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Internet "w00t" is Merriam-Webster's Word of 2007
Marcus Yam (Blog) - December 13, 2007 5:31 AM
Print E-mail del.icio.us 38 comment(s) - last by Archaos13.. on Dec 15 at 10:25 AM
w00t recognized by Merriam-Webster

As a sign of the Internet’s impact on communication, selected as the Merriam-Webster’s Word of the Year for 2007 is none other than “w00t.”

Spelled with a mixture of letters and numbers, the interjection “w00t” is defined as “expressing joy (it could be after a triumph, or for no reason at all); similar in use to the word "yay."”

“This year's winning word first became popular in competitive online gaming forums as part of what is known as l33t ("leet," or "elite") speak—an esoteric computer hacker language in which numbers and symbols are put together to look like letters,” detailed the Merriam-Webster website. “Although the double "o" in the word is usually represented by double zeroes, the exclamation is also known to be an acronym for "we owned the other team"—again stemming from the gaming community.”

“w00t” isn’t official Merriam-Webster dictionary material yet – it’s only included in the publisher’s online Open Dictionary. Winning Word of the Year honors, however, is supposed to improve a word’s chances of being formally accepted into the lexicon.

Allan Metcalf, executive secretary of the American Dialect Society, expressed pessimism on the true pervasiveness of the word. “It's amusing, but it's limited to a small community and unlikely to spread and unlikely to last,” said Metcalf.

Runners up for word of the year include facebook, conundrum, quixotic, blamestorm, sardoodledom, apathetic, Pecksniffian, hypocrite and charlatan.

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more words from internet come into real life
By TSS on 12/13/2007 1:35:27 PM , Rating: 2
w00t!

oh right like you didn't see that one comming :P

"Allan Metcalf, executive secretary of the American Dialect Society, expressed pessimism on the true pervasiveness of the word. “It's amusing, but it's limited to a small community and unlikely to spread and unlikely to last,” said Metcal"

i wouldn't coun't on that. i'll bet he thought the same thing about lol, yet i use it in real life all the time as do a number of my friends. it all depends in how used you get to using something.




RE: more words from internet come into real life
By BMFPitt on 12/13/2007 1:46:58 PM , Rating: 5
quote:
i'll bet he thought the same thing about lol, yet i use it in real life all the time as do a number of my friends.
Thanks for reminding me our culture is doomed.


By Master Kenobi (blog) on 12/13/2007 1:53:57 PM , Rating: 2
Not doomed, just changing. Change however isn't necessarily good.


By FITCamaro on 12/13/2007 2:05:06 PM , Rating: 2
With you on that one. Half of kids in the US use "text speak" more than English these days. My mom is a regional pharmacy manager for *shudder* Walmart (hopefully getting a new job soon) and has people who use it in emails around her office.


RE: more words from internet come into real life
By Moishe on 12/13/2007 2:54:47 PM , Rating: 4
I think this is rather fascinating. The evolution of language it not something you can always see. Personally I think using those words are fine as long as you can speak your own language correctly.

I'm not sure we need another official word for an expression of joy though. w00t belongs in slang, not in the official language and IMO putting in a dictionary adds something official to it...


RE: more words from internet come into real life
By marvdmartian on 12/13/2007 3:23:38 PM , Rating: 2
Agreed. Many times, we use acronyms or our own forms of shorthand to make it easier to write things out. When I went through the navy's nuclear power program, back in the 80's, it was commonplace for us to take notes using a form of shorthand, where reactor became Rx, steam generator became s/g, etc.
Personally, I doubt that woot will be used by enough people to make it a permanent member of the "real words found in the dictionary" club.....but hey, who here can remember their mothers telling them that "Ain't isn't a word!" when they were kids?? :)

Just tell me that any of the idiot words that come out in Harry Potter stories won't become real words, and I'll be happy.


By feraltoad on 12/13/2007 5:26:55 PM , Rating: 3
Oh, I think you'll change your mind. Crucio!


RE: more words from internet come into real life
By 3kliksphilip on 12/14/2007 8:42:37 AM , Rating: 2
Nobody likes a change in language. Even in the 1600's there were people writing about how the youth of today are destroying the language. It happens every generation (Change, not necessarily destruction). Younger people don't like it when older people begin to use their words, only in different contexts or in situations where it doesn't sound right (The same as younger people are doing to older people's language). 'Oh this new apple is totally pwned'.

Yes, I know it's not all about age. Language change is quite interestting when you delve into the details. I often spam my teacher with questions, from 'If everybody spoke the same language, would it still change?' 'Yes'... to 'if you believe they pick their language up from people around them, how do Cuckoos maintain their linguistic qualities when nurtured by a different animal?'

I think the teacher ends up getting fed up with my questions... but who wouldn't?

BACK ON TOPIC, I predict that language change will speed up thanks to the Internet, though this speeding up may eventually lead to unity (ie, one global language), but only if everybody is connected online. LOL and WTF are already used by people who don't speak English. THE CHANGE HAS BEGUN! This would lead to world peace and tasty cakes for every one. Who's with me?


By Archaos13 on 12/15/2007 10:25:19 AM , Rating: 2
I agree that language change is coming soon. I can see it in myself since there are a lot of words I might have used 10 years ago which I would feel idiotic saying today.

However, let's just hope that the world doesn't follow these current trends too closely. I don't know how many acronyms I can handle. Besides, I seriously can't imagine a need to say something like IANADBIPOOTV, Translation: I Am Not A Doctor But I Play One On TV.

Oh boy...


RE: more words from internet come into real life
By hlper on 12/13/2007 3:04:51 PM , Rating: 2
Human language is generative (i.e. we are able to create new sounds with new [or old] meanings and use them to communicate with others). Sometimes, I hear things I don't like the sound of, but this changing nature of human language is also how people come up with new words for never before seen discoveries (think of the tech we all love to talk about so much). So it is generally a good thing.

I think a greater problem is that as communication gets easier, most of us use it to say less, and less artfully.


By bodar on 12/13/2007 4:05:59 PM , Rating: 2
"the only language in the world whose vocabulary gets smaller every year."

http://www.newspeak.com/Newspeak.htm


RE: more words from internet come into real life
By bodar on 12/13/2007 3:53:33 PM , Rating: 2
I LOL'd.

No really, I did.


By Polynikes on 12/14/2007 12:43:09 PM , Rating: 2
Seriously. This is like the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (the organization that gives out Oscars) recognizing some random youtube video as a proper film, just because a lot of people watched it.


Article not quite right...
By thornburg on 12/13/2007 2:02:49 PM , Rating: 3
quote:
“Although the double "o" in the word is usually represented by double zeroes, the exclamation is also known to be an acronym for "we owned the other team"—again stemming from the gaming community.”


It doesn't stand for "we owned the other team" it stands for "\/\/3 0\/\/|\|3[) 73|-| 07|-|32 734/v\"




RE: Article not quite right...
By FITCamaro on 12/13/2007 2:07:54 PM , Rating: 3
quote:
it stands for "\/\/3 0\/\/|\|3[) 73|-| 07|-|32 734/v\"


Robot Santa will be visiting you this year.


RE: Article not quite right...
By Moishe on 12/13/2007 2:57:17 PM , Rating: 3
Sing it with me now!

He knows when you are sleeping.
He knows when you're on the can.
He'll hunt you down and blast your ass from here to Pakistan.
Ohh.
You better not breathe, you better not move.
You're better off dead, I'm telling you dude,
Santa Claus is gunning you down.

hahaha I LOVE Futurama.


RE: Article not quite right...
By spwrozek on 12/13/2007 3:59:29 PM , Rating: 2
Santa's spot in the movie is great too.


RE: Article not quite right...
By T4RTER S4UCE on 12/13/2007 4:01:22 PM , Rating: 5
"You've all been very naughty, very naughty indeed!
Except for you Zoidburg. Heres a Pogo Stick."


l33t speak
By maven81 on 12/13/2007 1:39:01 PM , Rating: 2
quote:
This year's winning word first became popular in competitive online gaming forums as part of what is known as l33t ("leet," or "elite") speak—an esoteric computer hacker language in which numbers and symbols are put together to look like letters


Uh... I hate to break it to them, but I have it on good authority that l33t speak has been around since the late 60s. Supposedly used by the first unix users to increase the strength of their passwords. The so called hackers or crackers that they refer to merely rediscovered this and made it their own.

In any case... this is pretty sad. What next OMG111!!!!! LOLZ! ?




RE: l33t speak
By Iketh on 12/13/2007 1:46:48 PM , Rating: 2