This from Game On: Games in Libraries.
Merriam-Webster’s word of the year is “w00t!” Further proof that gaming is ubiquitous and invading pop culture. Full article at: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071211/ap_on_re_us/word_of_the_year
According to the article, “W00t” is a hybrid of letters and numbers used by gamers as an exclamation of happiness or triumph — for those of you who, like me, didn’t know. 😉
W00t!! All your dictionaries are belong to us!
I have used this word for years as an expression of joy, although the newsgroups are arguing as to its meaning, origin and the fact it may be a backcronym for various expressions used over the years.
I am curious as to where it will appear in the dictionary alphabetically. It is spelled “w-ZERO-ZERO-t”, so will it show up at the very beginning of the W entry, directly after the letter W definition (rather than between “woolly” and “woozy”) since a number sometimes is filed before a letter?
Or, as the rule is often stated, should it be filed as if the number is spelled out (w-zero), which would put it at the end of the W entry, probably following Wyoming?
I am feeling I have too much time on my hands this morning to be worried about such a thing! 🙂
But inquiring minds want to know….hum, where would you file R2-D2? Or C-3PO? Guess this is not a new problem.
Kathy
I can hear grammar teachers (like me) all across the country wondering what the online gaming equivalent of a large, collective groan would be. Like we need one more reason that proper spelling (and Standard English for that matter) is no longer a necessary, teachable concept.
I can hear gamers (like me) all across the country developing the online gaming equivalent of a large, collective groan. 😉
As a so-called digital native, I see things like this as an opportunity to teach your learning objectives in a unique, timely, interesting way. Why not take a break from memorization of latin prefixes and postfixes and use this timely, real-world example of the creation of a word.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/W00t is a good starting point. You could talk about the fact that “proper” language is guided (or was created, or somewhere in-between) by actual usage, and give other examples of word, idioms, and grammatical structures that have interesting etymologies.
Or you could groan. 🙂 If it makes you feel any better, I’ll clarify that my first sentence refers to the likely result of recognition: slightly diminishing the appeal of the word w00t among it’s creators and core users.
I guess this means y’all don’t know about http://www.woot.com ?