Decade-Long Battle for “Yogurt” vs. “Yoghurt” on Wikipedia

There’s more than one way to spell yogurt, and the common spelling changes depending on where you live. However, the English version of Wikipedia serves people around the world. Which spelling do you use?

In 2002, a Wikipedia article for yogurt was created. Debates ensued. People argued for either yogurt or yoghurt (with an “h”), and it lasted for nearly a decade.

This chart shows the back and forth between the two spellings, based on the variation used first in each article revision.

Yoghurt or Yogurt? A Wikipedia Timeline

After much discussion and eight formal requests, a decision was made.

Other than the early title change in 2003, there was no official edit to yogurt until the eighth requested move in late 2011. But there are informal attempts that you can see in the first sentence of an article.

For example, the article currently starts with:

Yogurt (UK: /ˈjɒɡərt/; US: /ˈjoʊɡərt/,[1] from Ottoman Turkish: یوغورت, romanized: yoğurt;[a] also spelled yoghurt, yogourt or yoghourt) is a food produced by bacterial fermentation of milk.

All the action is in the order of the words. When a line darts back to 0 in the chart above, someone changed the order so that their preferred spelling shows first and then the alternative is listed in the “also” portion of the sentence.

The article revisions don’t always follow this exact structure, but by looking at which spelling appears first (not counting filenames and the information box), we can see the underlying battle of words.

Shorter zigzags in the chart represent more back-and-forth, whereas longer segments represent days or months of rest.

Some of the streaks end because of vandalism. A rando on the internet might stick profanities on the page and mention a different spelling in passing. Sometimes vandals wipe out the full article for kicks. I didn’t count those.

Going through the discussions and revision history for yogurt, I was fascinated by the energy put into a topic seemingly so mundane. The mix of arguments is also amusing. For each requested move, volunteer editors vote to support or oppose and then provide their reasoning. The arguments are like caricatures of words that lean towards an academic style with a spattering of “this is stupid” and “get over it.”

I often wonder how Wikipedia works with so many people, so many topics, and so much information. Maybe it’s just a product of the need to be right.

Notes

I used Python to download revisions from Wikimedia, R to analyze and prepare the data, and D3.js to make the step chart.