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=== Articles ===
=== Articles ===
[[Image:DogLabels.png|left|thumb|250px|Where available, Uncyclopedia makes use of visual aids as a complement to its text, such as these [[European hazard symbols]] that include [[dog]]s.]]
[[Image:DogLabels.png|left|thumb|250px|Where available, Uncyclopedia makes use of visual aids as a complement to its text, such as these [[European hazard symbols]] that include [[dog]]s.]]
[[Image:Uncyclopedia-Uncyclopedia.png|thumb|For those obsessed with humor, Uncyclopedia has an article about [[wikia:Uncyclopedia:Uncyclopedia|Uncyclopedia]] that seems like a complete joke.]]


Uncyclopedia's stated goal is to "''provide the world's misinformation in the least redeeming and most searingly sarcastic and humorous way possible, through satire''".<ref name="wikia"/> Its articles contain information which is parodied, fabricated or ridiculed to such an extent that very little, if any, [[fact]]ual accuracy remains, and information often contradicts itself. Often the article leads of into a story of some sorts. Ambiguous as this may sound, Uncyclopedia explicitly states that satire is at its best when it is close to, or represents, the truth. In a manner similar to Wikipedia's "Five pillars", Uncyclopedia has a core set of rules called the "Five pliers", including "Satirical point of view".<ref>{{cite web | url = http://uncyclopedia.wikia.com/wiki/Uncyclopedia:Five_pliers | title = Uncyclopedia:Five pliers | accessdate = 2007-11-09 | format = Wiki |work = Uncyclopedia}}</ref> Despite all the policy pages that parody those of Wikipedia, Uncyclopedia has two main rules: "Be funny and not just stupid," and "Don't be a dick".<ref name="netmag"/>
Uncyclopedia's stated goal is to "''provide the world's misinformation in the least redeeming and most searingly sarcastic and humorous way possible, through satire''".<ref name="wikia"/> Its articles contain information which is parodied, fabricated or ridiculed to such an extent that very little, if any, [[fact]]ual accuracy remains, and information often contradicts itself. Often the article leads of into a story of some sorts. Ambiguous as this may sound, Uncyclopedia explicitly states that satire is at its best when it is close to, or represents, the truth. In a manner similar to Wikipedia's "Five pillars", Uncyclopedia has a core set of rules called the "Five pliers", including "Satirical point of view".<ref>{{cite web | url = http://uncyclopedia.wikia.com/wiki/Uncyclopedia:Five_pliers | title = Uncyclopedia:Five pliers | accessdate = 2007-11-09 | format = Wiki |work = Uncyclopedia}}</ref> Despite all the policy pages that parody those of Wikipedia, Uncyclopedia has two main rules: "Be funny and not just stupid," and "Don't be a dick".<ref name="netmag"/>
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In addition to articles about specific entries on the wiki, several papers speak of the website in general—usually in a section devoted to [[technology]] or the [[Internet]]. This was the case when Uncyclopedia was referenced in the ''[[Boston Herald]]'' and ''[[The Guardian]]''.<ref>{{cite news |first = Stephanie |last = Schorow |url = http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/bostonherald/819420901.html?did=819420901&FMT=ABS&FMTS=FT&date=Apr+8%2C+2005&author=Stephanie+Schorow&pub=Boston+Herald&desc=BOOKMARK+DIVA%3B+This+wiki-cool+Web+site+lets+Net+surfers+define+world |title = This wiki-cool Web site lets Net surfers define world |work = Boston Herald |date=2005-04-08 |accessdate = 2006-07-18}}</ref><ref name="Guardian">{{cite news |first = Jack |last = Schofield |url = http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2005/apr/14/internet.onlinesupplement |title = Web Watch |work = Guardian Unlimited |date=2005-04-14 |accessdate = 2006-07-18}}</ref> Although most articles mentioning Uncyclopedia are specific to the site, there are other articles about [[Wikia]] or Wikipedia that just mention its name briefly. These include the editorial in ''[[The Register]]'' discussing the [[Seigenthaler incident]], in which Uncyclopedia was named only once.<ref name="Orlowski">{{cite news |first = Andrew |last = Orlowski |url = http://www.theregister.co.uk/2005/12/12/wikipedia_no_responsibility/ |title = There's no Wikipedia entry for 'moral responsibility'|work=The Register |date=2005-12-12 |accessdate = 2006-06-24}}</ref> It has also been listed as one of the "Top 100 Undiscovered Web Sites" in [[PC Magazine]],<ref>{{cite web | url = http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2174689,00.asp | title = Top 100 Undiscovered Web Sites - Info, Reference, and Search | accessdate = 2007-10-20 | work = PC Magazine}}</ref> as well as among the "101 most useful websites" on the internet by ''[[The Sunday Telegraph]]''.<ref>{{cite news|title=The 101 most useful websites|last=Baker|first=David|date=30 March 2008|publisher=''[[The Sunday Telegraph]]'' (London)|page=13|accessdate=2008-05-20}}</ref> ''[[Seattle Post-Intelligencer]]'' considers Uncyclopedia to be ''[[The Onion]]'' of wiki sites.<ref>{{cite news|title=What's Online|date=18 September 2007|publisher=''Seattle Post-Intelligencer''|page=D6|accessdate=2008-05-20}}</ref>
In addition to articles about specific entries on the wiki, several papers speak of the website in general—usually in a section devoted to [[technology]] or the [[Internet]]. This was the case when Uncyclopedia was referenced in the ''[[Boston Herald]]'' and ''[[The Guardian]]''.<ref>{{cite news |first = Stephanie |last = Schorow |url = http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/bostonherald/819420901.html?did=819420901&FMT=ABS&FMTS=FT&date=Apr+8%2C+2005&author=Stephanie+Schorow&pub=Boston+Herald&desc=BOOKMARK+DIVA%3B+This+wiki-cool+Web+site+lets+Net+surfers+define+world |title = This wiki-cool Web site lets Net surfers define world |work = Boston Herald |date=2005-04-08 |accessdate = 2006-07-18}}</ref><ref name="Guardian">{{cite news |first = Jack |last = Schofield |url = http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2005/apr/14/internet.onlinesupplement |title = Web Watch |work = Guardian Unlimited |date=2005-04-14 |accessdate = 2006-07-18}}</ref> Although most articles mentioning Uncyclopedia are specific to the site, there are other articles about [[Wikia]] or Wikipedia that just mention its name briefly. These include the editorial in ''[[The Register]]'' discussing the [[Seigenthaler incident]], in which Uncyclopedia was named only once.<ref name="Orlowski">{{cite news |first = Andrew |last = Orlowski |url = http://www.theregister.co.uk/2005/12/12/wikipedia_no_responsibility/ |title = There's no Wikipedia entry for 'moral responsibility'|work=The Register |date=2005-12-12 |accessdate = 2006-06-24}}</ref> It has also been listed as one of the "Top 100 Undiscovered Web Sites" in [[PC Magazine]],<ref>{{cite web | url = http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2174689,00.asp | title = Top 100 Undiscovered Web Sites - Info, Reference, and Search | accessdate = 2007-10-20 | work = PC Magazine}}</ref> as well as among the "101 most useful websites" on the internet by ''[[The Sunday Telegraph]]''.<ref>{{cite news|title=The 101 most useful websites|last=Baker|first=David|date=30 March 2008|publisher=''[[The Sunday Telegraph]]'' (London)|page=13|accessdate=2008-05-20}}</ref> ''[[Seattle Post-Intelligencer]]'' considers Uncyclopedia to be ''[[The Onion]]'' of wiki sites.<ref>{{cite news|title=What's Online|date=18 September 2007|publisher=''Seattle Post-Intelligencer''|page=D6|accessdate=2008-05-20}}</ref>

== Elections and fake events ==
=== Uncyclopedian/Useless Gob[[shit]]e of the Month/Year ===
Just like "Wikipedian of the Month/Year", Uncyclopedia has "Uncyclopedian of the Month/Year", where Uncyclopedians elect their favorite Uncyclopedian every month/year (which cannot be themselves) and the most voted Uncyclopedian becomes "Uncyclopedian of the Month/Year". "Useless Gob[[shit]]e of the Month/Year" is a slightly modified version of "Uncyclopedian of the Month/Year", in which instead of voting for their favorite Uncyclopedian, they vote for their least favorite Uncyclopedian.

=== Pee Review, Pee Week, and Poo Lit Surprise ===
The name "Pee Review" is a pun on "Peer Review" that sounds like toilet humor, exceptional from the warning about toilet humor on Uncyclopedia in the "Be Funny And Not Just Stupid" rule. Just like a normal peer review, people review articles, comment on them, and give them a rating. During the week where the [[International Day of Peace]] is, Uncyclopedia holds a fake "Pee Week" event where they say the best Pee-reviewers will win a surprise when they go to "Poo Lit (geolocation)" (a fake place). During "Pee Week", there is a header on Uncyclopedia which says "It's Pee Week {{CURRENTYEAR}}! Come to Poo Lit (IP geolocation) to win your surprise!". After Pee Week, and until [[Halloween]], Uncyclopedia holds another fake event, "Poo Lit Surprise", where they say the writers of articles best-rated in "Pee Review" during "Pee Week" will get a surprise when they go to "Poo Lit (IP geolocation)". The header on Uncyclopedia says "It's Poo Lit Surprise! Win... something", and "something" is a link to the best-rated article in "Pee Review" during "Pee Week". After [[Halloween]] and before the Wikipedia fundraiser, the header on Uncyclopedia says "The Poo Lit Surprise results are in!", linking to an Uncyclopedia page that fakes the results.

=== Parody of the Wikimedia fundraiser ===
[[Image:Please read... On second thought, don't bother..jpg|thumb|Screenshot of the fundraiser parody when visiting Uncyclopedia anonymously]]
During Wikimedia's fundraiser, Wikipedia's header says "Please read: {{#ifeq:{{Rand|2}}|1|An appeal from our staff|A personal appeal from {{#ifeq:{{Rand|2}}|1|an author of {{#ifeq:{{Rand|2}}|1|2,463|549}} Wikipedia articles|Wikipedia {{#ifeq:{{Rand|2}}|1|programmer Brandon Harris|{{#ifeq:{{Rand|2}}|1|programmer Ryan Kaldari|{{#ifeq:{{Rand|2}}|1|researcher Marayana Pinchuk|founder Jimmy Wales}}}}}}}}}}", and clicking on the "Read now" button sends you to the donate page. Uncyclopedia parodies it by copying off the header and, when visited anonymously, replacing the text with "Please read... On second thought, don't bother. Just click the little 'x' like everyone else." and the button with one that says "Meh.", sending you to a random page on Uncyclopedia; when logged in to Uncyclopedia, replacing both the text and the button caption with something random.


==Criticism and controversy==
==Criticism and controversy==

Revision as of 08:51, 8 December 2011

Uncyclopedia
Screenshot
File:Uncyclopediamainpage.png
The Main Page of Uncyclopedia retrieved 23 November 2010.
Type of site
Satirical wiki
OwnerUncyclomedia
Created byJonathan Huang and "Stillwaters"
RevenueNon-profit
URLhttp://uncyclopedia.wikia.com/
RegistrationOptional

Uncyclopedia ("the content-free encyclopedia") is a satirical website that parodies Wikipedia. Founded in 2005[1] as an originally English-language wiki, the project currently spans over 75 languages. The English version has over 30,000 pages of content, second only to the Brazilian/Portuguese.[2]

Various styles of humor and cursing are used as a vehicle for parody, from earnest attempts at sophisticated satire to straightforward uses of sarcasm, along with structured in-jokes and occasional non-sequiturs. Like Wikipedia, Uncyclopedia has guidelines regarding what is and is not acceptable content and these guidelines have become progressively stricter as the site expands over time.[3] The site has garnered media attention for its articles on people and places.

Its logo, a hollow potato named Sophia after the Gnostic deity, serves as a parody of Wikipedia's globe logo.[4]

Some of the articles on Uncyclopedia contain templates providing a link to the corresponding Wikipedia article. It generally uses the quotes "For those without comedic tastes, the so-called experts at Wikipedia think they have an article about (a link to the article)."

In 2011, Uncyclopedia changed its default skin to an imitation of the Vector scheme now used on Wikipedia. In the same year, it changed its logo significantly.

History

Uncyclopedia was launched on January 5, 2005, by Elvin Liu's FACE, known online as "Chronarion",[5] and a pseudonymous partner called "Stillwaters".[4] Though it started as an independent project, Uncyclopedia quickly outgrew its original webhost, leading Huang to search for a new host. On May 26, 2005, Angela Beesley, Vice President of Wikia, Inc., announced that Wikia would host Uncyclopedia.[6] On July 10, 2006, Huang transferred ownership of the Uncyclopedia.org domain name to Wikia. The majority of Uncyclopedia-related projects in other languages remain hosted under their own localised names, either as fully independent domains or as subdomains of Wikia.com.[7]

25% (or 20 out of 79) of the Uncyclopedia collection is hosted by Wikia;[5] there are also six dedicated non-Wikia servers which host "Uncyclopedia Babel" project content in various languages. To coordinate these projects (collectively, the "Uncyclomedia Babble Project") an Un-Meta wiki was created in 2006.[8]

Content

Uncyclopedia's content is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 2.0 license.[5] As with other Wikia sites, the full article database is freely available for online download.[9] As of 2010, the English-language Uncyclopedia contains over 25,000 articles, making it one of the largest Wikia-hosted wikis.[10][11] It also has the most active users of any Wikia wiki as of February 2008, with over 200 more users than FFXIclopedia, the runner-up.[12] Uncyclopedia's article about Wikipedia claims that Wikipedia is a parody of Uncyclopedia, not the reverse.[13]

Articles

Where available, Uncyclopedia makes use of visual aids as a complement to its text, such as these European hazard symbols that include dogs.
File:Uncyclopedia-Uncyclopedia.png
For those obsessed with humor, Uncyclopedia has an article about Uncyclopedia that seems like a complete joke.

Uncyclopedia's stated goal is to "provide the world's misinformation in the least redeeming and most searingly sarcastic and humorous way possible, through satire".[5] Its articles contain information which is parodied, fabricated or ridiculed to such an extent that very little, if any, factual accuracy remains, and information often contradicts itself. Often the article leads of into a story of some sorts. Ambiguous as this may sound, Uncyclopedia explicitly states that satire is at its best when it is close to, or represents, the truth. In a manner similar to Wikipedia's "Five pillars", Uncyclopedia has a core set of rules called the "Five pliers", including "Satirical point of view".[14] Despite all the policy pages that parody those of Wikipedia, Uncyclopedia has two main rules: "Be funny and not just stupid," and "Don't be a dick".[1]

The wiki has a system for reviewing articles to ensure that they comply with the defined standards of proper humour, grammar, spelling, use of images, and overall presentation, named Pee Review to parody Wikipedia's article review service Peer Review.[15] Writers post their articles on the Pee Review project page for review by other Uncyclopedians.[16] Similarly, a reference desk exists as the "Reefer Desk" to offer review of humorous user-edited images.

One feature of Uncyclopedia's articles is the use of quotations, usually misquoted, fictitiously attributed or entirely fabricated.[17] Among the most recurrent themes is the invention of quotes that are attributed to Oscar Wilde,[18] a phenomenon which began with an article stating that inventing Wilde quotes was the "national sport of England".[1] Themes such as "Kitten Huffing" (the inhalation of the souls of cats as a form of drug abuse) recur frequently.[1]

Uncyclopedia administrators often have to double as censors and critics as they are continually confronted by a steady flow of articles that do not meet Uncyclopedia's standards. Much like Wikipedia, Uncyclopedia has policies concerning vanity articles, which are articles written by an individual associated with the subject of the page. Originally, vanity articles were welcomed as long as they were humorous. However, many of these articles degenerated into flame wars, and creation of vanity pages was therefore disallowed.[1] Uncyclopedia's warning policy is also a play on Wikipedia with mostly the same rules (for example, two warnings before a temporary block as in WP:blocking), but containing funnier-sounding formulations intended to parody the WP:rule process.

Uncyclopedia project Object of parody
UnBooks Wikibooks
UnNews Wikinews
Undictionary Wiktionary
Un-Bestiary, also UnSpecies Wikispecies
Uncycloversity Wikiversity
Unquotable, formerly QuoteUnQuote Wikiquote
UnScripts, also UnSource Wikisource
UnMeta Wikimedia Meta-Wiki
UnCommons, formerly Uncyclomedia Commons Wikimedia Commons
The Uncyclopedia Store The Wikipedia Store
UnTunes iTunes
HowTo wikiHow
Why?, also UnAnswers wikiAnswers
Game Choose your own adventure books

Subprojects

As well as housing many articles designed to satirize Wikipedia-style content, Uncyclopedia also contains several secondary projects (known as "UnProjects").[1][19] As of November 2007, there were 12 such projects,[20] each of which specializes in satire of a different information style. Many of these are directly analogous to Wikipedia's sister projects.

Press coverage

Uncyclopedia has been referenced in several well-known news publications from around the world, in addition to numerous local and regional newspapers and periodicals. In 2005, the Flying Spaghetti Monster entry from Uncyclopedia was mentioned in a New York Times column reporting the spread of so-called "Pastafarianism", the religion that worships the Flying Spaghetti Monster.[21] The column was then reprinted in other newspapers, including the Taipei Times.[22] The magazine .net featured an interview with Huang about Uncyclopedia in May 2007.[1] A number of other articles have been centred on specific entries on Uncyclopedia—most notably the article in the Arizona Daily Star, which focused on the Tucson, Arizona parody,[23] and the article in the Cyprus Mail, which focused on the Cyprus article.[24]

In addition to articles about specific entries on the wiki, several papers speak of the website in general—usually in a section devoted to technology or the Internet. This was the case when Uncyclopedia was referenced in the Boston Herald and The Guardian.[25][26] Although most articles mentioning Uncyclopedia are specific to the site, there are other articles about Wikia or Wikipedia that just mention its name briefly. These include the editorial in The Register discussing the Seigenthaler incident, in which Uncyclopedia was named only once.[27] It has also been listed as one of the "Top 100 Undiscovered Web Sites" in PC Magazine,[28] as well as among the "101 most useful websites" on the internet by The Sunday Telegraph.[29] Seattle Post-Intelligencer considers Uncyclopedia to be The Onion of wiki sites.[30]

Elections and fake events

Uncyclopedian/Useless Gobshite of the Month/Year

Just like "Wikipedian of the Month/Year", Uncyclopedia has "Uncyclopedian of the Month/Year", where Uncyclopedians elect their favorite Uncyclopedian every month/year (which cannot be themselves) and the most voted Uncyclopedian becomes "Uncyclopedian of the Month/Year". "Useless Gobshite of the Month/Year" is a slightly modified version of "Uncyclopedian of the Month/Year", in which instead of voting for their favorite Uncyclopedian, they vote for their least favorite Uncyclopedian.

Pee Review, Pee Week, and Poo Lit Surprise

The name "Pee Review" is a pun on "Peer Review" that sounds like toilet humor, exceptional from the warning about toilet humor on Uncyclopedia in the "Be Funny And Not Just Stupid" rule. Just like a normal peer review, people review articles, comment on them, and give them a rating. During the week where the International Day of Peace is, Uncyclopedia holds a fake "Pee Week" event where they say the best Pee-reviewers will win a surprise when they go to "Poo Lit (geolocation)" (a fake place). During "Pee Week", there is a header on Uncyclopedia which says "It's Pee Week 2024! Come to Poo Lit (IP geolocation) to win your surprise!". After Pee Week, and until Halloween, Uncyclopedia holds another fake event, "Poo Lit Surprise", where they say the writers of articles best-rated in "Pee Review" during "Pee Week" will get a surprise when they go to "Poo Lit (IP geolocation)". The header on Uncyclopedia says "It's Poo Lit Surprise! Win... something", and "something" is a link to the best-rated article in "Pee Review" during "Pee Week". After Halloween and before the Wikipedia fundraiser, the header on Uncyclopedia says "The Poo Lit Surprise results are in!", linking to an Uncyclopedia page that fakes the results.

Parody of the Wikimedia fundraiser

File:Please read... On second thought, don't bother..jpg
Screenshot of the fundraiser parody when visiting Uncyclopedia anonymously

During Wikimedia's fundraiser, Wikipedia's header says "Please read: A personal appeal from Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales", and clicking on the "Read now" button sends you to the donate page. Uncyclopedia parodies it by copying off the header and, when visited anonymously, replacing the text with "Please read... On second thought, don't bother. Just click the little 'x' like everyone else." and the button with one that says "Meh.", sending you to a random page on Uncyclopedia; when logged in to Uncyclopedia, replacing both the text and the button caption with something random.

Criticism and controversy

In May 2006, The New Zealand Herald reported that school officials, including the headmaster of King's College, stating that Uncyclopedia and Bebo were "cyber bullying menace[s]". This was prompted by one Epsom Girls' Grammar School student's name and mobile phone number, along with an offensive message, being posted to Uncyclopedia without her knowledge. The individual in question stated that students commonly added full names and photographs to their own pages, drawing concern from several schooling establishments.[31] The report contributed to the imposition and reworking of the website's vanity and cyberbullying policies, which were only loosely enforced beforehand.[32][33][34] Uncyclopedia has also been criticised for racist humour and general hatefulness,[35][36] but Huang said that racist articles are pulled.[37]

The article on The Lake District was criticised in June 2007 as being offensive by councillors and tourism bosses, who called for stricter regulations on the site. The story was reported in British local newspaper the North-West Evening Mail,[38] but no policy changes were made as a result of this. In fact, the publicity generated by the issue prompted the Lake District article to be featured on Uncyclopedia's main page.[39] In a similar incident in November 2007, Uncyclopedia's article on Northern Ireland was criticised by Northern Irish politician James McCarry who branded the site "disgraceful" and vowed to, along with help from Moyle Council, "get it removed". The article is still on the site. Ardoyne councillor Conor Maskey and Portadown News creator Newton Emerson opposed McCarry, saying people should be more relaxed about the website. This story was reported in The Belfast Telegraph.[40]

A similar incident occurred in April 2008, when civic leaders of Telford, Shropshire, UK lashed out at an article calling the town “a world leader in the production and reproduction and re-reproduction of Chavs”.[41] Another article, this time about the Shropshire county town of Shrewsbury, says the town is only famous for being the birthplace of Charles Darwin, and includes insults towards the residents describing them as monkeys who have evolved into sheep.[42] Uncyclopedia has also been mentioned in the Sioux City Journal for its article on Sioux City, Iowa,[43] Hawke's Bay Today for its article on Flaxmere,[44] and Lochaber News for its article on Fort William, Scotland.[45]

In January 2008, the Malaysian Internal Security Ministry issued a directive alerting newspaper editors not to trust Uncyclopedia. It said the article concerning Malaysia contained "untruths, insults and ridicule" and was demeaning to the country.[46][47] Uncyclopedia's users found this statement more humorous than serious, and subsequently parodied the directive in an UnNews article.[48][49] As of February 2010, Uncyclopedia is blocked from the People's Republic of China.[50]

In December 2008, the Video Professor made claims of defamation and trademark abuse against Uncyclopedia, demanding that all content relating to the Video Professor be removed within 48 hours.[51] Uncyclopedia has not, as of October 2011, removed said content.

The site uses a layout not unlike that of Wikipedia,[52] which may cause confusion to inexperienced users who misinterpret the content as factual.[53][54]

Uncyclopedia in other languages

The Uncyclopedia concept has been adapted to wikis in more than fifty other languages.[7] The UnNews project has similarly been replicated, under various localised names, in eighteen other languages.[55] The websites also invoke various parody languages such as "Portuñol" and "English But Louder". The first Uncyclopedias in languages other than English were created in June 2005, beginning with a French language version.[56] On February 20, 2008, the 50th language, Welsh, was added to the Uncyclopedia series.

Each language wiki is free to establish its own unique community identity, but most of the logos and names in use retain some semblance to those of the English-language version. For instance, as an "un-" encyclopedia, the encyclopedia is named "Uncyclopedia" in both English and German. In some other languages it is:

  • Chinese: "伪基百科" (wěijībǎikē, literally "fake-(Wiki)pedia"), which is derived from "维基百科" (wéijībǎikē, Wikipedia) by changing the first character to "伪", meaning "fake".
  • Danish: "Spademanns Leksikon" does not include the English word "encyclopedia" in its name; Spademanns Leksikon is a parody of Lademanns Leksikon, a respected Danish encyclopedia, combining its name with the word "spade" (slang for "retard").
  • Dutch: an exact translation: "Oncyclopedia Neerlandica", only they include the name of their language in the name, "Neerlandica" is a dignified name for "Nederlands", which is the Dutch word for Dutch. This is also a reference to Encyclopædia Britannica.
  • Finnish: "Hikipedia" would literally translate to "Sweat-pedia", but "hiki" is more expressive when used as a prefix in spoken language and could mean for example "barely-pedia", "lousy-pedia" or even "hard work -pedia", while obviously being a pun on "Wikipedia".
  • French: "dÉsencyclopédie" in French: means "dis-encyclopedia".
  • Greek: "Φρικηπαίδεια" in Greek: means "horror-pedia" or "freak-out-pedia".
  • Hebrew: "איןציקלופדיה" (Eincylopedia), consisting of "אין" (ein), which means literally "there isn't", so together means "Nocyclopedia".
  • Indonesian: Tololpedia (spelled as "Tolololpedia" in Indonesian), from the word tolol "idiot".
  • Italian: "Nonciclopedia" is constructed from the negation "non-" and the word "enciclopedia".
  • Malaysian: Bodohpedia, from the word bodoh, which means "stupid" in the Malay language.
  • Korean: "백괴사전" (Baekgoesajeon; 백괴事典). The name is derived from the Korean word "백과사전" (baekgwasajeon; 百科事典), a translation of 'encyclopedia', by changing the character 과 (gwa; 科) into 괴 (goe), which means "strange". Therefore, "백괴사전" means "the dictionary of all strange knowledge".
  • Norwegian: "Ikkepedia" (Not-pedia).
  • Polish: "Nonsensopedia".
  • Portuguese: "Desciclopédia": means "dis-encyclopedia".
  • Russian: "Absurdopedia" (Абсурдопедия) from the word "absurd" and "encyclopedia".
  • Spanish language "Inciclopedia" applies the negation "in-" to "encyclopedia" (Spanish: enciclopedia).
  • Swedish "Psyklopedin" (Psychlopedia).
  • Tagalog: "Pekepedia," which is based on the word for "fake" (peke).
  • Thai: ไร้สาระนุกรม (rai sa:ra nukrom), is a play on the word for encyclopedia, สารานุกรม (sa:ra:nukrom), and means 'nonsense-opedia'.
  • Turkish: "Yansiklopedi" from the words "Yan" meaning "awry" in Turkish, and "Ansiklopedi" meaning encyclopedia in Turkish.
  • Ukrainian language "Інциклопедія" applies the negation "in-" to "encyclopedia" Ukrainian: Енциклопедія).
  • Welsh: "Celwyddoniadur" is derived from the words "celwydd" (meaning "lie" ("untruth")) and "[g]wyddoniadur" (meaning "encyclopedia").

Some of the largest Uncyclopedias available in other languages are listed below.

Dutch — Oncyclopedia

The Dutch version started in June 2006. In half a year the number of articles grew to about 350. Though the number of pages in March 2007 was around 500, 150 short articles moved to the new daughter project, the "OnWoordenboek der Nederlandse Taal" (literary translated: "UnDictionary of the Dutch Language"), so the number of new contributions almost doubled in three months (350 - 150 + 300 = 500). In February 2007, a second project started: OnNieuws (UnNews), a news paper full of nonsense. This can be either fictional news or real news told in a funny way. Around March 15, 2007 the decision was made to change the name. [57] The Onziclopedie was renamed to Oncyclopedia (Neerlandica). Later more projects started: OnZinnen (Unquotable) ,[58] OnBoeken (UnBooks) [59] and the Oncycloversiteit (Uncycloversity).[60] Oncyclopedia also has its own fictional radio station (OnRadio) [61] [62] which is only available to listen on the weblog of the Oncyclopedia. The Oncy has become well known mostly because of the articles about Emo, Tokio Hotel and suicide. These articles have gotten a lot of criticism in the past, but the admins mostly didn't do anything with it, because like they say, it is mostly destructive commentary. Sometimes blocks follow, although this only happens in the case of swearing. [63] At the end of May 2011, the Oncyclopedia had more than 2,150 articles.[7]

Finally there is the "Oncyclopolis Project". [64] This gives the Oncyclopedia a fictional city-state, Oncyclopolis and its own ranking system (based on number of articles, user rights and user duty) comparable with the system of the Uncyclopedia.

German — Stupidedia

Main article: Stupidedia

Stupidedia (from Stupid and encyclopedia) is a German-language wiki featuring satirically themed and humorous articles.[65][66] It was created on December 17, 2004, by David Sowka, making it the first known humor wiki. In 2010 it joined the Uncyclopedia family, becoming one of the site's German language wikis. Stupidedia is the largest German language wiki of this kind with over 19,200 articles as of May 2011. Its slogan is "Wissen Sie Bescheid? Nein? Wir auch nicht! (English: Do you know the score? No? Neither do we!)

Italian — Nonciclopedia

Nonciclopedia, the Italian language version, was founded on November 3, 2005 and features over 10,000 articles. Like Uncyclopedia, it has many secondary projects, like Manuali, a collection of fake or humorous tutorials about strange arguments (like How to conquer England in 4 steps),[67] the Horroscopo, a fake horoscope, NonNotizie, a parody of WikiNews and the Walk of Shame, a parody of the "Walk of Fame", which collects the best articles. Like most of the other languages' editions there is a space for the Article of the Week and some pages have related audio files containing a vocal narration of the page's content. Typical subjects of humour are Wikipedia, Chuck Norris, Pier Paolo Pasolini, Silvio Berlusconi, Emo subculture, Nietzsche, the fictional state of Svervegia (literally Swederway) and people who vandalize Nonciclopedia in response to being offended by an article. Since Chuck Norris, Svervegia and Emo topics were abused, especially by newbie writers, they are not used anymore. In October 2011 Nonciclopedia was closed indefinitely by the administrators after legal threats were issued by Vasco Rossi[68] This has generated a strong protest movement on Facebook and other social networks[68].

Japanese — Ansaikuropedia

Ansaikuropedia (Japanese: アンサイクロペディア), fourth-largest with just over ten thousand pages,[69] takes its name from the katakana transliteration of the word Uncyclopedia.[70] It was founded in December 2005.[71] Its "UnNews" section is known for posting stories that closely resemble real news stories, which has caused rumors and angry reactions on Twitter.

Portuguese — Desciclopédia

Desciclopédia, the Portuguese language version with over 30,000 pages, is the largest Uncyclopedia.[7] Founded in August 2005,[72] it purports to be the brainchild of the largely fictional Doutor Roberto (Portuguese for "Doctor Robert") a satire upon the late powerful owner of TV Globo, Roberto Marinho. This humour routinely targets regional Brazilian notables such as centenarian comedy actress Dercy Gonçalves, depicted as a cover model posed for a Playboy-like magazine Playold. Actress Cláudia Raia is portrayed as a stingray (Portuguese: raia).[73] Political leaders such as Luíz Inácio Lula da Silva (Portuguese: lula - "squid") also often fall victim to Desciclopédia's parodies,[74][75] along with singers, athletes and other public figures.[76]

Desciclopédia uses various domain hacks for individual secondary projects, which include Desnoticias ("noticias" is "news"), Descionário (with "dicionário" meaning "dictionary"), Deslivros (for books, "biblioteca" means "library"), and Desentrevistas ("entrevistas" meaning "interviews"). These would correspond to "UnNews", "UnDictionary", "UnBooks" and the exclusive-to-Desciclopédia "UnInterviews".

Spanish — Inciclopedia

The Spanish Inciclopedia was established in February 2006[77] to accommodate content displaced by the closure of Spanish humour wiki Frikipedia. Frikipedia was shut down by the Sociedad General de Autores y Editores,[78] a Spanish organization for copyright who were angered by Frikipedia's entry on them.[77] Frikipedia was eventually relaunched.

Notables such as Chilean folk singer Monteaguilino and Senator Pedro Muñoz have expressed their discontent with Inciclopedia and the site's mockery of the Chilean flag and national symbols.[79] Noche Hache, a television program on Spain's TV Cuatro, also mentioned Inciclopedia among supporters of Eva Hache's joke candidacy to the presidency of Spain.[80]

See also

References

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