Noob

Noob is a derivation of the term “Noobie” (or “Newbie “ or Newbee”), originally used to describe a recent purchaser, someone who is new to the game (computer game, that is).

While “Newbee” is neutral, “Noob”, on the other hand, has a pejorative connotation, as it means someone who is, or behaves like, a novice at an online game. To make it look even worse, not to say insulting, you can write it “nOOb”, thus highlighting the two zeros that sum up how useless the player is.

A Noob, then, has a rather bad reputation. He feels ill at ease with the more seasoned players, and has a habit of pestering them for answers to his questions. If he doesn’t get a speedy reply, he can become quite uncouth. While the Newbie is a beginner who shows he is willing to learn, the Noob relies on others to hand him all the keys to the game on a plate. The Noob communicates in Noobish, which is just about literate enough to enable him to ask the other players for help and say sorry when he gets it wrong. For instance, he misuses the word LOL: if he has done something stupid or asked a silly question, his way of apologising will be to put a whole string of LLLLLs and OOOOOs, as if it were just another good-humoured and objective way of writing “LOL”. At least, he might think that’s what he’s doing, but no one else finds it funny.

To get over his uncomfortable feeling of being marginalised, the Noob has become quite gregarious: he contacts other Noobs so they can help each other out and egg each other on. Most of all, if one of them is insulted, he can rely on the Noob community to put the bad guy in his place.