“Wikipedia” as a verb
Tonight I heard the word “Wikipedia” used as a verb. (Actual context was something along the lines of “Can you Wikipedia that guy and find out when he died?”)
This isn’t the first time I’ve heard this usage, and I doubt it will be the last. It’s worth noting, however, that up until a few months ago the term “Wikipedia” would have caused a few baffled stares. Tonight’s usage appeared to be universally understood, though I will confess that I was not analyzing everyone’s body language or facial expressions.
If this becomes more widespread, then will “Wikipedia” also enter the OED as some other trademarked terms have? Would that dilute the Wikimedia Foundation’s trademark, or could it be a useful tool for branding? And will that FINALLY get people to stop using “wiki” and “Wikipedia” interchangeably, or will it just exacerbate the problem?
This work, unless otherwise expressly stated, is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 United States License.
September 6th, 2007 at 23:21:04
Will it dilute the trademark? Who cares! Trying to prevent terms from entering common usage is language squatting — it’s despicable and absurd when companies do it (like Adobe instructing people to say “edited with adobe photoshop” rather than “photoshopped”) and inconceivable that an organization dedicated to the public good would do it. (I hope.)
September 9th, 2007 at 06:48:05
The next question is, is this better or worse than using “wiki” as the verb for looking something up on Wikipedia, let alone as a word for Wikipedia?