Steve Cooney wrote:
Wikipedia just might have more power as a non-proprietary generic term... Some may call it "tissue" but a lot of us just call it "kleenex" - wether we know how to spell it or not.
We do not want Wikipedia to become an English word describing wiki encyclopedias in general. Contrary to popular belief, becoming an actual word (like Kleenex, Xerox, and uncountably many more) is bad for the popularity of the original.
If "wikipedia" were to become a word, people would (unconsciously) think: "Hm... Wikinfo is a wikipedia, Disinfopedia is a wikipedia, and OpenFacts is also a wikipedia." The word "Wikipedia" would lose its association with a particular, concrete thing.
"The wikipedia" translates fairly well as "The wiki encyclopedia" - the Emphasis is on The, not the W...
In order to ensure the idea of this "The" sticks, we need to make is clear that it is a proper noun.
Timwi