Wikipedia:Don't abbreviate "Wikipedia" as "Wiki"!

This is a humorous essay.

It contains the advice or opinions of one or more Wikipedia contributors and is made to be humorous. This page is not one of Wikipedia's policies or guidelines, as it has not been thoroughly vetted by the community. Some essays represent widespread norms; others only represent minority viewpoints. This essay isn't meant to be taken seriously.

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This page in a nutshell: The word "wiki" is a common noun which does not refer to any specific website. Do not use "Wiki" as if implying that Wikipedia is the only wiki in existence.

See also meta:Wikipedia is not Wiki.

"Wiki" is usually not a proper name and, when it is, it does not refer to Wikipedia. Please understand that "wiki" is a generic term that describes a type of website or software.

The term "wiki" refers to a type of site patterned after C2 Wiki, the original site to use the term "wiki" (an abbreviation of WikiWikiWeb). There are in fact many such wikis in existence, of which Wikipedia is only one. Therefore, referring to any one of them (except perhaps the original C2 Wiki) using the capitalized "Wiki" is incorrect at best, and to a somewhat experienced Internet user, can be painful to hear. Like, if Wiki users call it Wiki, then they will be blocked from Wiki! But are those wiki users from Fandom or C2 Wiki or which wiki? TELL US!

Although your intentions may be obvious, such a blatant misuse of language is nevertheless painful, and to editors of other wikis, utterly confusing.

To illustrate, imagine seeing someone say this:

"Tree's leaves are turning pretty colors. I think Tree looks nice today."

See how odd that sounds? That's what a lot of Wikipedia users feel when people use "Wiki" to refer to "Wikipedia".

For the health and well-being of the community, when referring to this encyclopedia, either type out the entire word, "Wikipedia", or, when unambiguous (when it's clear that e.g. WordPress is not being referenced), use the abbreviation "WP".

Proper usage guide

The word "wiki" can be used in a number of proper and inoffensive ways. Below we compare and contrast the do's and do-not-do's of "wiki" usage, complete with excessively complex grammatical explanations.

Example #1: Plural noun

"Wikipedia is my favorite website." – User 1

"Well, I don't know about that, but it is certainly the most useful of all wikis." – User 2

Notice that in User 2's comment, the word "wiki" is in its plural form, "wikis", having a plural "s" on its end. Since the plural form of "wiki" always acknowledges its generic nature, this usage is Approved.

Example #2: Singular noun

"Wikipedia pages are loading slowly for me in the last couple hours. Has anyone else noticed this?" – User 1

"Yes, the wiki seems to be operating slowly today." – User 2

In this example, while the word "wiki" is now in its singular form, and "wiki" does seem to be referring only to Wikipedia, the article "the" now appears before it. This implies reference merely to one out of a possible many different wikis. Since User 2's usage is still as a generic noun that acknowledges the nature of the object it describes, rather than being a proper name for a singular entity, this usage is Approved. (Similarly with demonstratives: "This wiki is better than that one.")

Example #3: Proper noun

"Wiki is where I go to research my brain medicines." – User 1

Notice that in this example, User 1 has used "wiki" as a proper name.

Per usage predating the rise of Wikipedia, "Wiki" could be used as a proper noun ... for C2 Wiki, the first site to identify as a "wiki", which was then a new coinage (an abbreviation of WikiWikiWeb). Use of Wiki, as a proper noun, to refer to Wikipedia rather than to C2 is therefore a misuse.

Whilst "wiki" is now usually used as a generic term rather than a specific C2 reference, since there are many possible wikis that User 1 could be referring to, and since "wiki" in the current sense is a generic description for many different websites and software packages, this usage is wrong, blasphemous, offensive, and Highly discouraged. User 1 is also admonished for seeking to use Wikipedia as a source of medical advice.

Example #4: Colloquialisms

"How many admins does it take to change a light bulb?" – User 1

"Let's discuss this off-wiki." – User 2

Some colloquial terms or phrases may incorporate "wiki", but are nevertheless unique terms in and of themselves, not requiring adjustment to accommodate the specific institution being referenced. In this example, "wiki" should not be considered alone, but rather as part of the term "off-wiki". "Off-wiki" is generally used as a stand-in for "outside of the current wiki", which as you can see, implies the article "the". Therefore, as in example #2 above, this usage is Approved.

Discouragement

You can discourage others from abbreviating Wikipedia as Wiki using this template and userbox:

Template

When encountering improper "wiki" usage in the wild (on talk pages), the following code can be used to place a graphical warning:

{{daw}}

or

{{Don't abbreviate Wikipedia as Wiki}}

Produces the graphic seen to the right, complete with a link to this essay.

Userbox

Show your support — place {{User notwiki}} on your userpage.

It'll look like this:

This user feels physical pain when hearing others refer to Wikipedia as "Wiki".