I Wonder How Many Comments On This Post Will Be "w00t."
Did you hear?! w00t has been named the word of the year by Merriam-Webster! I wish I had some sort of short exclamation I could use to express my joy! Oh wait, I know: HOORAY!
As a side note, this marks the first time a word comprised partly of numbers (the Os are traditionally zeros) has been put into the Dictionary since 2003s inclusion of Sk8r Boi. The Definition? (N.)-One who wasnt good enough for her / But now hes a superstar / Slammin on his guitar / Does her pretty face see what hes worth?
In all seriousness, Ive got to say this is something of a troubling sign. Im all for gamer slang; anything that keeps a barrier of understanding between them and me is all right in my book. But the fact that its gaining mainstream acceptance gives the linguophile in me a shiver of fear, and a vision of a day when l33t is the U.S.s official language.
To be fair, Merriam-Websters word of the year is chosen by Internet ballot, so it makes sense wed be seeing things like truthiness and blog start making the rounds. But is that really what we want? Do we really want the same folks who create entire online encyclopedias just to chronicle their hilarious labyrinthine subculture deciding the direction the English language is going in?
And by hilarious, I mean roflcopter lolcat zomg kekeke!!!1!!one!!Im hilarious!!!
I dont know about you, but I dont want to live in a world where when I drop a bag of groceries while walking home from the store, there are good odds that someone walking by will mutter you just got RickRolld. Sure, it sounds cool now, but trust me; itd get old REAL quick.
To that end, I hereby nominate a word of my own creation for the 2008 word of the year:
Roflrift-(N.) The point in human history at which language becomes so fractured by subculture slang and the rapid invention of new words that no human being is capable of communicating intelligibly with another, and the world is thrown violently back into the Dark Ages.
And believe me, The Roflrift is coming.
w00t!
ReplyHuzzah!
Replyreading this article i realized that when people did this !!!!1!!! it was on purpose, thats retarded i just thought it was an accident
Reply!t00w
Replywait, what?
[...] overwhelming response to my recent post regarding the Nigersaurus,
Replyw00t
Reply...w00t. =D
ReplyD'Oh is also in the dictionary and I mean the REAL dictionary. The Oxford English fucking dictionary!
ReplyBut to be honest when I found that out I said "W00t!!11!"
Well, I didn't cos that was about 9 years ago, but I would have if it had happened yesterday.
As the president of Merriam-Webster was making his speahc, heres what he was thinking - "How the fuck did w00t end up being word of the year? Whoever decided not to rig these word of the year polls is fired..."
Reply....and w00t!
That's not funny.
It doesnt matter that w00t was the word of the year. Just watch Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure. HTat is a good example of the way people talked around 1990. We dont talk like that now and it was more aminstream then. Once online games such as World of Warcraft and others lose popularity 1337 speak will die with them. The only times it will be used then is when psuedo-hipsters use it while trying to be retro.
ReplyI don't think that exclamations should even be included. Does anyone need a dictionary to understand "Ow" or "Oh" or even "w00t?"
Replywindows vista academic...
Replyyes indeed......
Thanks, Kari. I'm glad at least a few people enjoy my humor.
ReplyAnd is spell check and reading one's own shit before one posts it so uncool? What the fuck. Oh sorry, WTF.
Replytower of babel!! tower of babel!!! I'm agnostic as shit but this is the tower of babel story from the bible!!!! The one where civilization crumbles due to inability to communicate!!! Yeah, I know, I'm going through it with my girl right now, but... PLEEEEASE try to communicate using the standard rules of English as put forth in all the English classes you were too stoned to pay attention to! Please spell words correctly! PLEEEEASE use correct grammar!!!!! Our language is not subject to interpretation, nor should it ever be. It's pretty cut and dried. Is it really so much more difficult to spell out some word rather than use an abbreviation invented by a moronic thirteen year old???? What a bunch of crap.
ReplyGood Christ, when I grew up, using proper grammar was a sign of good breeding and respect to those around you. Oh, yeah, I forgot, this is the New World Order where everything sucks and everyone's better than everyone else.
Wtevr.
w00t!
Replywell.. face it.. it's an internet poll.. all of us know that most of those who voted in those polls are most likely be n00bs and lusers.. xD
Reply..
and btw.. after the roflrift, guess it'll be the day of emoticons.. xD
w00t!
ReplyClearly, the line in the article stating:
ReplyMerriam-Webster said "w00t" hasn't made it into the dictionary but being chosen as word of the year "just might improve its chances."
....was glossed over.
w00t
Reply