Ok... I know what it means (more or less) - I'd like to know how it
got started.  Origin, first usage, etc.
Either "woot" or "w00t" is acceptable.

Thanks,

Scaryberry

hi scaryberry-ga!

Seems w00t is a geeks/gamers exclamation of techie joy... See the link
below for a "w00t!" T-shirt offering.

w00t! 
http://www.thinkgeek.com/tshirts/gaming/38e7/
..."Use it as an interjection or a celebratory statement! As
in...'Hey! I just upgraded my 56k modem to 1.1 SDSL. w00t! w00t!'.
Works every time. True it's an independent clause, but really the best
clauses are always independent. w00t.

w00t belongs to gamers the world over. It seems to have been derived
from the obselete 'whoot' which essentially is another way to say
'hoot' which itself is a shout or derisive laugh. But others maintain
that w00t is the sound several players make while jumping like bunnies
in Quake III. Still others want you to believe that it comes from the
phrase 'wow loot' used in multiplayer RPGs many moons ago. Fiction or
fact? I suppose you'll just have to decide what 'w00t!' means to
you..."

That is the most decisive explanation I was able to find, yet the next
link is more fun:

w00t!
http://www.offlinetshirts.com/cgi-bin/comp/comp.cgi/woot2 
They are also selling "w00t!" shirts.

..."It has come to my attention that a few people are confused as to
what w00t means. Let me help set you straight:

Woot:
A young boy from the far corner of the Gillikin Country of Oz.
Everything at his home is so quiet, happy, and comfortable he does not
find life very interesting; so he sets out to see new sights and
strange people. Woot is instrumental in convincing the Tin Woodman he
should seek out and marry his former sweetheart, Nimmie Amee. This
sets in motion a new adventure in the Land of Oz. aka Woot the
Wanderer..."

But seriously, this next page seems to confirm the first link:

http://www.clock.org/~chris/huh/alpha/w/woot.html
..."As originally used by Nutation (who first coined it), w00t is a
happy sound, like "waa hoo!" or "yippee!" ..."

Additionally, the same link above states this:
..."it is not set off by asterisks and is spelled distinctively with
two zeroes instead of two Os. It sounds similar to the Macintosh
"droplet" system sound..."

The next link gives synonyms of w00t!:

NES Palyer's Guide
http://www.nesplayer.com/lingo/1337.htm
..."w00t = Snonyms: "yippee!", "yay!", or "hooray!" ..."

Here's a guy using w00t! as the title of a forum post, announcing he
has a new baby boy, indicating it's use extends past gaming:

w00t!
http://forum.fathermag.com/circ/053/forum/messages/136474.shtml
The guy is likely a gamer whose gaming vocabulary has bled over into
his real life.

Hope this helps!

--Cynthia

Search terms used at Google:
woot and "word origin"
w00t and "word origin"
w00t and origin
"origin of w00t"

---

Request for Answer Clarification by scaryberry-ga on 10 Apr 2003 16:43 PDT

um, hrm.  Ok. Well, as stated, I already know what it means.  In fact,
I probably use it daily (though not in board meetings).

I was looking for origin/first usage.  Are you saying it originates
with Woot the Wanderer?  How did his name become a exclamation? 
Sounds coincidental, not linked.

Re: the clock.org page - who the heck is Nutation?  Anything
confirming he/she actually "coined" it?

Sorry, I don't want to be difficult over this.

---

Clarification of Answer by cynthia-ga on 11 Apr 2003 09:21 PDT

Scary,

Thanks so much for recognizing the question is virtually impossible to
answer with certainty. I gave it my absolute best for you. If nothing
else, my answer provides a place where all the origin theories are
linked from one place. I'm sorry I couldn't do better for you.

--Cynthia

---

Clarification of Answer by cynthia-ga on 08 Jun 2005 03:44 PDT

I found a new resource, I hope you come back to see it:

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia: w00t
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/W00t

Came to the same conclusion that I did, however there are more ideas
with other possible origins.  Fascinating!

~~Cynthia

I think pink might be correct - the mysts of history doth obscure.  My
fault (rate me -5 stars) for asking the unanswerable.  4 stars for
effort, thank you.
I found the graph to be most interesting.  I'm assuming he's using
webcrawling techniques, which would not pick up online-ingame usage. 
The people who refer to the rap usage (i.e., woot, there it is) are...
 incredibly wrong.  Use headphones people.   The graph does sort of
coincide with Everquest's popularity.  The thought of "woo hoo, loot"
does come to mind.
Anyway, thanks for your efforts, and yours as well Pinkfreud.
Scary

"a woot is a furry little creature that when beaten enough, looks like
a rotten pile of hamburger meat with bulging eyes and flies circling
it's head."
http://www.geocities.com/town_ol_fanfics/dfy1_12.html

Hmmmm that can't be right!

Here's an oddity: a graphic representation of the usage of 'w00t',
'woot', and 'whoot' on Usenet:

http://www.plasticbag.org/archives/2002_12_08_archive.shtml#90050778

An esoteric (and, I think, unlikely) etymology of 'woot':

http://pool.dylantree.com/phorum/read.php?f=2&i=8667&t=8667

It's fun trying to trace the source of this word, but somehow I
suspect that its origins will remain wootless, shrouded in the mists
of history (or, if you will, the hists of mystery.)

LOL!

Oh dear I'm sorry, I did not mean to lead you astray....

Aside froom my moniker here at Google Anseres, I am also known as the
owner of OffLineTshirts.com which was quoted above as explaining Woot
to be a character in the Wizard of Oz. This is true, however I did not
mean for it to be taken as the serious the origin of today's use of
the word, just as a humerous story to share with fellow "woot" users.

The word woot (or w00t) in my experience was born out of gaming
circles as an alternative to "Hooray!" I can date the use of it in
MMORPGs to the year 1999 with game logs -- however I do not know where
or if it came to be before that. I can share some logs in reference to
my black woot shirt though, support the modern cross over of the term
as they come from various places beside gaming and computer geek site,
including: a racing car enthusiast site, and quite interestingly, a
Bob Dylan site in which the members were tickled that Mr. Dylan's
saying made it into my store (most likely the one Pink referenced).

w00t!

Where I come from, 'woot' is a whale call used to tease people who are
believed to be slightly overweight.

Now I've heard that it's an exclamation of joy, I'll start using it
more:

"Woot"

Here's an interesting addition to the possibilities from the Urban
Dictionary at http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=woot:

Stems from 80's hacker lingo. When a hacker 'rooted' (got root access
to) a 'box' (a computer hooked up to the internet) he would exclaim
"woot. (I have root.)" Later use spread to the hacker's lesser
brethren, the gamer, and most hackers no longer use the term.

Woot is a phrase that can be traced back to gaming, although often
used as a cheer of joy, it is not used in proper context. Woot= "WE
OWNED the OTHER TEAM"

Possible true origin here --> 

http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=woot
Defined by Shinigami and User