W00t

The term w00t is a slang interjection used to express happiness or excitement, usually over the Internet. The expression is most popular on USENET posts, IRC chats, and instant messages, though use on the World Wide Web is by no means uncommon.

Usage of this term dates back to the mid-1990s. In the alternative spelling woot, it shows up in the phrase, "Woot, there it is," in 1993. W00t itself is first seen in 1994 (see external link below). W00t rose in popularity in the late 1990s and early 2000s to reach general usage and understanding.

The definite origin of w00t is unknown. One theory claims it to come from the vocalization made by the player in games of the Quake series when a jump is performed; however, as Quake was only first released in 1996, this etymology probably only furthered the popularity of the existing term. Another derives from root, the traditional username for the administrator on a UNIX machine: it might be an abbreviation of "Woohoo! I just h4x0r3d [hacked] your box [computer] and got r00t!", or some such.

W00t is pronounced as if it were "woot", and can also be written thus, or even w00+. The symbolic approximation of Latin letter forms makes w00t a prime example of leet.

External link

• The poster of USENET message <3b18a6$dac@news1.digex.net> (http://groups.google.com/groups?selm=3b18a6%24dac%40news1.digex.net) (link at Google Groups) used a username of "Da W00T" on November 1994[?].
• Hackerstickers.com sells w00t! Stickers (http://www.hackerstickers.com/products/sticker-w00t.shtml) and offers a humorous explanation of the phrase.