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Author
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Topic: origin of word "woot"
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supergoo
SuperFan!
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posted November 01, 2003 21:52
just wondering...
what's the origin of the ubiquitous word "woot" (or w00t for the l33ters)? i know it means "cool" or "great" or something of the sort, and one of my friends told me it was German, but i looked up "woot" and no such word exists in German or Dutch. Do we have any etymology experts here that can help me?
--goo
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Y los sueños, sueños son.
Posts: 675 | From: Boston 'burbs | Registered: Jul 2003
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Orpheus
Highlie
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posted November 02, 2003 15:18
As far as I know its actually properly spelled "w00t"... this Jargon File entry should provide some more insight, though the origins are yet unclear.
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TonyRad
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posted November 02, 2003 18:26
From what I've learned of the word w00t was origonally "whoot!" as in yay. which eventually became "woot!" then "w00t". it's not from a foreign language, it is just english evolution in action. w00t is often used in irc but mostly in online gaming. w00t is not necesarily a "l33t" word. most of the time when I see w00t used by people i never see them use other l33t terms in other sentences.
ex: normal
"w00t"
"I'm winning!"
ex: l33t, uncommon
"w00t"
"O\/\/|\|3d"
or something like that.. but then again, if i were gaming i think typing l33t would probably take more time then normal and the l33t3st would get fragged more for typing more than playing...
IMHO,
Tony Rad
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~Live by the Sword~Die by the Sword~
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illuminatus
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posted November 02, 2003 19:21
ok but you messed up on your languages. l33t does not use the characters \/\/ or |\| that's is |-|4><><0|2. l33t is l33t, and l33t ppl would never say owned, they would always say pwn3d!
Posts: 124 | From: Boston, MA | Registered: May 2003
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GMx
Solid Nitrozanium SuperFan!
Member # 1523
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posted November 02, 2003 20:44
God, now there's differentations of that crap? ![[thumbsdown]](graemlins/thumbsdown.gif) ![[Roll Eyes]](rolleyes.gif)
Posts: 5818 | From: S-4, Area 51 | Registered: Jul 2002
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neotatsu
BlabberMouth, a Blabber Odyssey
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posted November 03, 2003 00:53
I always figured it was originally Woohoo, but shortened some way or another, most likely by lazy gamers online..
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Callipygous
BlabberMouth, a Blabber Odyssey
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posted November 03, 2003 02:38
There is an alternative (though not very convincing) explanation here. The BBC however agrees with most of the posts here.
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spungo
BlabberMouth, a Blabber Odyssey
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posted November 03, 2003 03:00
quote:
Originally posted by GMx:
God, now there's differentations of that crap?
Pretty soon some pathetic individual is going to start whingeing about "old school l33t... those were the days... before these young punks came along..."
... nostalgia... it ain't what it used to be, is it?
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Posts: 6509 | From: Noba Scoba | Registered: Jan 2002
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TonyRad
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posted November 03, 2003 05:28
geeze... I'm sorry I'm not into the l33t jargon. But l33t doesn't impress me. The only people who use l33t are crackers and cracker wanna be's. real hackers don't use l33t. they use normal everday common english... or techno talk. but never l33t.
IMHO,
Tony Rad
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~Live by the Sword~Die by the Sword~
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MTB Babe
SuperBlabberMouth!
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posted November 03, 2003 06:10
I heard that it came from the sound characters make when they jump in Quake. it sound just like 'whoot'. ![[Big Grin]](biggrin.gif)
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Michael Bolton: Yeah, well at least your name isn't Michael Bolton.
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WinterSolstice
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posted November 03, 2003 12:55
I love that BBC link. Too funny.
I heard it came from EQ with: "Way Out On Tundra", which, IIRC, is where the very best hunting was. I haven't been there in a while, but it makes sense. EQ typically uses acronyms such as EC - East Commons, WC - West Commons, TTZ (train [of creatures] to zone [loading point] ) and the like.
I have never in my life heard of "hoot", which the BBC thinks is the originator. Isn't that the sound an owl makes?
-WS
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An operating system should be like a light switch... simple, effective, easy to use, and designed for everyone.
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ASM65816
SuperBlabberMouth!
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posted November 03, 2003 13:11
"Back in the day ....... "
There was no need for online abbreviations ..... half the people could type faster than the modems ran.
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Once a proud programmer of Apple II's, he now spends his days and nights in cheap dives fraternizing with exotic dancers....
Posts: 1035 | From: Third rock from sun. | Registered: Mar 2001
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Fixerbob
Alpha Geek
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posted November 03, 2003 13:31
quote:
Once a proud programmer of Apple II's, he now spends his days and nights in cheap dives fraternizing with exotic dancers....
I like that sig. Sounds like someone I know...
Posts: 301 | From: London, England | Registered: Aug 2002
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evilbibo
Discontinued
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posted November 03, 2003 13:39
quote:
Originally posted by WinterSolstice:
........
I have never in my life heard of "hoot", which the BBC thinks is the originator. Isn't that the sound an owl makes?
When I've heard the word hoot it has been used to describe something or someone funny, ie "So and so is such a hoot you have to hear his jokes!" Kind of like someone being a "stitch"
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illuminatus
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posted November 03, 2003 16:08
quote:
Originally posted by TonyRad:
geeze... I'm sorry I'm not into the l33t jargon. But l33t doesn't impress me. The only people who use l33t are crackers and cracker wanna be's. real hackers don't use l33t. they use normal everday common english... or techno talk. but never l33t.
IMHO,
Tony Rad
uhhh no d00d sorry. hackers do not always use plain english, mainly because plain english doesn't contain the net jargon that many hackers use. hackers will say l33t, w00t, pwned, etc. anyway, IMHO you need to read the definition for hacker http://www.dictionary.com/?search=hacker
k? thnx!
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-illumina+us
http://illuminatus.oczombies.net/
I suck at life IRL
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G-3PO
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Member # 1851
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posted November 03, 2003 17:58
1337 is amusing when used as a few exclamations thrown in for flavor, but when people start talking nonstop 1337, you know that they are, ironically, not leet. (Real Geeks speak in Binary!) "w00t!" is an exlamation of joy, happiness, usually after you pull off something cool, or something cool happens. nobody can tell you for sure where it started, but it was probably a variation of "woohoo!"
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For large values of one, one equals two, for small values of two.
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neotatsu
BlabberMouth, a Blabber Odyssey
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posted November 03, 2003 18:37
quote:
Originally posted by illuminatus:
quote:
Originally posted by TonyRad:
geeze... I'm sorry I'm not into the l33t jargon. But l33t doesn't impress me. The only people who use l33t are crackers and cracker wanna be's. real hackers don't use l33t. they use normal everday common english... or techno talk. but never l33t.
IMHO,
Tony Rad
uhhh no d00d sorry. hackers do not always use plain english, mainly because plain english doesn't contain the net jargon that many hackers use. hackers will say l33t, w00t, pwned, etc. anyway, IMHO you need to read the definition for hacker http://www.dictionary.com/?search=hacker
k? thnx!
Obviously you havn't done much reading around in the history of these boards.. Most people don't understand the difference between what a hacker really is, and the dipshits that spend their time trying to destroy other people's systems. True hackers only use their skills in that way when they are trying to test their systems security (or have been hired to test other peoples, etc). The people who actually use l337 are either Crackers, gamers, or wannabes.
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I'm curious... About what, you ask? EVERYTHING!
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G-3PO
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posted November 03, 2003 19:07
neotatsu, edit your sentence..."The people who actually use l337 are either Crackers, gamers, or wannabes." I believe crackers needs to be changed to "script kiddies"
![[Wink]](wink.gif)
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For large values of one, one equals two, for small values of two.
Posts: 187 | From: Augusta, GA | Registered: Dec 2002
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Slurpy
Highlie
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posted November 03, 2003 21:30
quote:
Originally posted by G-3PO:
(Real Geeks speak in Binary!)
No, real geeks speak geek, whether it be bio-geek, chem-geek, hacker-geek, or latin-geek.
Bored geeks speak in binary. It's too inefficient for anything else, just like all the bastardizations of 1337 5p34k (Ha! "Bastardized 1337 speak!" that have arisen in the last couple of years.
And, for the record, I first encounted w00t! way before EQ came about. . .
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http://thegeekgroup.org
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Posts: 692 | From: Cincinnati, OH | Registered: Feb 2003
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Orpheus
Highlie
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posted November 03, 2003 23:02
m`/ 7h35I5 1z 60NN4 B l33t cuz I g0tz d4 M4[) cy3nz 5ki11z!!1
hehe wonder if they'd even try to read it if I gave them a copy written in l33t just for kicks. I'll probably never know ;p
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my cats make me crazy
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WinterSolstice
Solid Nitrozanium SuperFan
Member # 934
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posted November 04, 2003 09:16
quote:
Originally posted by Slurpy:
And, for the record, I first encounted w00t! way before EQ came about. . .
Well? That doesn't help, now does it? You need to fess up ![[Smile]](smile.gif) When? Where? Used as what?
-WS
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An operating system should be like a light switch... simple, effective, easy to use, and designed for everyone.
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iCoach
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posted November 04, 2003 09:37
quote:
Originally posted by Orpheus:
m`/ 7h35I5 1z 60NN4 B l33t cuz I g0tz d4 M4[) cy3nz 5ki11z!!1
hehe wonder if they'd even try to read it if I gave them a copy written in l33t just for kicks. I'll probably never know ;p
Easy enough:
http://rinkworks.com/dialect/
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Cap'n Vic
Member # 1477
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posted November 04, 2003 09:44
I tried to convert the GC site into the Moron dialect (don't ask why) but this is what I got:
Hi. I regret to inform you that the owner of http://www.geekculture.com/cgi-bin/ultimatebb/ultimatebb.cgi has requested that this web site not be translated by The Dialectizer.
Must be Snaggy trying to keep out the trolls/flamers
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(!) (T) = 8-D
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TonyRad
Assimilated
Member # 1448
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posted November 04, 2003 11:18
quote:
Originally posted by illuminatus:
quote:
Originally posted by TonyRad:
geeze... I'm sorry I'm not into the l33t jargon. But l33t doesn't impress me. The only people who use l33t are crackers and cracker wanna be's. real hackers don't use l33t. they use normal everday common english... or techno talk. but never l33t.
IMHO,
Tony Rad
uhhh no d00d sorry. hackers do not always use plain english, mainly because plain english doesn't contain the net jargon that many hackers use. hackers will say l33t, w00t, pwned, etc. anyway, IMHO you need to read the definition for hacker http://www.dictionary.com/?search=hacker
k? thnx!
Alright illuminatus, this is the only post I will make on this. Yes, I know the definition of a hacker. I am learning the ways of hacking myself. I have done research on hackers, hacking, programming, crackers, script kiddies, and more for years. and if you didn't notice i also added techno talk after plain english to incorporate net jargon. net jargon is still comprehensible and still uses the normal 26 letters from the english alphabet. l33t does not. also, probably not too many people have noticed this but i recently added "IMHO" to the end of my posts because it seems that without fail I get somebody trying to troll or flame or whatever my posts. This is the internet and this is a forum, people have their own opinions, what i say are my opinions, not necesarrily facts. if you do decide to roam around on other forums in the future remember that. and don't believe everything you see on the net. now, it is time for me to finish my homework so I can go on with my life and not read any more on this thread because of a troll.
INHO,
Tony Rad
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~Live by the Sword~Die by the Sword~
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Log
Single Celled Newbie
Member # 2394
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posted November 04, 2003 12:06
"Woot" is from the Dutch word Woeten which means "to greet". I think "woeten" is from an old Dutch dialect rather than contemporary.
Of course that's just one theory. Until I found out about the Dutch word, I thought it was derived from "Whoo-hoo!" a sound often heard at rock concerts.
For more on the etymology of Woot, check out this link http://pool.dylantree.com/pool_faq.php#misc
Hope this helps,
Rachel
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