Slang terms are a funny thing, from words like cowabunga and dude to words like homie, they come from many different backgrounds and cultures. Gamers are no different, and have an almost exclusive language. And like many other slang terms there are those that really get on your nerves. Some of them make you wonder “How the hell did they come up with that?” or even “What on earth does it mean?” I wouldn’t rank myself amongst the most hardcore of gamers, so this is my take on what I think are the Top 5 Weirdest/Stupidest Gaming Terms.
5. Cross Up – Fighting Game Community
While not really a well known term, this is one that I personally find annoying. Cross Up is a term used in boxing, and resembles nothing like a Street Fighter Cross Up. However the Street Fighter Cross Up can be summed by the dictionary definition. The dictionary says a Cross Up is simply “To confuse.” In fighting games it is usually a jumping attack that hits behind the head, which puts a defender in 2 minds as to which way he is to block. Unfortunately it does not confuse more seasoned opponents. In fact once you learn how to defend against them they become just as useless as a normal attack. If we are to use the dictionary term, “to confuse,” any tactic which puts a defending opponent in 2 frames of mind and leaves him open for an attack should be termed “Cross Up,” unfortunately it isn’t. A Cross Up can easily be defended if you can see it coming, just as its about to hit push forward instead of back to block it .
If I had it my way I would call all tricks used to confuse opponents Cross Ups. The many terms used in the fighting game community seem to over complicate things.
4. Lulz – Just About Every Online Gamer
I remember the times where if we were laughing and had to write it we would write hahaha. This was replaced by LOL, the abbreviation of Laugh Out Loud. The funny thing is when most people write LOL, they’re not even laughing. In fact it is said at times when nothing funny has been said. LOL is an abbreviation that gets on my nerves, but lulz is even worse. It’s not even an abbreviation! Apparently lulz is used when someone is a victim of a prank, or enjoyment disrupting ones emotional equilibrium. How on earth this word even came about is beyond me.
3. Haxor – Online Gamers
Leetspeak is, in my opinion (however flawed it is), the most stupid way of writing ever. Haxor is leet for hacker, and while haxor may seem easier to write than hacker why do they need to say it? I don’t know how many times I’ve heard people on Team Speak, Ventrilo or even Skype yell “Haxor” whenever they encounter one of these people. I remember vividly my encounter with this word when I was playing Killzone 2 when a certain player was dying quite often at the hands of my shotgun. After the 4th or 5th kill I heard him shout in the nastiest way he thought possible “NOOB HAXOR!” For one, I never knew there were hacks for Killzone 2. Secondly I felt honored, because this guy thought I was that good I had to be hacking. I can live with it being typed (though I would prefer not to), however being said out aloud is a little too much. Haxor contains the same amount of syllables as Hacker, so people please stop saying it, Leet speak is a language that needs to die and die quickly.
2. Noob – Anyone Who Plays Video Games
I don’t really have an issue with the word noob, but I certainly hate being called one. Noob comes from newb, and was used as early as the Vietnam War, where new members of a particular unit were referred to as newbies. So the word has been around for a while, but has received a strong resurgence as competitive online gaming grows. Being called a noob means you suck, that your skill level can’t get any worse than it already is. Like anything in Video Games you must persevere, because at one stage even the most seasoned players at ANY sport or game were noob once upon a time.
When the best get prideful the usual advice given to them is “Beware, there is always someone better,” and the same can be said for noobs too. No matter how noob you are there is always someone noobier than you!
1. Pwn – Anyone Who Plays Video Games
Pwn is leet for “Own,” and what may have originally started as a typo, because the ‘p’ and ‘o’ keys are next to each other, has become perhaps the most used term in gaming. Whats even more unusual is its pronunciation, it is generally accepted that pwn has no proper pronunciation. I’ve heard it pronounced “pown” so it rhymes with own, “poon” as in poon tang and even pronounced “pwin” as if they are trying to say it as it looks. It’s hard for me to believe that words can come about from spelling mistakes. Pwn is the most famous of them all, and takes out number 1.
What are some of the gaming terms or slang you hear that gets you going? Got some we don’t have up? Comment below and let us know. No registration required to comment.
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Actaully lulz is said when something is funny, and is prettmuch a noun form of lol since people use lol as a verb, you watched that totally wrong report on the “hacker group called anonymous” on youtube didn’t you?
I agree with you on the rest though, though something you may want to also take note on is that with a bunch of the ansty/bratty teen kids online is that if you’re better than someone, they’re a noob, if they’re better, they have no life, that’s how it always seems to go.
Nice read man.
Don’t forget Pwnt. I remember someone saying that everytime he killed someone. was annoying.
You sir, are an idiot.
I hate all these farking geeks who keep using all these stupid @ss slangs and always using cat pictres.
LAWL is way worse than lulz
Ive always pronounced “pwn” and “pawn”
we should pwn some n00bs for lulz tonight! who’s with meh?
Funny Article though I have never heard the cross up before
LULZ NOOB
@ xino
Agreed. I’m really starting to get annoyed by LOL-Cat pictures (although I still find the “BOOOOM, HEADSHOT!” one kind of funny, but that’s it)
Sounds like you’re a noob who got pwnt by some haxor crossing up. Lulz.
I dont hv problem with most of the word, but LOL really get in my nerves! cos ppl just dont know or dont care when to use it! especially if it use during chat etc. i usually just reply with WTF or LOL=Laugh out loud, in hope that they will realize it does not fit the conversation at all….
The worst thing about the word noob is that low level people think they look big saying it
@CRACKERS,
Yes sir I don’t mind admitting I’m a noob at games. I don’t strive to beat everyone, I play to have fun. I have no problem being the inferior gamer, I find it funny that some people seek superiority online behind a computer screen or in front of the TV.
Where’d you find that Lex Luthor image macro, I made that four years ago. Funny to see it on this site randomly.
“Leetspeak is, in my opinion (however flawed it is), the most stupid way of writing ever. Haxor is leet for hacker,”
Correct me if i’m wrong, but you just said ‘leet’ Shouldn’t that be elite if you find that way of writing stupid?
Heya G.Man, unfortunately no. It is apparently known as leetspeak, if I were to write in “leet” form it would be 1337. Also you have to write as it’s known, its known as “leetspeak” not elite speak. So lame!
From what I’ve heard, the term “Pwn” stands for power own.
i used to think pwn was pawn, like chess…
Agreed they all suck, but well i use noob too =(
Long before I saw these terms show up in gaming they were being used in chat rooms and message boards. I think most of the words developed out of a desire to not have to type a lot of words, because most people lack that skill and wanted a counter-culture (rebellion) all on there own. It is far easier to touch type (use 2 fingers and look at keyboard) than it is to actually type. Gaming is the latest computer geek fashion where it really began.
hey, let me welcome you to the internet!
if the above mentioned pisses you off so much that you have to write an entire piece about it on the internet, we suggest you unplug your pc now and start hanging out with the other seniors.
intrnet srs bssnss
I disagree with 2-5.
Lulz!
(I can agree that when people VERBALLY say it, it’s really annoying. It’s equivalent to a white politician trying to speak Spanish.)
I think that pwn comes from an error in the code of one of the Warcraft games, loosing a level would display a message saying “Player has been pwned”
Seriously this is an article? Do you even understand the gaming community or the online community at large you neo-luddite puritan freak?
Hi, welcome to the internet.
These are things that define it, and whining about it on a blog won’t make them go away… at least whine about something profound, like a war, or the latest James Bond movie…
Just to point out, newb and n00b (not noob – it should have zeros not letters) mean different things although one comes from the other, they cannot be used interchangeably.
Congratulations on writing the poorest written blog I’ve ever read. This reads worse than a 9th grade English paper on The House on Mango Street. Next time, try doing some research on your topic before you try to write something you obviously know nothing about.
Also, stop trying to be like cracked.com. This wasn’t funny. At all. You made The Oatmeal look funny in comparison.
i dont understand… these are commond words.. like “soup” or “deathray”. i use them every day. how can you find them annoying?
When I play a Call of Duty game on Xbox Live, all I hear is little kids screaming “fag!”..
What about imba? I hate imba. It’s some shortness for in balance. It’s used like “my skills are imba” or “my gear is imba” or “watch out for that guy he is pretty imba.”. It’s pretty annoying as well.
ROFLMAO nice one but u’ve forgotten EZPK : easy player kill which is more annoying than noob IMHO
haxor and cross up are not that popular terms.. ive never heard of cross up before until reading this (and im sure a large amount of the population agrees), but it does sound dumb i guess. haxor is only used by kids like 12 and under nowadays. the word is dumb and you know there is little kid playin if he says it. but like you said you dont really know much since you aren’t a hardcore gamer
What annoys me even more is the term “pubbies” as in “Goddamn pubbies are ruining my game.”.
I’ve heard PWN pronounced “pawn” as well…
Wow, this is like the coolest thign I ever seen dude.
Jess
http://www.online-anonymity.vze.com
You sound like a bitch. Really Pwn, haxor, lol/lulz bother you? Get off the internet then. Its not going away because you write and shitty blog post about it.
I like pwn, pwned, pwnt, pewnd, and all the other variations of owned. The whole idea of the word owned would originate back to owning someone literally as a slave, in the derogatory sense. (not as in owning property). Gamers took something that demeaning and made it even more humiliating specifically for gamers. I saw Merriam-Webster adds pwn to the dictionary.
This author is the most annoying gaming term
wrong. pwn=pure ownage
4 – I believe it started within the 4chan community. Encyclopediadramatica even says it was first coined by Jameth.
3 – People were probably just lazy and said hax instead of typing hacks, and when other stuff like nubzor came along, “or” was added to almost every other gaming term.
1 – The only way I’ve ever heard it pronounced is “pown”, by every single gamer I’ve met. When you see that p and o are next to each other on the keyboard, you understand that it should say own, and therefore should be pronounced as such.
nice article I totally agree with you and most of these words normally spoken by complete losers
Correction for Pwn or Pwned – This was created in games like counter-strike meaning pistol ownage. If someone was to do well against the other team while only using a pistol and the other team using rifles they would say “Pwned”.
Wow, instead of discussing terms that annoy people in the comments, most are discussing the correct meaning of terms.
@ Jimi
4chan is responsible for most of the evil on the internet, even if some of it is funny.
does anyone remember that ‘Newb’ and ‘Noob’ used to mean different things? Newb was for a new player, someone you should take pity on and train to help them get into the game, where as a Noob was someone who thought they could play and quite obviously couldn’t.
Anyway it doesn’t matter what words you use to discribe me as a gamer, im so S rank!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6uZWArSOmCc
Lulz Haxor, u totaly pwned those noobs with an editorial cross up!
Pwn is somtime mistaken for power own
i also belive “PWN” is the most annoying word in gaming…
i thort i was alone
*regains sanity*
You are an angry bunch at this website. You do great job though.
Pwnt is the past tense of pwn, which originally meant ‘ to own with a pistol’. Pwnage would often be used referring to killing someone with a pistol. But like most slang terms in gaming, the term has been over used even in situations that don’t apply to he term to now include any owning at all. I hate the misused version of it, but when I kill u with a pistol, I will tell evryone that I just pwned you, or that u have been pwnt.
Honestly, I’m all for new terms and slang developing from any source. What I can’t stand is how it gets over used to a point where it starts to replace standard English in both writing & speech. Don’t get me wrong, I call noobs when I see them and pwn ‘em when need be, but to constantly use only those when you speak and write isn’t just annoying. Its just plain stupid and sadly continues the negative stereotypes of gamers. Moderation in use is all I ask, got nothing against the exisitance of the slang.
Haha I love how the writer complains about spelling mistakes but then goes to say (in the last sentence); “takes out number 1″ when the writer meant to put “our”.
But even still, good article and I completely agree.
I’ve been ranked #1 in the world in 3 different games and I don’t use any of these terms, except for this once instance when I call you a NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOB
Yeah, first 4 terminologies are used by kids, or 13 year-olds. I never heard of the term “Cross-Up” in Street Fighters, glad to know another nerd term. I believe “Lulz” came from the website 4chan, as well as several other memes.
“PWN” (Pronounced “Pawn”) has nothing to do with the word “Own”. It’s origins come from Chess, where a Pawn is the lowest – ranking piece on the board. If you use the word “PWN” or “PWNED” in an online game it means you have showed your opponent up as the lowest – ranking member of his team. You’re basically implying he is of little value and adds no power or substance to his team in the least, it’s the most insulting slang word you can really have thrown at you in a game.
However, many of the hyperactive pre – teens that plague games such as Call Of Duty and Halo use this word out of context all the time, thus, due to a combination of both ignorance and stupidity, the meaning has been changed over time to basically just someone who has been killed. Of course, many of the people who play games like Halo or Call Of Duty probably don’t even know what Chess is…..let alone how to play it.
I always considered pwn to be pronounced pawn as in the chess game pawns. I thought it was like “eating” pawns in chess meaning that you’re owning a lot of low-skilled players (like low-grade chess pieces)
oh yeah listen to david, hadn’t read the comments. yeah well I only used the term pawnage in halo combat evelved for pc… now I use “noob” “ahahahahah” and various italian swear words. not to mention “LOL” lol. lol
p.s. though I’ve never heard of cross up
p.p.s. lol
Actually, noob and newb are different. Newb referring to newbie, a new person to gaming or to that particular game. A noob, however, is someone that has played the game longer than a typical newb but uses lame tactics (like the Noob Launcher in Call of Duty 4/Modern Warfare 2). Noobs don’t have skill.
epic is a word that freaking pisses me off, everything is epic
@ ricetripycreeps
Lol I google searched it. Nice job!
@ Everyone
I hope you guys don’t think this is a serious article, that the author is actually annoyed by these. It’s a fun write up of the most childish used words on the internet. Dont take it so serious. Why so serious!
I hate fucking geeks even though I am one. What I hate even more is when geeks are proud of being geeks. I love video games, wrestling, Magic The Gathering, miniatures, D&D, and comics but I’ll whoop my own ass the day I’ll become proud of that stuff.
So, you shouldn’t be proud of who you are? Sounds like a great way to live.
I thought pwn came from “Diablo”. The font was weird medieval font where the o had a line come down through it. It looked like a p, so people just read it as “pwn”
pwnd means ownd with a pistol, started with counterstrike
You’re complaining about the term “cross up” because you don’t feel they’re effective or adhere to boxing terminology? Really? That’s what it’s been called since SFII debuted. What do you propose we call it? “Ineffective jump attack which strikes behind head but is easily defended?”
…And then to equate the “cross up” with the rest of this bs?
Keep up the great work!
Im pretty sure pwn, pronounced p-own, comes from what i think the most logical of the reasons i’ve heard in that its a combination of the phrase “personally own”. i always thought it started (and still is used for til this day) for when you either A are so good that you beat whoever your playing very badly, or B the person your playing is bad and you beat them very badly. Either way when you beat someone very badly you “personally owned” them, AKA “pwned” them.
About 120% of gaming terms originated from Counter-Strike. That means the new term you hear tomorrow will have already been spawned from it.
@Anon… Go die in a hole. Your clearly 12 and your already a faggot. There is no excuss for the term ‘LULZ’. Next time, we’ll permi-ban you for underage in /b/.
I think it’s awesome that Gamers have their own language, and if you don’t like it, you should stick to playing Wii.
People (especially on Facebook) always writing LOL is annoying, i think it should be reserved for when somethin it proper funny that it makes you burst out laughing!
Playing Halo a guy kept melee attackin me and said ‘TAKE A SEAT SON’ as he beat me down, it annoyed the hell outa me, but thats just competative spirit!