Great Moments in Wikipedia

Let's see how long the thread lasts!

But first, Wikipedia does not have to be unexciting if you think about the vast scope of the articles, then realize that it is the place to go to find almost anything—and I mean anything—discussed with a straight face. Unintentional humor may ensue in several varieties, all with deadpan encyclopedic delivery.

For example, observe the images in this article on monocles: [1]. Is it just me, or are historical figures being upstaged by their eyewear in such a manner really that hilarious?

And then there's subject matter that does the job for itself: [2]

Your turn.

Looking behind the scenes of wikipedia is usually pretty funny.

This has long been a favorite of mine.

22.86 Centimetre Nails (Redirect Nine Inch Nails. Trent Reznor is not likely to go metric any time soon)

Heh. The juxtaposition of cataloging and sarcasm reminds me of the SCP Foundation.

Some more good ones:[1][2][3][4][5]

Please add reasons: To be fair, please add your reason/contribution at the end of the list. If you are reading this then you maybe are suffering maybe paranoia perhaps (or not) ... from WP:DRUNKEDIT.

Please be a giant dick, so we can ban you

Which sounds like a good policy. Mildly dickish users should either stop being a dick, or become giant dicks so that they can be banned.

Also-

Due to some people being unable to take a joke, this policy: Don't delete the main page

And here's a long article with footnotes, maps, images, and references to a war that never happened. In fact, it wasn't even fictional. Upper Peninsula War

edited 21st Jun '09 5:57:07 PM by adam850

Good picture there.

Here's one that snuck into the main space.

(Why is "snuck" a misspelling?)

edited 21st Jun '09 6:38:23 PM by Tzetze

This one on over-terseness with Wikipedia shortcut jargon has always been a favorite of mine.

They seem to be against climbing buildings while cosplaying.

Also, not only has the article on Earth been replaced with simply "Mostly Harmless" several times, it's been recommended for deletion twice. This one focuses on the lack of non-Earthling sources, a real conflict of interest.

This long and largely pointless argument, in which the Discordian claims to be a tsundere. He/she actually made a userbox for it.

Plus this, which links back here which disturbs me somewhat.

Hmm... how can you write an objective article on Earth while living on Earth? Seems like a conflict of interest to be sure.

I liked this particular example from the Penis Removal article. Don't ask.

In 1994, the chinese newspaper Guangxi Daily reported that a man from Henan province was fined 3,000 yuan after his wife gave birth to her third child (a son, after two daughters), in violation of China's "one child per couple" population control laws. The father supposedly made a joke about the high cost of finally having a male heir, saying: "A 3,000 yuan fine just for this little penis! We should just cut it off." This prompted the two daughters to cut off the infant boy's penis with a paring knife and leave him to bleed to death while their father was away tending the fields. Upon his return, the father flew into a rage and clubbed the two girls to death with a shovel, then committed suicide by drinking insecticide. His wife "went into hysterics upon seeing the calamity, running naked through the streets screaming the names of her dead husband and children. However, it should be noted chinese newspapers are not quite the bastions of veracity their western counterparts are assumed to be.

Oh lordy, anything with the disclaimer "This article is kept because it contains material which is humorous", like the lamest edit wars (too lazy to find a link now, but good god is it hilarious!).

The page for Aqua Teen Hunger Force used to contain a hysterically dry and accurate description of Shakes, something like "An extremely volatile and belligerent individual, Shakes' first instinct in a situation is to lie about it." I so so love the word "belligerent".

Little Serge: That last sentence is really funny coming from Wikipedia. XD

edited 22nd Jun '09 3:45:06 PM by Haven

Is this real?

Edit: I can't seem to put the link of the article in this post. Weird. If I do, it turns my signature into a link.

edited 22nd Jun '09 4:03:02 PM by Metacifer

Western newspapers are assumed to be bastions of veracity now? I assumed they were an elaborate ARG commissioned by Rupert Murdoch.

Metacifer: Is it really long, or does it contain a lot of funny characters (/, #...)? If so, try to find a redirect.

Okay, I put it in tinyurl.

Is this real?

I can't view tinyurls. What is it?

It looks like a Drive-By Updater added it as a bad joke.

What surprises me is that the last it's been edited is March 27th, and no one's bothered to fix it.

@Bobby G: It's basically a story about a town famous for having a guy that fapped so hard he exploded. No, I'm serious.

Oo-kay. Silly Wikipedia.

Wait, that's exploded in the sense of actually exploded, right?

edited 22nd Jun '09 6:49:14 PM by BobbyG

Caught on fire, anyway.

What town was this?