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.
PHOTO: MICHAEL KEARNEY, TAIPEI TIMES
"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）
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