WORD

I keep seeing the term "woot" used on internet postings, and although I thought I could probably tell what it means just from the context in which it was used, I decided to explore further.

I've always love tracking word derivations. When I was young I spent many satisfying hours deep in the basement of the Pomona Public Library, absorbed in a world of enormous reference books and potential answers to my questions. The Pomona Public Library was one of the original Carnegie Libraries, complete with stone lions guarding the entrance. It was my favorite place to be and a major influence in my life. Thanks to the internet I can do my research from home now, although my laptop doesn't have the satisfying heft an old book or the odor of ancient wisdom.

Here's what I found in the Urban Dictionary:
1. WOOT
Woot originated as a hacker term for root (or administrative) access to a computer. However, with the term as coincides with the gamer term, "w00t". "w00t" was originally an trunicated expression common among players of Dungeons and Dragons tabletop role-playing game for "Wow, loot!" Thus the term passed into the net-culture where it thrived in video game communities and lost its original meaning and is used simply as a term of excitement.
Examples: "I defeated the dark sorcerer! Woot!" "woot! i r teh flagmastar!" (Think Tribes)

Cool, huh? Another word is coined. Ya gotta love English. It's a convoluted, confusing, mongrel of a language, but it is constantly growing and changing. It's alive! WOOT!