Lexidiem: Word of the Day

  
It's now official... "w00t" has been crowned Word of Year!  
  

  
It was officially announced last week that "w00t," was crowned Word of the Year by none other than Merriam-Webster, one of the leading U.S. dictionary publishers. 
  
The word "w00t" ia an expression of joy coined computer geeks, and is frequently used by online gamers. The Massachusetts-based publisher noted that "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. 
  
For those unfamiliar with the term, it's like saying "yay" as an expression of joy or extreme happiness.  
  
"It could be after a triumph or for no reason at all," according to Merriam-Webster. It's also known to be an acronym for “we owned the other team”.

The other words in the new Top Ten list are:

2.  facebook

3.  conundrum

4.  quixotic

5.  blamestorm

6.  sardoodledom

7.  apathetic

8.  Pecksniffian

9.  hypocrite

10. charlatan

Visitors to Merriam-Webster's Web site were invited to vote for one of 20 words and phrases culled from the most frequently looked-up words on the site and submitted by readers. The runner-up was "facebook" as a new verb meaning to add someone to a list of friends on the Web site Facebook.com or to search for people on the social networking site. 
  
But where is Buzznet?  Looks like the Facebook users were more organized this year.
 
The term isn't really new, as one Web site, www.thinkgeek.com, has been selling T-shirts with the word "w00t" printed on the front for awhile now. 
  
According to ThinkGeek, "w00t belongs to gamers the world over. It seems to have been derived from the obsolete 'whoot' which essentially is another way to say 'hoot' which itself is a shout or derisive laugh. But others maintain that w00t is the sound several players make while jumping like bunnies in Quake III. Still others want you to believe that it comes from the phrase 'wow loot' used in multiplayer RPGs many moons ago. And if you can believe it some folks even think it was derived from the gaming phrase, 'We Own the Other Team!' Fiction or fact? I suppose you'll just have to decide what 'w00t!' means to you..." 
  
Online gamers are often known to replace numbers and symbols with letters to form what Merriam-Webster calls an "esoteric computer hacker language" known as "l33t speak" which translates into "leet", short for "elite".  
  
According to Merriam-Webster’s president John Morse, “w00t” was an ideal choice because it blends whimsy and new technology. He noted that “w00t” was a clear cut instance of the fact that there is an increasing use of numeric keyboards to type words. 

“People look for self-evident numeral-letter substitutions: 0 for O; 3 for E; 7 for T; and 4 for A,” he said. “This is simply a different and more efficient way of representing the alphabetical character.”  
  
But what about Buzznet? Well, there's always 2008, isn't there?  
  
Sources: Reuters, ThinkGeek, TechShout 
 
 
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