# What is the origin of "Oh noes!!"? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [May 24, 2005, 5:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-origin-of-oh-noes/305230 "2005-05-24T05:22:38Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![marshmallow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/df705f/32.png) [@marshmallow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/marshmallow)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2005, 5:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-origin-of-oh-noes/305230/1 "2005-05-24T05:22:38Z")
Or variations thereof. I know it’s sarcasm, usually. I have a feeling it originated from some l337 speak website, maybe Something Awful…but I’m not sure. A google search is interesting, but useless for my query. A lot of people that play online games use it (CS, SC, Diablo, etc.) ---
**Author:** ![Greg\_Charles](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/839c29/32.png) [@Greg\_Charles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Greg_Charles)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2005, 8:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-origin-of-oh-noes/305230/2 "2005-05-24T08:27:49Z")
I’m thinking Jar Jar. ---
**Author:** ![Cugel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cugel/32/1199_2.png) [@Cugel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cugel)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2005, 2:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-origin-of-oh-noes/305230/3 "2005-05-24T14:00:48Z")
> [@mstay](#): > > maybe Something Awful… First thing I thought of was it being a Jeff Kism ---
**Author:** ![SmackFu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/53a042/32.png) [@SmackFu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SmackFu)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2005, 2:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-origin-of-oh-noes/305230/4 "2005-05-24T14:57:53Z")
Isn’t this Mr. Bill? ---
**Author:** ![toadspittle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c0e974/32.png) [@toadspittle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/toadspittle)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2005, 5:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-origin-of-oh-noes/305230/5 "2005-05-24T17:28:59Z")
Mr. Bill was simply “Oh No!” (not plural) Wikipedia sez: > **[Leet](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leet)** > > Leet (or "1337"), also known as eleet or leetspeak, is a system of modified spellings used primarily on the Internet. It often uses character replacements in ways that play on the similarity of their glyphs via reflection or other resemblance. Additionally, it modifies certain words based on a system of suffixes and alternate meanings. There are many dialects or linguistic varieties in different online communities. > The term "leet" is derived from the word elite, used as an adjective to describe... > [@](#): > > oh noes or oh n03s, common phrase for “Oh no!” This originated from the site [ohnoes.org](http://www.ohnoes.org) That site isn’t too helpful. ---
**Author:** ![bordelond](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bordelond/32/150_2.png) [@bordelond](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bordelond)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2005, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-origin-of-oh-noes/305230/6 "2005-05-24T17:33:11Z")
Chef from _South Park_, maybe? ---
**Author:** ![williamweigand](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/b3f665/32.png) [@williamweigand](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/williamweigand)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2005, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-origin-of-oh-noes/305230/7 "2005-05-25T15:39:59Z")
> [@toadspittle](#): > > Mr. Bill was simply “Oh No!” (not plural) Are you sure about that? I read that the “Oh No!” was the common misconception, but that what he really said was a long drawn-out “Oooohhh!” ---
**Author:** ![Cisco](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ccd318/32.png) [@Cisco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cisco)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2005, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-origin-of-oh-noes/305230/8 "2005-05-25T17:31:14Z")
> [@bordelond](#): > > Chef from _South Park_, maybe? Definitely not. ---
**Author:** ![toadspittle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c0e974/32.png) [@toadspittle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/toadspittle)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2005, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-origin-of-oh-noes/305230/9 "2005-05-25T17:38:06Z")
> [@williamweigand](#): > > Are you sure about that? I read that the “Oh No!” was the common misconception, but that what he really said was a long drawn-out “Oooohhh!” Check out [http://www.mrbill.com/](http://www.mrbill.com/) . With your volume up. ---
**Author:** ![kimera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/f0a364/32.png) [@kimera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kimera)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2005, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-origin-of-oh-noes/305230/10 "2005-05-25T17:51:36Z")
> [@toadspittle](#): > > That site isn’t too helpful. Oh, I love it! I’ve been using it before that site existed. (Or at least, I’m pretty sure it was before that site existed. Anyone know a way of checking dates on websites? But that genre of webspace popped up a year or two ago.) I first heard it in gaming, particularly in the game Natural Selection which is a half-life life mod. In the game, there is a creature called ‘Onos’ who used to only show up near the end of the game and shows that the alien side is winning. When a marine player (the other side) saw this creature he would yell out ‘ONOS!’ to his team members to warn them. Being an internet game, people started purposefully spelling it wrong and calling it “OH NOES!” The term might have independently developed of this usage, but that is where I first saw it being used. ---
**Author:** ![Eurograff](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/df705f/32.png) [@Eurograff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eurograff)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2005, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-origin-of-oh-noes/305230/11 "2005-05-25T18:01:58Z")
One way to test when certain phrases have entered to general geek usage is to check the newsgroups archives. Now google’s usenet search clearly sucks currently, and probably always will, but I managed to determine that the first time someone used the expression “oh noes” in their archive was in November 2000, and it happened during a flame war as a sarcastic remark, so the phrase was probably known and used for a while back then. However it seems to emerge more commonly only in the summer 2002, mostly in gaming oriented groups, so it’s a relatively new (or unpopular) phenomenon compared to, say, l33t or k-rad which have their origins well in the 80s. Though it should be mentioned that google’s database probably doesn’t include most of the messages in Usenet, so this is in no way an authoritative way of research. ---
**Author:** ![kimera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/f0a364/32.png) [@kimera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kimera)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2005, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-origin-of-oh-noes/305230/12 "2005-05-25T18:02:03Z")
I found out that the website was registered on Aug 29th, 2003. I had heard the other usage in 2002. I emailed the web-master and asked him where he heard first heard the term.