The Urban Dictionary home page features a backward-running list of its Word of the Day. This list evokes social scenes by referencing inside jokes and the witty asides of various subcultures. In addition to the witty Word of the Day, the website also catalogs other interesting words. Its home page is a fun and informative place to catch up on the latest buzzwords. You can subscribe to the word of the day to stay up-to-date.
Defining slang terms
Urban dictionary is a website that promises to provide users with clues into the language of the urban youth. Unlike actual dictionaries, Urban Dictionary is not produced by experts, but rather by Internet users. Entries are submitted by users and can be voted on. Entries can receive as few as five up-votes to make it into the list. The resulting list ranks entries based on how many times they’ve been up-voted.
In the context of slang, an Urban dictionary entry for a term may not be very accurate. For example, a person might use a term like “furrbie” in a way that’s inappropriate for their age or gender. A furrbie can be a person who likes to sex with a mascot costume. Another term for a furrbie is a “fur saddle.” This term refers to a saddle with hair from the tailbone to the navel. Some people may use the term “furrbie” in a more casual way. If someone uses this term to describe a motorcycle or moped, they may refer to it as a “furrbie.”
Ranking system
The Urban Dictionary (UD) includes a voting system that allows users to express their opinion on entries by giving them an up or down vote. Votes determine the visibility of entries online, and entries at the top of the list get the most visibility. UD users are free to judge the quality of definitions based on subjective criteria. Figure 6a shows the distribution of up/down votes for a particular word. A high ranking is usually associated with a more popular word, so many of these have very little votes.
The UD aims to capture the language of urban people, but the words recorded there may not be very familiar to the average reader. In some cases, UD entries may contain slang or made-up words that only concern certain communities. Many dictionaries require attested headwords, so entries in the UD may not be entirely familiar to average readers. The crowdworkers were asked to quantify the unfamiliarity of UD entries to determine which ones were more useful.
Editorial guidelines
If you’re interested in contributing to the Urban Dictionary, you can add definitions to the online dictionary. Before you submit your definitions, however, you should read the editorial guidelines carefully. In particular, you shouldn’t post hate speech or include personal details about other people. Instead, write for a broad audience and include background information. It’s also important to avoid inside jokes or using celebrities’ names in definitions.
While the Urban Dictionary’s editorial guidelines are not strict, they do offer guidance on what words and phrases should and shouldn’t be included. There are several reasons why people may or might not include a word on the site. Many people who use the dictionary may not have an accurate understanding of its meaning, and the words and phrases they include in their entries may be offensive to some. In addition, many of the words on the website are often slang or colloquial in nature.
Mispellings
One of the most interesting aspects of the UD is its lack of curation. For example, the dictionary contains many headwords not found in standard dictionaries, including informal spelling, nick names, and even made-up words. In one instance, a word that doesn’t exist in any dictionary is “emptybottleaphobia”.
Final Words:
The UD has a large number of headwords that crowdworkers didn’t even know existed. A common headword like coffee has a completely different meaning in the UD. The dictionary has headwords that are attested by people living in the same area. The word “shipwreck” means an all-around liability. Similarly, the word “once-a-meeting” refers to a boring gathering of people who would otherwise have avoided the meeting by sending a quick e-mail or phone call. And in this way, a project manager is validated for his or her position.