citation needed

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English

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WOTD – 15 January 2021

Alternative forms

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Etymology

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An xkcd webcomic depicting a protestor holding up a “citation needed” sign during a politician’s speech.
A “Wikipedian protester” holding a “citation needed” sign at an xkcd picnic on 23 September 2007 in Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA.

From a tag, first created in June 2005, used on the English Wikipedia website to mark statements in articles that require verification.

Pronunciation

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Phrase

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citation needed

  1. (originally Internet slang, chiefly humorous) Used to designate an assertion or other statement as false, inaccurate, or requiring verification.
    • 2013, Dan T. Alighieri [pseudonym], “Prologue”, in Dan’s Inferno: A Parody, London: Michael O’Mara Books, →ISBN, page 7:
      I pass the Museo del Bargello, a former army barracks and prison, it is now home to masterpieces by Michelangelo, Donatello, Vincenzo Gemito and Robert Mapplethorpe [citation needed].
    • 2013, Phil[lip D.] Johnson, “My Favorite Event as Told by Mark”, in Funny Stuff in the Bible: A Field Trip in the Bible Library, Eugene, Or.: Resource Publications, Wipf and Stock, →ISBN, page 91:
      I have learned recently, where I can't remember, that books made of scrolls of papyrus were cut into pages and enclosed in wooden covers. Books like this were in circulation at the time. For now, just like Wikipedia, we will mark this: "citation needed."
    • 2013 December 4, Hemant Mehta, “Atheists, there is PROOF of Heaven!”, in YouTube‎[1], retrieved 6 February 2017:
      You know, every time I hear their stories [of near-death experiences] I just want to say "citation needed", because all the stuff they're saying, the only people who believe it happen to be the ones in their circles.
    • 2014, Matt Parker, “Shapes: Now in 3D”, in Things to Make and Do in the Fourth Dimension: A Mathematician’s Journey through Narcissistic Numbers, Optimal Dating Algorithms, at Least Two Kinds of Infinity, and More, 1st American edition, New York, N.Y.: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, →ISBN, page 92:
      Euclid’s solution was simply to take parallel lines for granted and add them in as a fifth postulate. [...] In The Elements, the first four postulates are stated in simple and obvious statements, together amounting to only thirty-four words. The fifth postulate alone requires thirty-five words. This was the ancient Greek equivalent of ‘citation needed’.
    • 2020 August 17, “Subscribe to Rec Room, Our Newsletter for Video, Podcasts and Other Favourite Stuff”, in The Spinoff‎[2], archived from the original on 29 September 2020:
      Do you struggle to keep up with all the great podcasts and video content The Spinoff puts out every week? Luckily, we have a solution – introducing Rec Room, The Spinoff’s latest and some are saying greatest [citation needed] newsletter.
    • 2020 November 7, Nadegda, “How to defeat a coup attempt”, in talk.politics.misc‎[3] (Usenet):
      > Democrats want a centralized autocratic government / [citation needed] Meanwhile, Trump's autocratic tendencies have become legendary after his one and only term. / > Democrats want a dictatorial leader (as evidenced by their refusal to hold their leader(s) to any Constitutional or legal standards) / [citation needed] Meanwhile, Banana Republicans just spent four years displaying clear anti-democratic tendencies and support for a rogue executive who regularly flouted laws, norms, and Congressional oversight.
    • 2020 December 1, Dennis Perkins, “Nick Kroll Got Some Helpful Direction from Harry Styles on Popping the Question”, in The A.V. Club‎[4], archived from the original on 1 December 2020:
      [...] [Nick] Kroll cited The Bible (citation needed) as dictating, "Thou shalt have a Goldberg [i.e., Evan Goldberg] that one grows up with, and then writes TV and movies with." Don’t question it.
  2. Used ironically to designate an obvious fact that needs no support.
    • 2014, Randall Munroe, What If?:
      The sun is really bright,[citation needed] and its light illuminates the earth.[citation needed]

Usage notes

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  • The term is often enclosed in square brackets, as this is how it appears on Wikipedia.

Translations

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Further reading

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