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The word pwn, as used by the Internet gaming subculture, means to beat or dominate an opponent. While it probably originated as a typing error 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."
Etymology
The most widely believed theory holds 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 "own" resulted in a typo. Due to the proximity of the keys on a standard QWERTY keyboard the user hit the "p" instead of the "o" key, resulting in the word "pwn".
Some people believe that the word was originally a contraction of the term "power-owned", "pure ownage", "pistol owned", or "properly owned". These are probably backronyms.
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.
Finally, one other story reports that in the game Starcraft, someone set the option so that 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 occuring in a Warcraft or Unreal Tournament game.
Leet speak
Main article: Leet
"Pwn" has become part of the sub-language of gamers called leet speak, short for "elite". While mostly used by gamers, this language is also used by those who commonly partake of Internet Relay Chat programs (IRC) and other chat mediums such as AIM and Yahoo Messenger.
Pronunciation
There is no uniform way to pronounce "pwn" as it is most often encountered in text. Possible pronunciations include:
- (pōn) (rhymes with "moan")
- (pān) (as "pawn" in chess)
- (pwǐn) (as "pwin")
- (pōōn) (rhymes with "soon") This comes from pronouncing the "w" as in Welsh.
- (pwôn) (rhymes with "on")
- (pwēn) (rhymes with "queen")
- (prān) (as prawn)
- (pēwǐn) (as "pea win")
- just as "own", ignoring the typo
Derivative words
- Pwnage (Pwnij, Pwn4g3) means complete domination. The exclamation originated in the gaming culture.
- Pwnzor (Pwnz0r) used as a different form of pwn, although they have the same meaning and usage, such as "I pwnz0red you."
- Pwnt is an alternate spelling of the past tense of the verb Pwn. An example usage would be "You were pwnt." Another variation is Pwn3d.
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