W00t
Encyclopedia
The term w00t is a slang
Slang
Slang is the use of informal words and expressions that are not considered standard in the speaker's language or dialect but are considered more acceptable when used socially. Slang is often to be found in areas of the lexicon that refer to things considered taboo...

 interjection
Interjection
In grammar, an interjection or exclamation is a word used to express an emotion or sentiment on the part of the speaker . Filled pauses such as uh, er, um are also considered interjections...

 used to express happiness or excitement, usually over the Internet. The expression is most popular on forums, USENET
Usenet
Usenet is a worldwide distributed Internet discussion system. It developed from the general purpose UUCP architecture of the same name.Duke University graduate students Tom Truscott and Jim Ellis conceived the idea in 1979 and it was established in 1980...

 posts, multiplayer computer games (especially first person shooters), IRC
Internet Relay Chat
Internet Relay Chat is a protocol for real-time Internet text messaging or synchronous conferencing. It is mainly designed for group communication in discussion forums, called channels, but also allows one-to-one communication via private message as well as chat and data transfer, including file...

 chats, and instant messages, though use on the World Wide Web
World Wide Web
The World Wide Web is a system of interlinked hypertext documents accessed via the Internet...

 is by no means uncommon.

History

The definite origin of the term w00t is unknown but has been seen early on in IRC chats. One theory claims that usage of this term dates back to the mid-1990s, when it was probably derived from the alternative spellings of whoomp and whoot. These spellings are variously used in the phrases, "Whoomp, there it is
Whoomp! (There It Is)
"Whoomp! " is a number two Billboard Hot 100 single by the Miami bass group Tag Team.The song sampled a beginning synthesizer line from the 1980 Italo-disco hit "I'm Ready" by Kano. The chorus is almost the same as the song "Whoot, There It Is" released by 95 South a month earlier, however the...

", or "Whoot, there it is" from two songs in 1993 from rap groups Tag Team
Tag Team
Tag Team was a hip hop/pop rap duo from Atlanta, Georgia, United States active from 1993 up to 1995. The duo was made up of Cecil Glenn and Steve Gibson . They are best known for their #1 single, "Whoomp! ", which was released in 1993, but rereleased as a remix in 2000...

 and 95 South
95 South
95 South was a Miami bass duo of AB and Daddy Black from Jacksonville, Florida. The group's name is a reference to Interstate 95, which passes through the city. Their biggest success was the 1993 hit "Whoot, There It Is" from their debut album Quad City Knock, which reached #11 on the Billboard...

, respectively. Another theory is that people started jokingly mimicking trains in children's books, that went "Woot! Woot!", doing so as a statement of victory, or applauding good news. (some people today say "Woot! Woot!" while making the hand-gesture of pulling a train's horn cord). Others have theorized the term is an acronym for "We Owned
Pwn
Pwn is a leetspeak slang term derived from the verb own, as meaning to appropriate or to conquer to gain ownership. The term implies domination or humiliation of a rival, used primarily in the Internet-based video game culture to taunt an opponent who has just been soundly defeated .In hacker...

 the Other Team". It has also been alleged that "w00t" is a contraction of the phrase "wonderous loot" used in Ultima Online and "Wonderful Loot" in Everquest whenever a player found large quantities of/or rare valuable items in game. W00t is also somewhat like the Scots
Scots language
Scots is the Germanic language variety spoken in Lowland Scotland and parts of Ulster . It is sometimes called Lowland Scots to distinguish it from Scottish Gaelic, the Celtic language variety spoken in most of the western Highlands and in the Hebrides.Since there are no universally accepted...

 word "hoots", which is used in a similar manner — an exclamation signifying surprise, disbelief, or kindred reaction. This is also along the line of some peoples use of "W00t?", replacing 'what?' as a response to a happy surprise. Another supposed origin is as an expression used by a hacker (see security cracking) who has just broken into a computer system, obtaining "root" access: "woot, I have root!"

W00t itself was first seen in 1994. The expression rose in popularity in the late 1990s and early 2000s. It has not reached general usage or understanding. W00t is pronounced to rhyme with "boot
Boot
A boot is a type of footwear but they are not shoes. Most boots mainly cover the foot and the ankle and extend up the leg, sometimes as far as the knee or even the hip. Most boots have a heel that is clearly distinguishable from the rest of the sole, even if the two are made of one piece....

" or "shoot
Shoot
Shoots are new plant growth, they can include stems, flowering stems with flower buds, and leaves. The new growth from seed germination that grows upward is a shoot where leaves will develop...

", and can also be written as "woot", "w00+", or "w007". Some persistently argue that "w00t" is the only proper spelling. The symbolic approximation of Latin
Latin alphabet
The Latin alphabet, also called the Roman alphabet, is the most recognized alphabet used in the world today. It evolved from a western variety of the Greek alphabet called the Cumaean alphabet, which was adopted and modified by the Etruscans who ruled early Rome...

 letter forms makes w00t a prime example of nerd's internet leet
Leet
Leet , also known as eleet or leetspeak, is an alternative alphabet for the English language that is used primarily on the Internet. It uses various combinations of ASCII characters to replace Latinate letters...

speak. It may also sometimes be seen spelled as "wewt."

The word was featured on the List of Merriam–Webster's Words of the Year for 2007. They said, it "reflects a new direction in the American language led by a generation raised on video games and cell phone text-messaging".

Apart from the British digital sales house w00t!media the expression has also made it into an URL-shortener. Garaj Mahal
Garaj Mahal
Garaj Mahal is a four piece band, based in the United States, playing a fusion of jazz, Indian music, rock, and especially funk: Kai Eckhardt , Fareed Haque , Alan Hertz , Sean Rickman and Eric Levy...

named their 2008 album w00t.

In 2011, "woot" was added to the Concise Oxford English Dictionary. The word is officially recognized in the dictionary without zeroes, and is instead spelled with two o's.
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