Obscure request for those with good memory

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mincer

Guest
Need some information to settle a discussion, namely the origin of the word "pwned".

I vaguely recall a BW column in the "second age" of Barrysworld (i.e. 98/99 or thereabouts) where it was discussed, I have no recollection of who wrote it (I vaguely suspect durzel, but that's just a hunch), so can anyone with slightly more recollective ability remember who/when this was.

If anyone with full access to the BW archive could dig out som ancient link that would be even better :)
 
D

Durzel

Guest
You're absolutely right, I invented it. :)

"pwned" © Durzel 1999
 
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Sir Frizz

Guest
I doubt someone such as Durzel, with his careful use of grammar would use a the term "pwned". :p
 
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WPKenny

Guest
it used to be powned then changed to pwned and use to fluctuate between the two. Lately I've seen pwned used more frequently. As for the origin, it's most likely something that appeared through Q2 although prolly no where specifically.
 
O

old.Kez

Guest
Of all the ridiculous semi-popular mis-spellings, I prefer wnd, which [sadly?] never got the uptake of other, lamer spellings.

I think whats most upsetting is I recall its invention. Which prooves both that I have a good memory, and that I spend too much time on the internet recollecting trivia.
 
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Lester

Guest
Just a guess, but aren't most of these things derived from typos - the "o" in owned is right next to "p", so , pwned?
 
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Sawtooth

Guest
Originally posted by mincer
Need some information to settle a discussion, namely the origin of the word "pwned".

I vaguely recall a BW column in the "second age" of Barrysworld (i.e. 98/99 or thereabouts) where it was discussed, I have no recollection of who wrote it (I vaguely suspect durzel, but that's just a hunch), so can anyone with slightly more recollective ability remember who/when this was.

If anyone with full access to the BW archive could dig out som ancient link that would be even better :)

Beyond me!
 
G

granny

Guest
It originates from a hybrid bastardisation of cross-cultural posturisation. The originating term, "owned" is a derivative of Thatcherite monetarist anti-social concepts and is a subconcious echoing, or even a parody of the class relationships between the so-called "haves" and "have-nots", as epitomised by the "Loadsamoney" Harry Enfield character. In essence it is a simple variation on "I can pee further than you can" but with the added dimension to the dominant/subserviant implications of monetary superiority taken to the literal extreme of the slave/master relationship and the commitant objectification of the intended recipient of the epithet.

The cross/neuveau culturalisation aspect of the derivative "pwned" (in fact the essence of it's adoption and therefore internalisation within, and ironically, ownership by the micro-community of online competetive gaming) lies in the allusion to the purely text-based communicative environment of said community by the (now-identifying) mechanisma of a deliberate typographical error as seen with multiple other colloquiallisms specific to this community, eg. "where's teh falg?!1". In this particular case the use of this motif results in an interesting paradigm if the Thatcherite/monetarist roots of the originating sentiment of ownership are compared with the personalisation, and hence ownership of the resulting word by the community, the irony of which should be clear.

As regards the origin the word "pwned" it is almost certainly fruitless to attempt to ascertain a precise and individual originator since it will have arisen in multiple sub-sections of the community within a short time period and thus will have a nebulous origin.

God I could spout this bullshit all night, anyone got any social studies homework they need doing?

Edit: Typo. Oh the irony :D
 
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dysfunction

Guest
Well that certainly cleared it up! I feel very well educated after that explanation..

Thanks granny!
 
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Daffeh

Guest
a more general question is when did 'l33t sp34k' first get used and by whom?
 
X

xane

Guest
Originally posted by Daffeh
a more general question is when did 'l33t sp34k' first get used and by whom?

One aspect of l33t sp34k is the swapping of numbers for letters.

When I first used the operating system UNIX around 18 years ago, it was an early version and upgrades introduced new security features, one of which was to restrict passwords in different ways, the most typical was to force a password to have at least one of an uppercase, lowercase and numeric character.

Consequently people simply replaced certain letters, like "3" for "e", and stuck to memoriable passwords, totally defeating the objective. So that angle on l33t has been around for a long time, probably longer as the UNIX features were normally nicked from other established operating systems.
 
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Lester

Guest
Originally posted by granny
It originates from a hybrid bastardisation of cross-cultural posturisation. The originating term, "owned" is a derivative of Thatcherite monetarist anti-social concepts and is a subconcious echoing, or even a parody of the class relationships between the so-called "haves" and "have-nots", as epitomised by the "Loadsamoney" Harry Enfield character. In essence it is a simple variation on "I can pee further than you can" but with the added dimension to the dominant/subserviant implications of monetary superiority taken to the literal extreme of the slave/master relationship and the commitant objectification of the intended recipient of the epithet.

The cross/neuveau culturalisation aspect of the derivative "pwned" (in fact the essence of it's adoption and therefore internalisation within, and ironically, ownership by the micro-community of online competetive gaming) lies in the allusion to the purely text-based communicative environment of said community by the (now-identifying) mechanisma of a deliberate typographical error as seen with multiple other colloquiallisms specific to this community, eg. "where's teh falg?!1". In this particular case the use of this motif results in an interesting paradigm if the Thatcherite/monetarist roots of the originating sentiment of ownership are compared with the personalisation, and hence ownership of the resulting word by the community, the irony of which should be clear.

As regards the origin the word "pwned" it is almost certainly fruitless to attempt to ascertain a precise and individual originator since it will have arisen in multiple sub-sections of the community within a short time period and thus will have a nebulous origin.

God I could spout this bullshit all night, anyone got any social studies homework they need doing?

Edit: Typo. Oh the irony :D

so was i right or not then?
 
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WPKenny

Guest
b0rked came from people mis-spelling the word broken.

broken ----> borken -----> b0rken -----> b0rked
 
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WPKenny

Guest
I don't even have it installed. I have lost track of patches and versions and stuff.

I've prolly lost my touch too. :p
 
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Sar

Guest
Originally posted by WPKenny
I've prolly lost my touch too. :p

Funny you should mention that, Damini was just saying the other day....
 
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Daffeh

Guest
well, you'd still be able to beat me :)

i've never even had 'the touch' :D
 
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Skyler

Guest
I started saying prawned instead of owned some years ago, then shortened it to pwned, thats the first I saw of it, other people were seeming to use it then as tho :/

I've gone back to prawned :p
 
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ECA

Guest
its very very simple
some tit mispelt owned pwned - notice the closeness of the o and the p :/
then some lamers started using in, and then it was everywhere.
 

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