pwnt as past participle of pwn (UNCLASSIFIED)

Mullins, Bill AMRDEC Bill.Mullins at US.ARMY.MIL
Tue Jun 19 20:47:33 UTC 2007


Classification:  UNCLASSIFIED
Caveats: NONE

"pwn" is leetspeak for "own", as in "I own you" meaning I have beaten
you at something that requires skill, or meaning I am superior in some
manner to you.  Sometimes it's hard to figure out the path from normal
English to 13375pe4k -- in this case, "pwn" is a typo of "own".

see
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pwned

> -----Original Message-----
> From: American Dialect Society
> [mailto:ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU] On Behalf Of Wilson Gray
> Sent: Tuesday, June 19, 2007 2:13 PM
> To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
> Subject: Re: pwnt as past participle of pwn
>
> ---------------------- Information from the mail header
> -----------------------
> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       Wilson Gray <hwgray at GMAIL.COM>
> Subject:      Re: pwnt as past participle of pwn
> --------------------------------------------------------------
> -----------------
>
> Well, if no one else is going to ask it, I'll have to. What does "pwn"
> mean and how is it pronounced?
>
> -Wilson
>
> On 6/18/07, ddr11 <ddr11 at uvic.ca> wrote:
> > ---------------------- Information from the mail header
> -----------------------
> > Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> > Poster:       ddr11 <ddr11 at UVIC.CA>
> > Subject:      pwnt as past participle of pwn
> >
> ----------------------------------------------------------------------
> > ---------
> >
> > The other day I noticed the past-passive form "got pwnt" instead of
> > "got pwned".  143,000 Google hits.  Has this been noted by
> > lexicographers?  (My stuff is packed for moving, can't check recent
> > 'Among the New Words'.)
> >
> > --Dave R
> >
> > ------------------------------------------------------------
> > The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
> >
>
>
> --
> All say, "How hard it is that we have to die"---a strange
> complaint to come from the mouths of people who have had to live.
> -----
>                                               -Sam'l Clemens
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>
Classification:  UNCLASSIFIED
Caveats: NONE

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