12 December 2007

w00t is WOTY

Geeks everywhere will, I'm sure, be celebrating the victory of w00t as Merriam Webster's Word of the Year for 2007.

As voted for by site users, w00t:

1. w00t (interjection): expressing joy (it could be after a triumph, or for no reason at all0; similar in use to the word "yay."

MW also comes up with the word's etymology: "we owned the other team"—again stemming from the gaming community") but this seems to be more of a folk etymology.

They don't mention the word's sarcastic use which is, as far as I can remember, the only way in which I have ever used it. Lexicography in the news again. W00t. etc. Edit: I do remember my mate Steve using "w00t" in a sarcastic way in about 2002; perhaps this is actually the homophone "woot," which evolved separately from its geekery counterpart.

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