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Let's hear a w00t w00t for online gamers! 「w00t」獲選今年最熱門單字

Chris Grady of New York is seen giving a w00t！ 照片中，來自紐約的克里斯:葛瑞迪正大呼「w00t」。照片：台北時報 PHOTO: MICHAEL KEARNEY, TAIPEI TIMES

Expect cheers among hardcore online gamers when they learn Merriam-Webster's Word of the Year. Or, more accurately, expect them to "w00t."

"W00t," a mix of letters and numbers used by gamers to express happiness or triumph, topped all other terms in the dictionary online poll for the word that best sums up 2007.

Merriam-Webster's president, John Morse, said "w00t" was an ideal choice because it blends a fanciful idea and new technology.

"It shows a really interesting thing that's going on in language. It's a term that's arrived only because we're now communicating electronically with each other," Morse said.

"W00t" was among 20 nominees in a list of the most-searched words in Merriam-Webster's online dictionary and most frequently submitted terms from users of its "open dictionary."

Gamers often substitute numbers and symbols for the letters they resemble, said Morse, creating what they call "l33t speak," that's "leet" when spoken, short for "elite" to the rest of the world.

The word also is familiar from the 1990 movie Pretty Woman, in which Julia Roberts startles her date's upper-crust friends with a hearty "Woot, woot, woot!" at a polo match.

People who like to "l33t speak" often substitute a "7" for the final "t," expressing a "w007" of victory, an "in your face" of sorts, when they defeat an online gaming opponent.

The choice did not make Allan Metcalf, an English professor at MacMurray College, say "w00t."

"It's amusing, but it's limited to a small community and unlikely to spread and unlikely to last," Metcalf said.(AP)

線上電玩迷得知今年韋氏字典的年度單字一定會高聲歡呼，或者更精準地說，他們會「w00t」。

「w00t」這個單字由字母和數字結合而成，電玩族用來表達開心或勝利的意思。這個字在韋氏字典的網路票選中擊敗其他字彙，當選二ＯＯ七年度最熱門的單字。

韋氏字典社長約翰．莫斯說「w00t」是一個理想的選擇，因為它既富於幻想，又結合了新科技。

「這個字展現了語言相當有趣的發展，這個字的產生是因為現代人透過電子方式與別人溝通，」莫斯說。

「w00t」和其他十九個字並列韋氏線上字典最熱門搜尋字，同時也是該網站「開放字典」最常被使用者新增的辭彙。

莫斯說，遊戲玩家通常用類似的數字和符號來代替字母，創造他們自己的「l33t speak」。「l33t」的讀音是「leet」，是「elite」的縮寫，對世界上其他人來說就是菁英的意思。

這個單字也在一九九Ｏ年的電影《麻雀變鳳凰》中出現過，片中茱莉亞．羅勃茲在馬球比賽上盡興地「喲嗚！」讓她男伴的上流社會朋友大吃一驚。

「菁英語言」的使用者常會用數字「7」取代字尾的字母「t」，遊戲玩家在線上遊戲中擊敗對手用「w007」表達勝利的喜悅，頗有「挑釁」的意味。

美國麥克姆瑞大學的英語教授艾倫．麥卡夫並不認同「w00t」的使用。

「這很有趣，但僅限於一個小族群，不太可能會被廣泛使用，也不太可能會持續下去，」麥卡夫說。（美聯社／翻譯：袁星塵）

TODAY'S WORDS 今日單字 1. accurately adv. 精確地 (jing1 que4 de5) 例: Jon accurately answered all the questions. (瓊正確無誤地回答了所有問題。) 2. triumph n. 勝利的喜悅 (sheng4 li4 de5 xi3 yue4) 例: Triumph was hard to come by last season. (上一季並沒有什麼勝利的喜悅可言。) 3. nominee n. 被提名者 (bei4 ti2 ming2 zhe3) 例: This film is a nominee for Best Picture. (這部影片被提名最佳影片。) 4. upper-crust adj. 上流社會的 (shang4 liu2 she4 hui4 de5) 例: I'm uncomfortable around her upper-crust family. (和她上流社會的家庭相處讓我覺得很不自在。)

SAY WHAT? 說說看 in your face 正面挑釁 Something that's in your face is done in a very bold manner. For example, "In your face advertisements will only cause customers to shun our products." In your face can also be used alone to express beating somebody in an aggressive manner. In that case it's an example of trash talk, which is a form of bragging that's common in sports. For example, after a basketball player dunks over an opponent, he might shout out "in your face!" 「in your face」形容以很無禮的態度做某事，例如：「挑釁的廣告只會讓我們的產品流失顧客」。 「in your face」也可以單獨使用，形容以挑釁的態度擊敗某人，這就是典型的挑釁叫囂，是體育活動中常見的誇耀方式，例如：籃球賽中某球員超越對手灌籃後，可能會大喊「in your face」！。

OUT LOUD 對話練習 Ian: W00t, w00t, w00t! Zack: What did you just say? Ian: I just beat you at World of Warcraft. Zack: So does that mean you need to start shouting like a monkey? Ian: I was just ... Zack: You were just being a major dweeb. I'm not playing with you anymore. 奕安：w00t, w00t, w00t！ 柴克：你剛說什麼？ 奕安：我剛在魔獸世界電了你一頓。 柴克：那你有必要像隻猴子似地喊叫嗎？ 奕安：我只是... 柴克：你只是表現得像個大怪胎，我再也不跟你玩了。 dweeb　怪胎 A dweeb is a person who is seen as being foolish and socially lacking. Note that people who are called dweebs are often very good at their studies in school. 「dweeb」形容舉止愚蠢又不善社交的人，但這種人通常在學校成績表現優異。

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