The term w00t (spelled with double-zero, "00"), or woot, is a

slang Slang is vocabulary (words, phrases, and linguistic usages) of an informal register, common in spoken conversation but avoided in formal writing. It also sometimes refers to the language generally exclusive to the members of particular in-gro ...

interjection An interjection is a word or expression that occurs as an utterance on its own and expresses a spontaneous feeling or reaction. It is a diverse category, encompassing many different parts of speech, such as exclamations ''(ouch!'', ''wow!''), curse ...

used to express happiness or excitement, usually used in online conversation. The expression is most popular on forums,

Usenet Usenet () is a worldwide distributed discussion system available on computers. It was developed from the general-purpose Unix-to-Unix Copy (UUCP) dial-up network architecture. Tom Truscott and Jim Ellis conceived the idea in 1979, and it was ...

posts, multiplayer computer games (especially

first-person shooter First-person shooter (FPS) is a sub-genre of shooter video games centered on gun and other weapon-based combat in a first-person perspective, with the player experiencing the action through the eyes of the protagonist and controlling the pl ...

s),

IRC Internet Relay Chat (IRC) is a text-based chat system for instant messaging. IRC is designed for group communication in discussion forums, called ''channels'', but also allows one-on-one communication via private messages as well as chat and ...

chats, and

instant messages Instant messaging (IM) technology is a type of online chat allowing real-time text transmission over the Internet or another computer network. Messages are typically transmitted between two or more parties, when each user inputs text and trigge ...

, though use in webpages of the

World Wide Web The World Wide Web (WWW), commonly known as the Web, is an information system enabling documents and other web resources to be accessed over the Internet. Documents and downloadable media are made available to the network through web se ...

is by no means uncommon. The ''w00t'' spelling (with double-zero "00") is a

leetspeak Leet (or "1337"), also known as eleet or leetspeak, is a system of modified spellings used primarily on the Internet. It often uses character replacements in ways that play on the similarity of their glyphs via reflection or other resemblance. ...

variant of ''woot''; alternative spellings include ''whoot'', ''wOOt'', ''wh00t'', ''wewt'', ', etc.

Etymology

See the Wiktionary article ''

w00t The term w00t (spelled with double-zero, "00"), or woot, is a slang interjection used to express happiness or excitement, usually used in online conversation. The expression is most popular on forums, Usenet posts, multiplayer computer games (e ...

'' for details of etymology and citations; while origins are never certain, the below is supported by contemporary written references, and is credited by American lexicographer

Grant Barrett Grant Barrett (born 1970) is an American lexicographer, specializing in slang, jargon and new usage, and the author and compiler of language-related books and dictionaries. He is a co-host and co-producer of the American weekly, hour-long public ...

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The Real History and Origin of Woot and w00t
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, December 12, 2007 The term woot was recalled by a Canadian in the early 2000s to have been used in the 80s and 90s on an RPG BBS as a contraction of "what a hoot". w00t (1996) is a leetspeak form of earlier ''whoot'' (1993), which in turn was popularized by the rap song “

Whoot, There It Is "Whoot, There It Is" is the lead single released from 95 South's debut album, ''Quad City Knock''. It was produced and written by C.C. Lemonhead and Jay Ski (The Bass Mechanics), the production duo who were responsible for several other popular M ...

” (single released March 22, 1993) by group ; this is often confused with “” (single released May 7, 1993) by group

Tag Team Tag team wrestling is a type of professional wrestling in which matches are contested between teams of multiple wrestlers. Tag teams may be made up of wrestlers who normally wrestle in singles competition, but more commonly are made of establish ...

. Both these songs are in the same year, in the

Miami bass Miami bass (booty music or booty bass) is a subgenre of hip hop music that became popular in the 1980s and 1990s. The use of drums from the Roland TR-808, sustained kick drum, heavy bass, raised dance tempos, and frequently sexually explicit l ...

genre. The terms ''whoot'' and ''whoomp'' (and the less common form “Whoops, there it is”) are standardizations of earlier oral use of hooting sounds variously rendered as ''whoo'', ''whoof'', ''woo'', ''woof'' (compare standard '' woohoo''), notably by studio audience on ''

The Arsenio Hall Show ''The Arsenio Hall Show'' is an American syndicated late-night talk show created by and starring comedian Arsenio Hall. There have been two different incarnations of ''The Arsenio Hall Show''. The original series premiered on January 3, 1989, ...

'' (1989–94) and in the movie ''

Pretty Woman ''Pretty Woman'' is a 1990 American romantic comedy film directed by Garry Marshall, from a screenplay by J. F. Lawton. The film stars Julia Roberts and Richard Gere, and features Héctor Elizondo, Ralph Bellamy (in his final performance), La ...

'' (1990). The use by the “dog pound” section of ''The Arsenio Hall Show'' audience was based on a dog’s ''

woof Woof may refer to: * Woof (sound), a sound made by a dog usually called a "bark" * Weft in weaving, the threads that run from side to side on a loom Music * Woof (label), a record label * "Woof" (song), by Snoop Dogg, 1998 * Woofer, a loudspea ...

'', from chants used by football fans of the

Cleveland Browns The Cleveland Browns are a professional American football team based in Cleveland. Named after original coach and co-founder Paul Brown, they compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference ( ...

in Hall’s home town. Many

folk etymologies Folk etymology (also known as popular etymology, analogical reformation, reanalysis, morphological reanalysis or etymological reinterpretation) is a change in a word or phrase resulting from the replacement of an unfamiliar form by a more famili ...

exist, but the written record is clear: the term appears widely in popular print use only from 1993, particularly used both in dancehalls and at sporting events, and is credited to the songs. The "w00t" form gained popularity on the Internet from 1996, especially in

massively multiplayer online role-playing game A massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) is a video game that combines aspects of a role-playing video game and a massively multiplayer online game. As in role-playing games (RPGs), the player assumes the role of a Player charac ...

s (MMORPGs).

Folk etymologies

Many folk etymologies and backronyms exist, none supported by the written record: these often credit the term to games that appeared years after ''whoot'' had been popularized (1993) or ''w00t'' has appeared in common Internet usage (1996). One such incorrect etymology derives w00t as a contraction of a phrase like "wow, loot!", "woo, loot!", "wondrous loot", and "Wonderful Loot", etc. in a MMORPG when a player found large quantities of/or rare valuable items in game, or as an

acronym An acronym is a word or name formed from the initial components of a longer name or phrase. Acronyms are usually formed from the initial letters of words, as in ''NATO'' (''North Atlantic Treaty Organization''), but sometimes use syllables, as ...

for "We Owned the Other Team". These games appeared after w00t was already common. Another supposed origin is as an expression used by a cracker (see

security cracking A security hacker is someone who explores methods for breaching defenses and exploiting weaknesses in a computer system or network. Hackers may be motivated by a multitude of reasons, such as profit, protest, information gathering, challenge ...

) who has just broken into a computer system, obtaining "root" access: "woot, I have root!". Some people say it was just a parody on a child with a speech defect trying to say "loot" and saying "woot" instead. Other etymologies relate it to "hoot" or "toot", as in 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.) Alternatively, attempts are made to relate it to the Scots word "hoots", which is used in a somewhat similar manner — an exclamation signifying surprise, disbelief, or kindred reaction, though not for positive feelings (delight, joy) as w00t is. This is also along the lines of people's use of "w00t?", replacing "wot?" or "what?" as a response to a happy surprise.

In popular culture

The word was featured on the list of

Merriam-Webster's Words of the Year The lists of Merriam-Webster's Words of the Year (for each year) are ten-word lists published annually by the American dictionary-publishing company Merriam-Webster, Inc., which feature the ten words of the year from the English language. These wo ...

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 also made it into a URL-shortener.

Garaj Mahal Garaj Mahal is a jazz fusion band formed in 2000 that combines jazz, rock, Indian music, and funk. The band consists of Fareed Haque (guitar), Kai Eckhardt (bass), Sean Rickman (drums), and Eric Levy (keyboards). Garaj Mahal allows its music to ...

named their 2008 album ''w00t''. In 2011, "woot" was added to the ''

Concise Oxford English Dictionary The ''Concise Oxford English Dictionary'' (officially titled ''The Concise Oxford Dictionary'' until 2002, and widely abbreviated ''COD'' or ''COED'') is probably the best-known of the 'smaller' Oxford dictionaries. The latest edition contains ...

''. The word is officially recognized in the dictionary without zeroes, and is instead spelled with two Os.

References

{{Internet slang Internet slang 1990s neologisms