    *puts blanket over his head and grabs a webcam* How fucking dare anyone out there make fun of Wikipedia after all it has been through! It lost its father, it went through a fundraiser. It had two fuckin libel suits filed against it. Larry Sanger turned out to be a user, a liar, and now he's accusing it of hosting childporn. All you people care about is ... xkcd readers and making money off of it. IT'S A WEBSITE! Wahhhh. Ooooh. What you don’t realize is that Wikipedia is making you all this money and all you do is draw a bunch of crappy web comics about it. It hasn’t been featured in the news in years. Its slogan is “the free encyclopedia that anyone can edit” for a reason because all you people want is to EDIT! EDIT EDIT EDIT EDIT! LEAVE IT ALONE! You are lucky it even is hosted for you BASTARDS! LEAVE WIKIPEDIA ALONE! Please. Randall Munroe talked about a fancy neologism and said if Wikipedia was a professional it wouldn't delete malamanteau no matter what. Speaking of professionalism, when is it professional to publicly bash something that is going through a hard time? Leave Wikipedia Alone Please ... Leave Wikipedia.org alone! ... right now! ... I mean it! Anyone that has a problem with Wikipedia you deal with me, because it is not well right now.

    LEAVE IT ALONE!

    --
    My work here is dung.
    1. Re:Simple Solution by biryokumaru · · Score: 5, Funny

      Ya, me neither. I just get on 4chan if I need to look stuff up these days. Much more reliable.

      --
      When you're afraid to download music illegally in your own home, then the terrorists have won!
    2. Re:Simple Solution by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny
      Badger badger badger

      Mushroom

    3. Re:Simple Solution by ObsessiveMathsFreak · · Score: 5, Funny

      LEAVE IT ALONE!

      Left to its own devices, Wikipedia would degenerate under the rule of deletionists until finally only one page--Wikipedia--remained on the site. This would then be nominated for deletion.

      Actually, that sounds like a rather good outcome. Perhaps you're on to something.

      --
      May the Maths Be with you!
    4. Re:Simple Solution by Pojut · · Score: 3, Funny

      Snake?

    5. Re:Simple Solution by urbanYeti · · Score: 4, Funny

      No reason to do anything - it's entered our language now. End of story. It's in Wikipedia, so it's a perfectly cromulent word.

    6. Re:Simple Solution by jeremyp · · Score: 5, Funny

      what an original idea. Let me offer you my most sincere contrafibularities.

      --
      All I want is a secure system where it's easy to do anything I want. Is that too much to ask ~~ Randall Munroe
    7. Re:Simple Solution by DavidTC · · Score: 2, Funny

      By definition, all contrafibulations are sincere. They have to be, they're the opposite of lies.

      --
      If corporations are people, aren't stockholders guilty of slavery?
    8. Re:Simple Solution by Obyron · · Score: 3, Funny

      Mistakes happens

      Clearly. So I guess you're, like, a senior editor?

      --
      --Obyron
  2. Real Power by thepike · · Score: 5, Funny

    And people say kids these days put too much stock in wikipedia. Come on, they won't even let an undefined word be added even after it clearly becomes defined by xkcd.

    Now the power to change google search results, make new words, and cause spontaneous gatherings at random locations. That's power that only stick figures can be trusted with.

  3. Re:Love at first read. by 0racle · · Score: 4, Funny

    This is also why Wikipedia should never be considered a good source of information. It's like two birds with one stone, a biavianlith if you will.

    And now I need to go to go make a wiki page on biavianliths.

    --
    "I use a Mac because I'm just better than you are."
  4. Serves them right by Sir.Cracked · · Score: 3, Funny

    It serves them right for deleting all that porn. Karma's a bitch!

    --
    Where are we going, and why am I in this handbasket?
  5. Re:If by today's you mean yesterday's... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    That's a very hirsute observation.

  6. would someone put up a wikipedia page for me? by circletimessquare · · Score: 2, Funny

    for the word

    temppot

    or

    teapest

    --
    intellectual property law is philosophically incoherent. it is your moral duty to ignore it or sabotage it
  7. QFTD. by bmo · · Score: 3, Funny

    "Your obscure Pokemon obsession is no more valid than my XKCD fetish" - Anonymous

    --
    BMO

    1. Re:QFTD. by gr3kgr33n · · Score: 2, Funny
      --
      My backup chemistry thesis stored on Data Storing Bacteria mutated; granting me a degree in forensic anthropology. v4sw7
  8. Re:this is not new by Jhyrryl · · Score: 2, Funny

    [citation needed]

    --
    Jhyrryl
  9. Re:this is not new by soliptic · · Score: 4, Funny

    Here you go.

    Protip: this was the first result of googling "etymology quiz", which is actually 3 fewer characters to type than "[citation needed]".

  10. Re:Best. Joke. Ever. by bertoelcon · · Score: 5, Funny

    Posted AC because xkcd has 10^3 kg of fanboys.

    1000 kg is only a dozen people though.

    --
    Anything can be found funny, from a certain point of view.
  11. Re:Best. Joke. Ever. by abigor · · Score: 5, Funny

    Posted AC because xkcd has 10^3 kg of fanboys.

    So that's like what, eight or nine Slashdotters.

  12. Re:LOL by Mister+Whirly · · Score: 5, Funny

    I say this because every person I know that uses wikipedia as a reference is in fact an idiot.

    [Citation Needed]

    --
    "But this one goes to 11!"
  13. Re:It exhibits no creativity. by schon · · Score: 2, Funny

    People don't find xkcd funny because the comics themselves are funny. People find it funny because it makes a direct reference to something that somebody else has made funny in some way. xkcd is nothing more than a pointer to funny material.

    Please cite specifically the "funny" sources that these comics reference:

    http://xkcd.com/727/
    http://xkcd.com/724/
    http://xkcd.com/719/
    http://xkcd.com/37/
    http://xkcd.com/562/
    http://xkcd.com/239/
    http://xkcd.com/225/

    (And yes, these are funny, not only to me, but to other people I show them to.)

  14. We Are Now At XKCD DEFCON 4 by jalefkowit · · Score: 5, Funny

    The XKCD threat has officially been upgraded from "Unfunny But Harmless" to "Somewhat Annoying".

    Luckily for them, the Internet doesn't scramble its bombers until DEFCON 2 ("Almost As Problematic As 4chan").

    1. Re:We Are Now At XKCD DEFCON 4 by mjwx · · Score: 2, Funny

      The XKCD threat has officially been upgraded from "Unfunny But Harmless" to "Somewhat Annoying".

      Luckily for them, the Internet doesn't scramble its bombers until DEFCON 2 ("Almost As Problematic As 4chan").

      However ROFLcopters fuelling up as we speak

      --
      Calling someone a "hater" only means you can not rationally rebut their argument.
  15. Re:LOL by Jah-Wren+Ryel · · Score: 2, Funny

    if you use Wikipedia as any sort of authoritative reference, you're an idiot. I say this because every person I know that uses wikipedia as a reference is in fact an idiot.

    While it may not be obvious at first glance, you have effectively just cited wikipedia as authoritative proof that people who cite wikipedia are idiots.

    --
    When information is power, privacy is freedom.
  16. Oh the irony. by owlnation · · Score: 3, Funny
    Every time I think of Wikipedia, I am reminded of this quote:

    "It was true that there was no such person as Comrade Ogilvy, but a few lines of print and a couple of faked photographs would soon bring him into existence. [...]

    Comrade Ogilvy, unimagined an hour ago, was now a fact. [...] Comrade Ogilvy, who had never existed in the present, now existed in the past, and when once the act of forgery was forgotten, he would exist just as authentically, and upon the same evidence, as Charlemagne or Julius Caesar."

    George Orwell: 1984, pp 46-48.

    It's really odd the wikiadmins should be complaining about someone else making up things to put on their site. All things considered, it seems somewhat hypocritical.

  17. New Malmanteau: "Wikador" by LaminatorX · · Score: 2, Funny

    "Wikador" --A malmanteau combining "Wikipedia" and "Matador," the latter standing in semantically for "Editor."

  18. Re:Best. Joke. Ever. by corbettw · · Score: 1, Funny

    Or 6 sysadmins.

    --
    God invented whiskey so the Irish would not rule the world.
  19. Truly ... by Alastair · · Score: 2, Funny

    This is "News for Nerds". Well done. It's almost "meta" ...

  20. Re:LOL by Twinbee · · Score: 5, Funny

    Have you seen those pages vandalized with dozens of [citation please]? [citation needed] Too often it's a result of an asshole or douchebag putting the numerous [citation please] tags, just because he (usually a he [citation needed]) either refuses to use his brains properly [citation needed], or has some personal vendetta against the contributor [citation needed]. Because the asshole could easily have used: "This section may contain original research or unverified claims.". [citation needed]

    There, fixed that for you.

    --
    Why OpalCalc is the best Windows calc
  21. Re:You people have no patience! by Digital+Vomit · · Score: 5, Funny

    When boobies are a mouse-click away, you gotta make your point quickly.

    --
    Modern copyright is theft of culture from everyone and it retards the progress of the useful arts and sciences.
  22. Re:Best. Joke. Ever. by PitaBred · · Score: 4, Funny

    So you're saying you liked XKCD before it got popular, but now that it's popular it sucks? Lemme guess... you like indie bands, too?

  23. Re:LOL by commodoresloat · · Score: 3, Funny

    never before in human history has anyone gotten so drunk on so little power.

    I take it you don't work at a University....

  24. Re:You people have no patience! by PhunkySchtuff · · Score: 4, Funny

    I'm sorry, I lost you at

    Oh, come on, it wasn't that long. I'm sick of people being so short in their attention span that they have to complain about any piece of te

  25. Tough Luck, Wikipedia by Greyfox · · Score: 2, Funny

    Perhaps you can blag angrily about it on your blag.

    --

    I'm trying to teach myself to set people on fire with my mind... Is it hot in here?

  26. Re:You people have no patience! by chudnall · · Score: 5, Funny

    So.... Can you sum that up in a couple of sentences for me?

    --
    Disclaimer: Evolution comes with NO WARRANTY, except for the IMPLIED WARRANTY of FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.