I’ve seen this term used in a few threads. What does it mean, and what is the origin of it?
It literally means “own.” It became pwn because that was a common typo for own. When you get one over on someone you own (pwn) them.
When I was a kid, we’d use “burn” for the same thing.
It means “to decisively and overwhelmingly defeat”.
The origin is from video-gaming culture - players who were defeated were said to be “owned,” and the natural misspelling of this as “pwned” (because ‘o’ is next to ‘p’ on the keyboard) became standard.
It is used almost exclusively by gamers (almost always young ones at that), except when it’s used ironically by people who are mocking leet-speakers.
Also, for the record, it was originally pronounced the same as “own,” just being an intentional typo.
As the usage increased, the p is increasingly pronounced, and I think it’s more or less standard to pronounce it as “pone” now.
It is also used to describe compromised computers. If your computer is “pwned” it is under the control of someone else. This usually involves a security issue that has allowed the installation of remote control software. Typically making your computer part of a 'bot farm for the spreading of spam, distributed denial of service attacks, installation of a keylogger with the intent of stealing your various passwords, or all three. So it also becomes slang for controlling something, or someone. Like most slang it is pretty fluid in its application.
Heh. I had forgotten about that.
We also used to say “psych,” and for maximum effect pull down a lower eyelid. Haven’t thought about that in years.
“Burn” is more for a witty insult, though, while “pwn” usually refers to some sort of competition.
“Witty”? Would Oscar Wilde use it?
No, but if someone quoted Wilde, someone might reply, “Ha ha, burn!”
BigT–Taking jokes literally for comedy for 16 years.
As an old man at thirty years old, I am appalled by this pronunciation.
My God, back in my day - when you got “pwned” in Q3A, you were “owned”, not “poned” or “pweened” or whatever these ridiculous kids say these days. Have some God-damned respect! Decorum, people.
I’m 36 and the only pronunciation I’ve ever been familiar with is “poned.”
I’m thirty six as well and think it should be pronounced owned. Fortunately Norwegian kids have translated it into Norwegian so it’s not a problem in my daily life.
Anyone saying ‘lol’ should be flogged in the village square though.
To be honest, I don’t think I’ve ever actually heard it said aloud until about 2003 or so, where I’ve heard it as “poned.” Whenever I read it to myself, I just said “pawned.” It is my understanding that “owned” is indeed the original pronunciation, but I’ve just never heard anyone say it as such.
Pawned? :eek: Like you pawn jewelry? Where does the ‘a’ come from?
I’ve been a PC gamer since 2001 and I’ve never heard anyone pronounce pwn as own. Because you pronounce own as own. Pwn is usually in the realm of ironic gamer hipsterism, except for 13 year olds who don’t know better. Pwning someone is just a little more severe than owning someone. And if you want to ironically refer to your l337 skills you don’t say “elite” unless you’re really reaching for a laugh. You say leet.
I was just saying this exact same thing to my wife that regardless of the obvious origins of the typo driven word, pwned reads as pawned in my abbreviation lizard part of my mind.
I’ve taken it as pawned, and in the context, not only owned, but sold and cashed in. A way of saying that yes I took what you felt was valuable to you but it was not worth enough to me to hang on to it so I sold it.
Get off my lawn you little sons-of-bitches!
I did once use it in response to a particularly devastating chess capture.
I’ve always pronounced it “poned” - like “boned”. That being said, the majority of the time I just use “own” rather than “pwn”.