# What does the term "pwn" mean? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [July 24, 2011, 2:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-the-term-pwn-mean/590130 "2011-07-24T02:04:12Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 4\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2011, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-the-term-pwn-mean/590130/41 "2011-07-26T16:29:51Z")
It’s really a peculiar case for linguistics. For almost all of human history, words have originated in their spoken form, and then became written later. There could be no ambiguity about how a word was pronounced (in a given dialect and accent, at least), because that’s what the word really _is_, but when a word is new, there might briefly be uncertainty about how to properly spell it. Here, though, we have a word that originated entirely in a print-based medium, and for which there has therefore never been any ambiguity about its spelling, but for which it took a while for it to make its way into spoken language and for its pronunciation to be settled upon. And for the record, I consider “pwn” to be a perfectly legitimate word, and would have no qualms about using it non-ironically, in text or speech, in an appropriate context. ---
**Author:** ![CurtC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ce73a5/32.png) [@CurtC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CurtC)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2011, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-the-term-pwn-mean/590130/42 "2011-07-26T18:43:58Z")
Did the term “own” meaning “utterly defeated” predate the “pwned” misspelling? My first exposure to it (I’m a 50 year old now) was around 2005-2006, when I was being the stone in the shoe at some 9/11 conspiracy web forums. I had to ask someone what “pwned” means, and the answer was that it means “owned,” then I had to ask what _that_ means in this context. I was not familiar with the use of “owned” meaning “defeated.” ---
**Author:** ![Apollyon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/apollyon/32/4238_2.png) [@Apollyon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Apollyon)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2011, 12:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-the-term-pwn-mean/590130/43 "2011-07-27T00:01:25Z")
> [@GameHat](#): > > I also speak ROFL as “roffle”, not “ruffle”. > > ROFLMAO is unpronounceable. Unless maybe it would be “roffle-mao” (Mao as in the Chairman) Yes, I should have perhaps simply said that “rofl” is “roffle” rather than that it rhymes with “ruffle”… “roffle” is how I’d pronounce it… should I ever have a case when I’d pronounce it… 🙂 And indeed, “roflmao” is pronounced “roffle”-(chaiman)-“mao” in the video I linked. > [@Sierra\_Indigo](#): > > If something is so terribly unfunny it hurts, a deadpanned “LOL” is very useful for letting the guilty party know they done wrong. Ah, yes, it was in this sense that a World of Warcraft ex-guildmate would use it on Vent. (i.e. “lol” verbally over the voice communication system). ---
**Author:** ![Apollyon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/apollyon/32/4238_2.png) [@Apollyon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Apollyon)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2011, 12:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-the-term-pwn-mean/590130/44 "2011-07-27T00:05:05Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > It’s really a peculiar case for linguistics. Similar to the reconstruction of a “dead” language? Cheops / Khufu comes to mind. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-the-term-pwn-mean/590130.md?page=2)