"Noob"

[Colhad]

Hi Noobs, this game isn't for Noobs you know. I just found out, "Noobs" aren't accepted in Chihuahua.

[Toni]

Ok, I'm dumb, but what is a noob??

[Binkie]

No, Toni, not dumb.....just not up with the latest slang !

"Newbie" can be used as a term to identify newcomers to a game, place, or organization. The variant spellings of "newbie" are also used, especially in online games and gaming forums, as a catch-all insult regardless of the recipient's actual skill or experience. Someone who acts like a "newbie," but isn't one would be referred to as one of the variant spellings. The variant "noob" has become common in spoken English by juveniles. Alternate spellings include "newb", "n00b", "noob", "nooblet", "nub", "nib", and the recently popular "nublet" and "nubcake". These alternate spellings of the term, other than "newb," inherit the definition of "newbie" but are generally used in a derogatory manner to indicate uselessness because of the ignorance associated with being a newcomer." (Wikipedia )

[Alan W]

Thanks for pointing out this gap in our word list, Colhad. I think we should allow noob. In fact, not having it makes us look like noobs - or at any rate, like newbies.

We do already allow newbie, which is more widely used, and older too. Apparently newbie has been around since the 1970s, and may have been used in the military forces originally. Noob is more recent, and mainly used in video gaming and online. The quote Binkie provided explains the difference in usage, basically that noob is a derogatory word, while newbie is a neutral descriptive term.

Noob doesn't seem to be in any general dictionaries yet, but I'm sure it will be before long. And I think the same applies to noobish. So I'll add these two words. However, I don't think any of the other variants listed in the passage quoted by Binkie are used widely enough to be considered.

[Toni]

Ah, I see! No, the latest (or even not so latest!) slang is not my best point.  My kids have grown beyond it and my friends and I are probably still using the slang of our distant youth.  Thanks Binkie.