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<blockquote data-quote="CleverNickName" data-source="post: 9760035" data-attributes="member: 50987">It's a long story, but it involves the early days of the Internet, the rise of online gaming, and the rise of online gaming jerks.The way I heard it explained is that when people were playing the first online first-person shooters (Wolfenstein, Doom, we're talking old-school here), there weren't really any chat hotkeys yet.&nbsp; So if you were a jerk, and if you wanted to taunt or mock your opponent, you would have to type your whole taunt/insult into a little chat box.&nbsp; But you were usually too preoccupied with moving and shooting and winning that you didn't spend any effort to type it very well.&nbsp; So instead of hitting an &quot;o&quot; you might accidentally hit a &quot;p,&quot; for example.And also back in the day, it was somehow cool to shout &quot;OWNED!&quot; to your opponent after you defeated them.&nbsp; And if you were in such a hurry to be the first one to claim victory, you might hit the P instead of the O, and accidentally type &quot;PWNED!&quot;&nbsp; Over time it evolved into its own word.&nbsp; There's a word for this phenomenon, but I can't remember what it's called off the top of my head.As for noob, it's short for &quot;newbie,&quot; or someone who is new to the game.&nbsp; It is usually meant as mockery of someone's skill level or expertise: when you call someone a &quot;noob,&quot; you are saying that they are less-skilled than you are.&nbsp; Because that's...important. I guess.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="CleverNickName, post: 9760035, member: 50987"] It's a long story, but it involves the early days of the Internet, the rise of online gaming, and the rise of online gaming [I]jerks.[/I] The way I heard it explained is that when people were playing the first online first-person shooters (Wolfenstein, Doom, we're talking old-school here), there weren't really any chat hotkeys yet. So if you were a jerk, and if you wanted to taunt or mock your opponent, you would have to type your whole taunt/insult into a little chat box. But you were usually too preoccupied with moving and shooting and [I]winning [/I]that you didn't spend any effort to type it very well. So instead of hitting an "o" you might accidentally hit a "p," for example. And also back in the day, it was somehow cool to shout "OWNED!" to your opponent after you defeated them. And if you were in [I]such [/I]a hurry to be the first one to claim victory, you might hit the P instead of the O, and accidentally type "PWNED!" Over time it evolved into its own word. There's a word for this phenomenon, but I can't remember what it's called off the top of my head. As for noob, it's short for "newbie," or someone who is new to the game. It is usually meant as mockery of someone's skill level or expertise: when you call someone a "noob," you are saying that they are less-skilled than you are. Because that's...important. I guess. [/QUOTE]

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