w00t is offical !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

<p> </p><p> </p><p>See our influence flows from this site ...............................</p><h1>
Merriam-Webster's word of '07: 'w00t' </h1>

<div id="ynmain">

<div id="storybody">
<div class="storyhdr">
<p>
<span>By STEPHANIE REITZ, Associated Press Writer</span><i class="timedate">Tue Dec 11, 5:55 PM ET</i>
</p>

</div>
<p>Expect cheers among hardcore online game enthusiasts when they learn
Merriam-Webster's Word of the Year. Or, more accurately, expect them to
"w00t."</p>
<p>"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.</p>
<p>Merriam-Webster's president, John Morse, said "w00t" was an ideal choice because it blends whimsy and new technology.</p>
<p>"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.</p>
<p>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.</p>
<p>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.</p>
<p>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.</p>
<p>"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."</p>
<p>The choice did not make Allan Metcalf, executive secretary of the American Dialect Society, say "w00t."</p>
<p>"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.</p>
<p>The 2006 pick, "truthiness," also has its roots in pop culture. It
was popularized by Comedy Central satirical political commentator
Stephen Colbert.</p>
<p>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.</p>
<p> </p>
</div></div>

Pinned

Off

Locked

Off

Forum category

Game Talk