From the ABC:

"w00t," an expression of joy coined by online gamers, was crowned word of the year on Tuesday by the publisher of a leading US dictionary.

Massachusetts-based Merriam-Webster 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 is like saying "yay," the dictionary said.

"It could be after a triumph or for no reason at all," Merriam-Webster said...

I think they're a little behind on this one. I remember asking people what "w00t" meant when I first started playing CS 0.5, a few years back now :)

Full article here: http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2007/12/12/2117009.htm

*EDIT* No reference to the possible origin of w00t as a contraction of "Wondrous Loot" from online RPGs... They have seen it as a pure exclamation.

Yeah just a bit behind. Remember saying it 7+ years ago iirc.

w00t w00t w00t w00t w00t w00t w00t

HOLY WONDEROUS L00T

I wonder when DIAF and LOL will catch on

el oh f***in el

aww I always spelt it w0ot

I just say it woot

hate the word

2. wooties

A fictional type of cereal, loosly based on wheaties except they taste good, have lots of sugar and are endorsed by people you've never heard of.

wooties are a part of a balanced breakfast

From urban dictionary.

I don't think w00t needs a dictionary definition, nobody had to explain it to me.. i never thought of it as an 'internet' thing, I bet people have been saying 'woot' for years before they started typing it...

like Newton's laws of physics.... big deal... it was pretty obvious what was going on before Newton said anything...

oh wow idol, you're so rad

you knew before anyone else

I wonder:

When listing the origin for a word like this in a dictionary (German, U.S, ancient latin or whatever), will they list it as simply "Online" or "Internet" or will they claim american origins?

oh wow idol, you're so rad

you knew before anyone else

I don't think anything is special about me. There are some concepts, phrases, and words which immediately are supposed to have meaning when you hear them. Nobody has ever had to hear it - but everyone immediately understands.

If you couldn't work out 'woot' from the context, if you can't make basic observations about the physical world, I think something is wrong with YOU!

Idol, words only start to make sense when you've been exposed to them frequently enough (in context, as you say). If someone hears the word once, for the first time they may not pick up on the subtext. I'm sure there a lot of words that many might think self-explanatory that you wouldn't understand the first time.

i was saying w00t way before Alt_F4 was

sentence of the year

"HEY BABY EVER HAD YOUR ASS LICKED BY A FAT MAN IN AN OVERCOAT?!"

i predict in 3 more generations it will become a derogatory term
much like 'gay' and 'fag'

u woot

Well when you say it like that...

Does point out how contextual insults are, I suppose.

lofl, what homofaguals

I say woot and lol in conversation. Normally use lol when someone says something stupid because lol is also stupid.

lolz

so when are they gonna add j0r? :)

I don't think w00t needs a dictionary definition, nobody had to explain it to me.. i never thought of it as an 'internet' thing, I bet people have been saying 'woot' for years before they started typing it...

LOL, why bother having a dictionary at all then. Also above post: I, me, I , I. Was the post really about the word w00t?

w00t

What does j0r mean?

give them 3 more years and they might clue on to "pwned"