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ArchivesEleanor: an even worse Wikipedia error
I just posted the following three paragraphs to the "talk" page about the entry for the name Eleanor on Wikipedia:
I am removing the following paragraph:
In the language of the Yoruba peoples of West Africa, a similar name has existed for centuries, recently rising to prominence as a result of its similarity to the Western name Eleanor. Eyla-Nor, literally translated means “nosey” or “overly inquisitive”, typically used as a moniker for someone who is excessively concerned about the affairs of others. The domestic mouse, is known by the Yoruba as Eyla-Nor Rob, (Pronounced Eleanor Robb) literally meaning the inquisitive little rat, to differentiate this creature from its larger rodent cousin.
The above is highly unlikely. Eyla-Nor doesn't look like a Yoruba word to me. The online English-Yoruba dictionary I found (http://www.yorubadictionary.com/englishyoruba.htm) gives the Yoruba words for "mouse" as èkúté and eliri, and the Yoruba word for "rat" as èkútéöfonlárìnká . "Nosey" is given as ÿôwòti imú bö çjôçlêjô, and "inquistive" as ti ìwáàdí tìtôsë. It seems highly unlikely to me therefore that Eyla-Nor Rob could possibly mean "inquistive little rat" in Yoruba. This paragraph is almost certainly a cruel joke written to tweak some real person named Eleanor Robb, and I am amazed that it has been in this Wikipedai article for almost ten months without anyone else objecting to it.
I'm really not just "amazed" about this; I'm disgusted, and I think that Eleanor Robb, whoever she is, should sue! And this example points out how really dangerous Wikipedia can be, due to all of the sites which reprint their information for commercial purposes. That outrageous paragraph about Eleanor can be now found at sites called
"All Experts":
http://en.allexperts.com/e/e/el/eleanor.htm
"Search.com":
http://www.search.com/reference/Eleanor
"Reference.com":
http://www.reference.com/browse/wiki/Eleanor
"Blinkbits.com":
http://www.blinkbits.com/en_wikifeeds/Eleanor
"Opentopia":
http://encycl.opentopia.com/term/Eleanor
"Arikah.com":
http://www.arikah.com/encyclopedia/Eleanor
and even (who on earth knows why) "Fascism.com":
http://www.fascism.com/wiki/?title=Eleanor
Who knows how soon the search robots of the above sites will correct the misinformation. Any more examples like this and I'll start to regret the Internet had never been invented! :)
I am removing the following paragraph:
In the language of the Yoruba peoples of West Africa, a similar name has existed for centuries, recently rising to prominence as a result of its similarity to the Western name Eleanor. Eyla-Nor, literally translated means “nosey” or “overly inquisitive”, typically used as a moniker for someone who is excessively concerned about the affairs of others. The domestic mouse, is known by the Yoruba as Eyla-Nor Rob, (Pronounced Eleanor Robb) literally meaning the inquisitive little rat, to differentiate this creature from its larger rodent cousin.
The above is highly unlikely. Eyla-Nor doesn't look like a Yoruba word to me. The online English-Yoruba dictionary I found (http://www.yorubadictionary.com/englishyoruba.htm) gives the Yoruba words for "mouse" as èkúté and eliri, and the Yoruba word for "rat" as èkútéöfonlárìnká . "Nosey" is given as ÿôwòti imú bö çjôçlêjô, and "inquistive" as ti ìwáàdí tìtôsë. It seems highly unlikely to me therefore that Eyla-Nor Rob could possibly mean "inquistive little rat" in Yoruba. This paragraph is almost certainly a cruel joke written to tweak some real person named Eleanor Robb, and I am amazed that it has been in this Wikipedai article for almost ten months without anyone else objecting to it.
I'm really not just "amazed" about this; I'm disgusted, and I think that Eleanor Robb, whoever she is, should sue! And this example points out how really dangerous Wikipedia can be, due to all of the sites which reprint their information for commercial purposes. That outrageous paragraph about Eleanor can be now found at sites called
"All Experts":
http://en.allexperts.com/e/e/el/eleanor.htm
"Search.com":
http://www.search.com/reference/Eleanor
"Reference.com":
http://www.reference.com/browse/wiki/Eleanor
"Blinkbits.com":
http://www.blinkbits.com/en_wikifeeds/Eleanor
"Opentopia":
http://encycl.opentopia.com/term/Eleanor
"Arikah.com":
http://www.arikah.com/encyclopedia/Eleanor
and even (who on earth knows why) "Fascism.com":
http://www.fascism.com/wiki/?title=Eleanor
Who knows how soon the search robots of the above sites will correct the misinformation. Any more examples like this and I'll start to regret the Internet had never been invented! :)
This message was edited 2/5/2007, 12:29 PM
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Replies
I saw this a few weeks ago an was pretty horrified myself. Eleanor is my name so I'm perhaps a little protective -I even get annoyed by the whole "related to the Greek for 'light'" thing.
I had no idea whether Eyla-Nor Rob was Yoruban or not but the idea that it is a realiable etymology for the name Eleanor seemed rediculous to me. Especially as the name has been prominent in Europe (in all it's varient spellings) since the 12th century when Eleanor of Aquitaine's children/grandchildren married into all the major European royal and aristocratic families, leading to her many namesakes.
Thank-you for removing it.
I had no idea whether Eyla-Nor Rob was Yoruban or not but the idea that it is a realiable etymology for the name Eleanor seemed rediculous to me. Especially as the name has been prominent in Europe (in all it's varient spellings) since the 12th century when Eleanor of Aquitaine's children/grandchildren married into all the major European royal and aristocratic families, leading to her many namesakes.
Thank-you for removing it.
1
I watch Wikipedia already for quite a while because I see it as a very interesting Internet phenomenon. So I would like to give a few comments about it - not to criticize Cleveland Kent Evans, even less to start a flame war, but just as "food for thought":
Yes, Wikipedia contains a lot of misleading or even downright wrong information, but this is not surprising given that anybody at anytime can write something there. What is surprising to me and a lot of other watchers that it functions at all. At the start of Wikipedia there was a broad consensus that this will *never* work, no way. But the site has grown into something that despite all its flaws has definite uses.
Indeed, what happens right now with Cleveland Kent Evans going over entries and correcting mistakes could be taken as an indication that the system works - more or less, most of the time!
You could look at it also the other way round: Regulars on this forum know very well the quality issues of "baby names websites". Like others here, I often found wrong information on those sites myself, and regularly this produced an urge in me to correct them. But, no chance, of course. With a bad Wikipedia entry, at least you can do something about it...
Yes, Wikipedia contains a lot of misleading or even downright wrong information, but this is not surprising given that anybody at anytime can write something there. What is surprising to me and a lot of other watchers that it functions at all. At the start of Wikipedia there was a broad consensus that this will *never* work, no way. But the site has grown into something that despite all its flaws has definite uses.
Indeed, what happens right now with Cleveland Kent Evans going over entries and correcting mistakes could be taken as an indication that the system works - more or less, most of the time!
You could look at it also the other way round: Regulars on this forum know very well the quality issues of "baby names websites". Like others here, I often found wrong information on those sites myself, and regularly this produced an urge in me to correct them. But, no chance, of course. With a bad Wikipedia entry, at least you can do something about it...
1
On a humorous note, I have a habit of using Wikipedia when I watch movies. One night, I was watching "Dirty Dancing" so I decided to look up Patrick Swayze. They had his name listed as Penis Wayne Swayze. Ok, whatever ... ;-)
I always take their name info (and I've looked often) with a grain of salt.
I always take their name info (and I've looked often) with a grain of salt.
This message was edited 2/5/2007, 8:23 PM
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Oh, no. That's actually very serious. Not just for names... the implications are really very dire. It's scary that so many sources copied a wiki without citing it, and even scarier that they didn't notice the glaringly obvious sophomoric joke.
How many Wikipedia entries are you vetting? Do you need any help?
How many Wikipedia entries are you vetting? Do you need any help?
1
I'm just looking through all the entries that are listed in their "Given names" category. At the moment I'm only correcting the most obvious errors. If you can find something you'd like to correct, go right ahead!
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