Websters new word

[Mici]

Is w00t!

SPRINGFIELD, Mass. - Expect cheers among hardcore online game enthusiasts when they learn Merriam-Webster's Word of the Year. Or, more accurately, expect them to "w00t."

"W00t," a hybrid of letters and numbers used by gamers as an exclamation of happiness or triumph, topped all other terms in the Springfield-based dictionary publisher's online poll for the word that best sums up 2007.

Merriam-Webster's president, John Morse, said "w00t" was an ideal choice because it blends whimsy and new technology.

"It shows a really interesting thing that's going on in language. It's a term that's arrived only because we're now communicating electronically with each other," Morse said.

Gamers commonly substitute numbers and symbols for the letters they resemble, Morse says, creating what they call "l33t speak" — that's "leet" when spoken, short for "elite" to the rest of the world.

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.

Purists of "l33t speak" often substitute a "7" for the final "t," expressing a "w007" of victory — an "in your face" of sorts — when they defeat an online gaming opponent.

"W00t" was among 20 nominees in a list of the most-searched words in Merriam-Webster's online dictionary and most frequently submitted terms from users of its "open dictionary."

The choice did not make Allan Metcalf, executive secretary of the American Dialect Society, say "w00t."

"It's amusing, but it's limited to a small community and unlikely to spread and unlikely to last," said Metcalf, an English professor at MacMurray College in Jacksonville, Ill.

The 2006 pick, "truthiness," also has its roots in pop culture. It was popularized by Comedy Central satirical political commentator Stephen Colbert.

Some also-rans in the 2007 list: the use of "facebook" as a verb to signify using the Web site by that name; nuanced terms such as "quixotic," "hypocrite" and "conundrum"; and "blamestorm," a meeting in which mistakes are aired, fingers are pointed and much discomfort is had by all.

[Xavier]

I heard this listening to the news on the radio driving home last night, took me a while to realize what word they were talking about too. The anchor started off by spelling the word, saying w o o t, and I'm like, what the fk is w o o t. She then had to ask how to actually pronounce it, and finally said that she "got it, how clever."

[Lampoon]

w00t!

[theo]

From link

Online gamers often replace numbers and symbols with letters to form what Merriam-Webster calls an "esoteric computer hacker language" known as "l33t speak."

lol'd @ thousands of 15 year old wow kids being referred to as hackers.

[Septimus]

AIM will be the downfall of humanity. Just watch.

[Tomiko]

AIM will be the downfall of humanity. Just watch.

Don't forget Ebonics.

[Saga]

AIM will be the downfall of humanity. Just watch.

Don't forget black people.

[Selamis]

AIM will be the downfall of humanity. Just watch.

Don't forget Ebonics.

Sho nuff, namean?

Sure enough, you know what I mean.

[Mizango]

AIM will be the downfall of humanity. Just watch.

Don't forget Ebonics.

Sho nuff, namean?

Sure enough, you know what I mean.

/facepalm

werd up mah nigg.


LOL @ your translation.

[Tajin]

AIM will be the downfall of humanity. Just watch.

idk my bff jill.

[Charla]

AIM will be the downfall of humanity. Just watch.

idk my bff jill.

http://64digits.com/users/Shadow%20Y...yAbffRjill.jpg

[Zanz L. Barre The 3rd]

lol was just about to post this, I wonder if they'll consider the induction of numbers (ex. w00t).

[Mizango]

lol was just about to post this, I wonder if they'll consider the induction of numbers (ex. w00t).

That was what I was trying to find out also. When I saw it this morning on GMA and on CNN they specifically said the official spelling was a "w" followed by the numerical "double zeros" and then the letter "t". But I am a person that tends to not believe it until I can actually see it, I know all too well about "Official" news reports.

Guess we will have to wait and see.

[Kyreth]

w00t!

Cool. My linkshell's name is in for Webster's!

[Ryko]

AIM will be the downfall of humanity. Just watch.

Don't forget Ebonics.

Sho nuff, namean?

Sure enough, you know what I mean.

Word, namean? Cuz like, namean, readin' be hard n shit, namean?

[Xiona]

how the hell am i supposed to make w00t with scrabble now?

[Ryko]

how the hell am i supposed to make w00t with scrabble now?

Blank tiles.

[Vandole]

AIM will be the downfall of humanity. Just watch.

Don't forget LoL u tk him 2 da bar|?.

[Ramor]

i thought woot came from "We Own the Other Team" or no?

[Mizango]

AIM will be the downfall of humanity. Just watch.

Don't forget Ebonics.

Sho nuff, namean?

Sure enough, you know what I mean.

Word, namean? Cuz like, namean, readin' be hard n shit, namean?

lol