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Encyclopedia :
P :
PW :
Pwn |
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Pwn.The word pwn (past tense: "pwned", "pwnd", "pwn'd", or "pwnt") as used by the Internet gaming subculture, means to beat or dominate an opponent. While it probably originated as a typing error of the word "own", it is now used intentionally by many members of the subculture. The term has become so ubiquitous in Internet circles that it is often used outside of gaming contexts; for example, "he just got pwned in that debate" or "the hunters pwned that bear." EtymologyThe most widely held theory is that "pwn" originated from a typo in first-person shooter games, the common mistake occurred from a hand position. The user, using his mouse right-handedly, would hold three of his fingers on the keys, "a", "w", and "d", along with the mouse in his right hand. When prompted to make a comment upon fragging his opponent, a quick motion to type the word "owned" resulted in a typo. Due to the proximity of the keys "p" and "o" on a standard QWERTY keyboard the user hit the "p" instead of the "o" key, resulting in the word "pwned". One story reports that in the game StarCraft, someone made a custom map where losing players would see a special message. However, instead of typing in "YOU WERE OWNED", a typo resulted in "YOU WERE PWNED". It is said that every use of the word "pwn" therefore comes from this one hapless misspelling, or a similar one occurring in a Warcraft or Unreal Tournament game. One possibility exists in a mispronunciation, in Diablo: Hellfire, where an enemy claims he will “own” you. The word is pronounced more like “puh-own”. This may be somehow related to the “Starcraft Theory”. Some people believe that the word was originally a contraction of the term "power-owned", "pure ownage", "pistol-owned", "perfectly owned", "ping-owned", "player-owned", "professionally owned," or "properly owned". These are probably back-formations. It has been suggested that the word resulted from a rendering problem from a specific game that made the word "owned" look like the word "pwned". As a result, gamers considering themselves superior in skill started using the word as an obscure reference. It is likely that "pwn" is actually the result of a carryover of the phrase "0wned" used by hackers on IRC to declare that they have successfully cracked a computer or target (i.e. "I just 0wned that Windows box"). Another theory suggests that "pwned" is a version of "owned", with supposed blood dripping from the "o". Still another interpretation makes the case that "pwned" was not an accident, but instead a contraction of the word pawned. This theory is based upon the idea that the person who was defeated was "owned," and then pawned off, as an item would be at a pawnshop. Another theory supports the idea that "pwned" originated on gaming forums after the word "owned" was banned. Administrators banned the word to try to keep flame wars (arguments filled with insults) down, and as a result, forum users merely censor bypassed it (changed spelling to get past any auto-blockers in place) by spelling it as "pwned". LeetspeakMain article: Leet"Pwn" has become part of the sub-language of gamers called leet (short for elite) speak. While mostly used by gamers, this language is also used by those who commonly partake of Internet Relay Chat programs and other chat mediums such as AOL Instant Messenger and Yahoo Messenger. "WTFPwn!" is derived from the contraction of the internet slang term "WTF" (what the fuck?!) and "Pwn" and is intended to suggest that a player was not just "pwn'ed," but that such pwnage happened so quickly that the other player was left wondering what happened (and saying: "what the fuck?!"). PronunciationThere is no uniform way to pronounce "pwn" as it is most often encountered in text. Possible pronunciations include: Derivative wordsSee alsoExternal links |
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