If you haven’t heard already, “w00t” made the dictionary. Granted, it’s not Black’s Law Dictionary but Merriam-Webster, making it consistent with syntax frequented by us mere commoners. Additionally, it’s the Merriam-Webster online spawn of what they call the “2007 Word of the Year” in which voting takes place online. Here’s a newsflash: Gamers spend a tad more time online than a sample of the general public so the voting results may be a little skewed towards l33t talk.
Far be it for me to pretend I’m a hip-to-l33t blogger (or 100% original in anything I adopt), but I’ve been using “w00t” in proper interjectory word placement for at least a couple years now. The confusion I experienced was when it actually got penned into said Merriam-Webster history. Despite my regular usage, I did not know that w00t is an acronym for “We Owned pwned the Other Team.”
Where did this come from? How in the world did I properly adopt this exclamation as an expression of my online glee without even being so much a gamer? The last time I could even remotely be classified as such was when my videocard was a hand-me-down Voodoo 2, which I used to play CS-skinned Half-life. I wasn’t even a geek-imposter back then; now I’m just a wannabe has-been. Could this possibly be a result of geekery verbatim becoming cool?
I’m unsettled. Though, they give an appropriate nod to the general public here:
For technophobes, the word also is familiar from the 1990 movie “Pretty Woman,” in which Julia Roberts startles her date’s upper-crust friends with a hearty “Woot, woot, woot!” at a polo match.
At closer examination, the way in which I’ve been saying “w00t” is not correct at all. Bastards, when you will you learn that I am the only team? There is no “other.”
Next up: The definition of “heart” to include verb word form. I heart the pwnage of yu0r mom.
P.S. - Is it telling that “facebook” as a verb was a runner-up? If a verb, wouldn’t it be “to facebook” or “Facebook,” categorized as a proper noun? Ride that wave a little more aggressively, thanks. Ugh.
8 Comments
I remember meeting an old guy in an airport who was really indignant that ‘d’oh’ was now in the dictionary. I guess 50 years from now, it’ll be a toss up: will etymologists will look back at the dawn of the internet, or the Simpsons as the beginning of their personal hell?
‘Bastards, when you will you learn that I am the only team?’ I’ll admit it- I LOLed.
i think i need to buy you “Eats, Shoots, Leaves” for christmas….it’s a hilarious book about grammar, syntax, and the english language.
@Lexybeast: You’re right; I guess the Simpsons came before the internet–ultimately leading to the English language’s demise? Maybe an extreme example could be simplified Chinese as opposed to traditional.
Thing is, I might think that written prose (printed and inked on paper) has remained unchanged.
@big league: Do, do not think. Haha. Unless that’s your way if making a recommendation.
Good point about written prose. ‘Parting is such sweet sorrow, ttyl’ just doesn’t have the same impact.
I’m still waiting for “franksabunches” to make it into the dictionary!
I also did not know that was the acronym! Interesting tidbit. It was nice seeing you at Jon’s wedding! Can’t believe you skipped out on our table. *lol* Almost asked the waiter to let us have your meal though. The short ribs were so yummy.
i didn’t know you knew rickmond!
did you go to their grand opening? would’ve been so much fun to see you there!
merry christmas e!
@Lexybeast: El-oh-el.
@franksabunch: You can definitely submit to urbandictionary.com. No joke.
@Darlene: Haha it was nice seeing you, too! You and your hubby are so cute. And yes, *hangs head* I sure skipped out–I am an official table-ditcher. I was talking to Daniel (don’t know if you know him) but hey, I figured Table 11 was full so there was no shortage of people.
You should’ve said I was still sitting there, indeed. We had an extra salad at our table. That beef dish was indeed delish but I bought my dress one size too small so I had trouble breathing and couldn’t eat very much!! Poo on me.
@yoshikoyan: I didn’t know you knew rickmond, either! I did go, pics from that (and of him) are on my Flickr.
Were you there and I didn’t see you or did you not go? (Belated) Merry Christmas to you, too, Rosa!!