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'w00t' is WOTY (Word Of The Year)
If you had to pick a single notable word that stands out in your mind from 2007, what would be it? It's okay, take your time. This probably isn't the sort of question you ponder on a daily basis -- or perhaps ever. But, among dictionary-types, it's a (mildly) prestigious honor to be nominated word of this year, and this year that honor has been granted to a string of four characters that many would not even consider a word in the first place.
That thing is 'w00t,' spelled w-zero-zero-t and pronounced "whoot." It's an exclamation of joy that originated in the various realms of offline role-playing games like Dungeons and Dragons, where it originally meant "Wow, loot!" It has since gained use in online RPGs (role-playing games) like 'World of Warcraft,' and from there has gone on to conquer the world -- at least according to Merriam-Webster, which handled the nomination. The zeros were added in to make it cooler for the kiddies who like numbers that look like letters.
Other, perhaps more stuffy, literary types believe that the nomination is just as bogus as the word itself, but last year's Colbert-inspired word of the year, "truthiness," isn't exactly grammatically correct either. Whether it's a real word or not we don't care, but we can't help but appreciate the amazing rise of a little word that grew from basement D&D play all the way up to common parlance.
The other tech-related term on Merriam-Webster "word of the year" list is "Facebook," as a verb.
What do you think? Are these kinds of made-up words worthy of word-of-the-year lists by such venerable English-language institutions such as Merriam-Webster?
From wbsctv.com and AOL News
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Comments
76
Subscribe to commentsJennDec 12th 2007 2:17AM
w00t.
tlfieldsDec 12th 2007 12:55AM
w00t!
William MonifDec 12th 2007 4:35AM
The article does mention "w00t" in connection with "kiddies", but with the adult gamers in World of Warcraft, I have only seen it as "woot". Capitalization is rude, and often apologized for, even if the capital O is suppose to be a zero as article mentions. I have played World of Warcraft, both Expansion and original for over two years and have seen it in chat as "woot", not the "kiddie" as article mentions "w00t". If you give a hoot.
William Monif Omaha and Darkspeare Server/Realm as well as others.
NeonieDec 12th 2007 7:03AM
Dispite the fact that I kind of dispise WoW. I have to agree with Willam on this. Almost everytime I've used it, it's been "woot" or "WOOT!" (in exitment).
Grant BarrettDec 12th 2007 7:56AM
I've posted a look into the origins of the term that debunks the false origin stories about the term and connects it solidly to American pop culture even outside of gaming.
http://dtww.org/woot
joeDec 12th 2007 9:36AM
F**k should have been selected since it is sadly the most overused word in the young vocab. today. Hardly a sentence about anything is without this very famous word----very common among all young,stupid,ignorant,disrepectable,male and esp. female idiots that waste precious space and air in the very sick world we live in today. Then you have to come up with w00t----wow that must have taken a lot of thought----oh well, WHO CARES !!!
Aaron MinnickDec 12th 2007 9:46AM
w00t pwns.
VinceDec 12th 2007 9:47AM
Woot in the South has been synonymous with poot referring to farting. Putting 00 in is advisable.
SKWDec 12th 2007 10:01AM
Man, I'm an online gamer and I know this isn't really a word! Seriously. It wasn't even particularly used more than before this year. Stop trying to be cool, Webster. You're looking like n00bs.
LaurelDec 12th 2007 10:07AM
It's a word if people use it, as any linguist will tell you. Dictionaries are meant to be descriptive, not prescriptive.
But, seriously, the phrase 'grammatically correct' has no place in this article. It doesn't even apply. It sure would be nice if we still had journalists instead of bloggers.
GrouchyDec 12th 2007 10:29AM
t-w00t
HichiDec 12th 2007 1:47PM
woot for Brutall
linDec 12th 2007 10:35AM
For those of you stressing over the capitalization of w00t, you shouldn't be using it! LOL
And AMEN TO THIS: It sure would be nice if we still had journalists instead of bloggers.
Thanks Laurel!!
gingerDec 12th 2007 10:36AM
I am personally sick of all the new "made-up" words. When I play Scrabble with my kids, they use what I call "non-words," and now I wonder if maybe they're actually in the dictionary! I cringe at "scrapbook" as a verb, and if one more person "gifts" me with something, I may lose it. I knew it had gone too far when my husband, who is in business, suggested I "incentivize" the children to get them to do their chores! :)
DavidDec 12th 2007 10:37AM
I'll second Laurel's comments, and add this: surely the biggest offender in today's fadbabble (neologism?) is the omnipresent "you know," slightly more annoying than "basically" or the f-word.
brirod32Dec 12th 2007 10:41AM
w00t! That r0x0rz!! w00t iz l33t woty
linDec 12th 2007 10:38AM
I'm sorry but yes online people have been using w00t way before last year. It sure beats OH SNAP! from 4 years ago. :X
and pwn'd is even used instead of "owned".
What I cant stand is the
lolz after lol
and biaz for bye.
BARF
fellasheowedDec 12th 2007 10:48AM
wO0t there it is!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
i'm done
get offa my lawn you damn kids
KevinDec 12th 2007 11:06AM
WOOT FTW
bamabunnyDec 12th 2007 11:14AM
Our message board community has been using "woot" as a term of excitement and praise for quite a while now. Hard to pin down the origin but I believe it originated from posters in canada and the Upper Midwest.