# How do you read 'pwned?' **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [August 1, 2007, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-read-pwned/414017 "2007-08-01T18:37:14Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Max\_the\_Immortal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/6de8d8/32.png) [@Max\_the\_Immortal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_the_Immortal)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2007, 11:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-read-pwned/414017/41 "2007-08-02T11:11:29Z")
I pronounce it the same way as “owned”, unless it’s part of a pun like the WoW guild Hordecore Pwnography. ---
**Author:** ![Sierra\_Indigo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f0a364/32.png) [@Sierra\_Indigo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sierra_Indigo)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2007, 11:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-read-pwned/414017/42 "2007-08-02T11:21:04Z")
“Powned” For me and my social group (now early 20s, then in my teens) owned and pwned were two different things. If someone owned you, they beat you bad. But it was usually a beating you could recover yourself from. You might own your opponent the next time around. If you were pwned, however, the ownage was so humiliating that you’d best just slink off into a corner and hide because everyone is laughing at your ass. A practical demonstration: If my husband beats me in a game of Rainbow Six: Vegas, he’s owned me because our skill level is approximately the same, but I’ve gone into it knowing he’s a slightly better FPS player than I am. If my mum (who plays Mah-Jong and not much else) beats me in a game of RS:V, then she’s pwned me, because damn but I must have sucked on that day to be beaten by her, and I should probably hang my controller up in shame. That’s just from the area of the net I hung around on. YMMV, obviously. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2007, 11:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-read-pwned/414017/43 "2007-08-02T11:24:10Z")
I just pronounce it ‘owned’ - or at least I would if it was the sort of thing I was in the habit of saying. ---
**Author:** ![Martini\_Enfield](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/martini_enfield/32/11123_2.png) [@Martini\_Enfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martini_Enfield)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2007, 11:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-read-pwned/414017/44 "2007-08-02T11:31:19Z")
[QUOTE=Risha] I’m aware of the derivation, but it still comes out as “pawned” in my head. I find “powned” too hard to pronounce. [/QUOTE] My sentiments exactly- in my head, it’s “Pawned”, but in spoken conversation it’s simply “Owned”, with a silent “P” (which the listener should be able to deduce from the context). I have, however, been known to describe something as “Owned with a Capital P” in spoken conversation to make the meaning clearer, if it’s not immediately apparent from the context, though… ---
**Author:** ![essell](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/34f0e0/32.png) [@essell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/essell)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2007, 11:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-read-pwned/414017/45 "2007-08-02T11:38:16Z")
Why all the people disrespecting a fine word like “pwned” ? No kids on your lawn need chasing off today ? Given it’s an internet word, it was never really meant to be pronounced, atleast not originally. Millions of people knew the word before it wes ever used in a meatspace conversation. (Okay, I’m exagerating a little) There are many words in the English that mean almost the same thing but vary in degree or connotation. I see pwned in the same way. ---
**Author:** ![calm\_kiwi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9fc348/32.png) [@calm\_kiwi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/calm_kiwi)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2007, 11:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-read-pwned/414017/46 "2007-08-02T11:54:52Z")
My son always tells me it means owned (a stupid term on it’s own merit). To me it always reads “im 16 and u r a DOH (said in Homerish)”. ---
**Author:** ![calm\_kiwi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9fc348/32.png) [@calm\_kiwi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/calm_kiwi)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2007, 11:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-read-pwned/414017/47 "2007-08-02T11:59:23Z")
[QUOTE=essell] . Millions of people knew the word before it wes ever used in a meatspace conversation. (Okay, I’m exagerating a little). [/QUOTE] Is this where butchers meet? [QUOTE=essell] There are many words in the English that mean almost the same thing but vary in degree or connotation. I see pwned in the same way. [/QUOTE] What words mean anythimg like owned. Obviously I’m out of the loop. ---
**Author:** ![Swallowed\_My\_Cellphone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9d8465/32.png) [@Swallowed\_My\_Cellphone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Swallowed_My_Cellphone)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2007, 12:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-read-pwned/414017/48 "2007-08-02T12:01:55Z")
[QUOTE=Earl Snake-Hips Tucker] I know what it means (at least I think–“owned”), but how do you read it, “owned” or, as I do, “pooned.” And actually, it’s kinda extended when I read it, more like “pOOOOOOned!”? [/QUOTE] I hear it exactly the way you do. Like someone really emphasizing the ‘O’ part, they way you would in sports. Likem a jump shot is blocked, you’d say “DenIIIIIED!” So, I hear it as “pOOOOWned”! ETA: Oh, wait is misread your’s. I hear it with an “oh” sound as in “ocean” not an “oo” sound as in “poop.” ---
**Author:** ![mhairi2222](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ee7513/32.png) [@mhairi2222](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mhairi2222)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2007, 12:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-read-pwned/414017/49 "2007-08-02T12:02:30Z")
I tend to read it in my head as “pwinned” and on the occasions when I have heard it said out loud, thats how it had sounded. Although, not to go into too much detail, but if it’s said with gusto, then the guys I hang around with do tend to say it like “PuhWINNED” I hate the word, but it seems like the word of the day in the group that I hang around with, I’m sure it will die in a few months… I hope. ---
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2007, 12:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-read-pwned/414017/50 "2007-08-02T12:31:00Z")
[QUOTE=essell] Why all the people disrespecting a fine word like “pwned” ? No kids on your lawn need chasing off today ? [/QUOTE] Beat me to it! ---
**Author:** ![Malacandra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Malacandra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malacandra)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2007, 12:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-read-pwned/414017/51 "2007-08-02T12:37:12Z")
[QUOTE=Shamozzle] I’d say the fact that it is used is poof positive that it is, in fact, useful. [/QUOTE] Poof positive? It pings your gaydar? ---
**Author:** ![essell](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/34f0e0/32.png) [@essell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/essell)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2007, 12:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-read-pwned/414017/52 "2007-08-02T12:56:16Z")
[QUOTE=calm kiwi] Is this where butchers meet? [/QUOTE] Well, there’s sometimes a slaughter or two there. 😃 [QUOTE=calm kiwi] What words mean anythimg like owned. Obviously I’m out of the loop. [/QUOTE] I was refering to the link between _pwned_ and _owned_. It’s akin to way we use the words _scrutiny_ and _survey_ for example. They basically mean the same thing, but one implies a detailed examination and the other a more passive overview. owned a word that sums up an event that would normally needs a bunch of words. pwned means the same thing with a different connotation. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Chao\_Goes\_Mu](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_chao_goes_mu/32/3191_2.png) [@The\_Chao\_Goes\_Mu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Chao_Goes_Mu)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2007, 1:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-read-pwned/414017/53 "2007-08-02T13:09:12Z")
ROFLcopter? LOLerskates? What do these mean? Oy ve’ :smack: ---
**Author:** ![Colophon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@Colophon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colophon)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2007, 1:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-read-pwned/414017/54 "2007-08-02T13:20:26Z")
[QUOTE=The Chao Goes Mu] ROFLcopter? LOLerskates? What do these mean? Oy ve’ :smack: [/QUOTE] Mean? They don’t _mean_ anything… that’s the beauty of them! 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Trunk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/87869e/32.png) [@Trunk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trunk)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2007, 1:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-read-pwned/414017/55 "2007-08-02T13:23:45Z")
I just read it as “owned”. And, I love it. I love seeing language and spelling change. I love when misused words and misspellings take over. It always reminds me that you can’t fence in language. And I’m sure it sticks in the craw of certain English teachers who I don’t look back on fondly. I like seeing it as pwn3d even more. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Chao\_Goes\_Mu](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_chao_goes_mu/32/3191_2.png) [@The\_Chao\_Goes\_Mu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Chao_Goes_Mu)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2007, 1:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-read-pwned/414017/56 "2007-08-02T13:43:28Z")
[QUOTE=Colophon] Mean? They don’t _mean_ anything… that’s the beauty of them! 😉 [/QUOTE] OMG! ROFLMAO!!! ---
**Author:** ![Litoris](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/9f8e36/32.png) [@Litoris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Litoris)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2007, 1:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-read-pwned/414017/57 "2007-08-02T13:47:00Z")
[QUOTE=John Carter of Mars] How is it useful? “Owned” works perfectly well. “Pwned” seems to be gibberish to me. Care to defend your statement that it’s useful? [/QUOTE] First off, I find it funny all the old geezers who think they’re too good to see a language evolve…that being said, pwned and owned have different meanings in my worlds. Owned means that you well, got owned – you were beaten. Badly. Badly enough for it to be funny. You, a level 32 noob, went after a level 50 fire giant or whatever – and got in all of 3 hits before you were dead. Pwned, however, means that not only did you get owned, you got owned in the worst possible way. You, a level 96 whatever, got owned by a level 3 cow because you forgot you were posioned and only had 2 hit points left. In less gamer terms – being owned is like walking out of the bathroom with toilet paper trailing on your shoe. It’s embarassing to you, funny to others, but you can shrug it off as _just something that happens_. Being pwned is like walking out of the bathroom with your skirt tucked firmly into your underwear and trailing dirty toilet paper from said underwear. It is something that is mortifying to you, absolutely hilarious to those around you and _something which will never be forgotten_. Do I say pwned out loud? No, bot in public. I have laughed and shouted pwned at my monitor while playing certain games, though. Meh…languages evolve. I only ask that we continue to follow the same basic grammatical rules. Punctuation can go the way of the dinosaur for all I care, though 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Autolycus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/22d042/32.png) [@Autolycus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Autolycus)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2007, 12:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-read-pwned/414017/58 "2007-08-03T00:20:34Z")
[QUOTE=Litoris] Do I say pwned out loud? No, bot in public. [/QUOTE] Fucking botters. \*\* Add another notch in the ‘Poned’ camp. Dont forget the variations though! To name a few: Pizzowned Stallowned Calzowned ---
**Author:** ![Lisa-go-Blind](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7c8e57/32.png) [@Lisa-go-Blind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lisa-go-Blind)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2007, 6:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-read-pwned/414017/59 "2007-08-06T06:20:12Z")
[QUOTE=The Chao Goes Mu] ROFLcopter? LOLerskates? What do these mean? Oy ve’ :smack: [/QUOTE] I humbly submit [this link](http://members.cox.net/pimpbot9000/roflcopter.htm). ---
**Author:** ![vivalostwages](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/d07c76/32.png) [@vivalostwages](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vivalostwages)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2007, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-read-pwned/414017/60 "2007-08-06T16:43:48Z")
[QUOTE=Hockey Monkey] I had to look this up on [Urban Dictionary](http://http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=pwned) to even know what you guys were talking about. Consider my ignorance fought. Or added to. :rolleyes: [/QUOTE] Link didn’t work, so I am still ignorant. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-read-pwned/414017.md?page=2)