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"w00t" crowned word of year by U.S. dictionary
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by imung satriani | December 11, 2007 at 11:15 pm
585 views | 22 Recommendations | 8 comments
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"w00t," an expression of joy coined by online gamers, was crowned word of the year on Tuesday by the publisher of a leading U.S. dictionary.Massachusetts-based Merriam-Webster Inc. said "w00t" -- typically spelled with two zeros -- reflects a new direction in the American language led by a generation raised on video games and cell phone text-messaging.
It's like saying "yay," the dictionary was quoted by Reuters as saying.
"It could be after a triumph or for no reason at all," Merriam-Webster said.
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imung satriani
Jakarta, Indonesia
Most RecentMost Recommended Comments (8)
at 04:09 on December 12th, 2007
w00t FTW! Look for more bizarre combinations of letters and numbers to enter the common lexicon in the next few years.
at 05:56 on December 12th, 2007
Haha, I remember my friend using this word and us spreading it around forums/irc way back in 96 or 97, never realizing it might one day become a real word.
Yes, we're taking credit for the word, hah.
Good story imung.
at 06:23 on December 12th, 2007
at 06:25 on December 12th, 2007
I've never heard "w00t" spoken aloud- I'm assuming it's pronounced "woot", but have only seen it typed! (Or maybe it's prounounced WOHT, like a Dutch word)
at 08:11 on December 12th, 2007
I thought it might have been WTF or some such acronym. LOL surely was a big contender. But maybe those aren't words.
at 08:15 on December 12th, 2007
Acronyms, and therefore not useable in Scrabble. However, neither is w00t, as there are no numerals in the pile of tiles.
at 10:36 on December 12th, 2007
It's like saying "yay," the dictionary was quoted by Reuters as saying.
This is funny - avid online chatters, gamers, and their like have always shortened words to make typing faster. I wonder if this is the only case where the new word is longer than the word being replaced.
at 11:10 on December 12th, 2007
Call me old-fashioned, but I prefer yay. Or yams actually. My group of friends has been using that delicious tuber as an expression of enthusiasm for years. "You got a new job? Yams!" My friends are weird.