Catching up on Serious Eats posts, I found this post about Jim Benson's discovery of a dish called "Stir-fried wikipedia". I think this is evidence that Wikipedia is too much relied upon for information, but it certainly is funny and amazing the extent to which people figure "just Wiki it".
Lesson learned: When all else fails, don't rely on Wikipedia.
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3 comments:
I don't know if the article you linked really goes with the point you were making about Wikipedia. First of all, the article is based on speculation re the naming of a menu item in China. Many Asian countries are known for the use of "Engrish," including the misappropriation and mistranslation of words far worse than Wikipedia. Secondly, the conclusion is misleading, as I was expecting the article to mention some Wikipedia article with false information from which some menu item was wrongly named. The "stir-fried Wikipedia" mistake is based on miscommunication (that is, if you think that the article writer's speculation is truly what happened), not a wrong entry on Wikipedia. If the hypothetical person actually had gone onto Wikipedia, he or she would have probably obtained accurate information (or perhaps none, as I don't know how good Wikipedia is in Chinese), but the humorous explanation would mean that the person had no idea what Wikipedia was, not that Wikipedia provided him or her with false information.
If you were just being funny, apologies.
heina: I can see how my post is misleading and it really was just made as a joke. I love Wikipedia and I think it's great. The problem may be that whoever wrote the menu did NOT "just Wiki it" (emphasis on the immediacy), but wrote it as a note for a later date, subsequently forgetting about the needed correction, and allowing the menu to be printed as Jim Benson found it.
These comments just made my day.
I love the fact that a wry post about being amused in Beijing would spark discussions about Wikipedia as an information source.
Pushes Web 2 and food even further.
Alyssa ... I love your stuff.
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