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Newbie

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For other uses, see Newbie (disambiguation).

Newbie[a] is a slang term for a novice, newcomer, or somebody inexperienced in a given profession or activity. In particular, it may refer to a new user of computers, and often concerns Internet activity, such as online gaming[1] or Linux use.[2][3]

The origin of this term is uncertain. Earliest uses probably date to late twentieth century United States Armed Forces jargon, though possible precursor terms date much earlier. The related term noob (often stylized as n00b) is frequently used in online gaming.

History

The etymology of the term is uncertain. It may derive from "newie", which is attested in U.S. and Australian sources of the 1850s, meaning a neophyte in a place or situation; alternatively, it may derive from the British public school slang "new boy" or "new blood", which is attributed to the same era and was applied to a schoolboy in his first term.[4]

In the 1960s and 1970s, the term "newbie" had a limited usage among U.S. troops in the Vietnam War as a slang term for a new man in a unit.[5]

Another use of the term newbee was the moniker given to new U.S. Navy recruit students attending Basic Electricity and Electronics school by more senior students, a requisite course prior to enrollment in the A-school course at Naval Air Technical Training Center, Millington, Tennessee.[citation needed]

The earliest appearance of the term on the Internet may have been on the Usenet newsgroup talk.bizarre.[6] By 1988, it had already entered online usage.[7]

Coming from an oral tradition, the term has various spellings. Among alternative forms are "newby", "nubie", and "newbee" (e.g. Los Angeles Times of August 1985: "It had to do with newbees. I could be wrong on the spelling, but newbies are the rookies among the Blue Angels.").[4]

In 2000, Electronic Arts released The Sims. The game featured a tutorial house with a family called The Newbies.[8]

The Roblox Noob

In 2009, "noob" was among candidates for the one-millionth English word selection by the Global Language Monitor.[9][10]

Roblox meme

In the early 2010s, the word, which was used to refer to a new player in other video games, started to be used in by Robloxcommunity and later became a meme, first under multiple variations and later only "noob".

The word was paired with a character that had a yellow head and arms, green legs, and a blue torso. This specific character was used to represent the meme because Roblox had released a feature named "Guests" in which newer players that still haven't registered an account could play without having an account, their avatar in games was a reused character originally used in 2006 as part of a few characters that new players could choose; the original name of the noob character was Figure3.

Over time, the word and the character mostly became synonymous with eachother, often being paired with the oof sound.

The meme is considered a counterpart to the Creeper in how they both are considered one of the most recongnizable icons of their respective video games.

Connotations of variants

Different spellings can have quite different connotations; so in some contexts a "newb" refers to a beginner who is willing to learn,[11] while a "noob" refers disparagingly to an inexperienced or under-talented hacker or gamer who lacks the determination to learn.[11]

The origin of "nub" means "non-usable body" in the context of military submarines. It referred to crew that were too new to contribute, while wasting precious oxygen.

Similar terms in other languages

See also

  • FNG, another term for someone new to a unit used in the Vietnam War
  • Luser, a pejorative term for inexperienced computer users

Notes

  1. ^ Also newb, noob, newby, newbie, newbee, noobie, n00b, nub, and nubie.

References

  1. ^ "MIT.edu". Web.mit.edu. Archived from the original on July 8, 2012. Retrieved July 9, 2012.
  2. ^ "LinuxQuestions.org". LinuxQuestions.org. Archived from the original on February 7, 2018. Retrieved July 9, 2012.
  3. ^ "Ubuntu Forums". Ubuntu Forums. Archived from the original on May 3, 2022. Retrieved July 9, 2012.
  4. ^ a b "newbie Archived March 27, 2020, at the Wayback Machine" The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., 1989, OED Online, Oxford University Press, (subscription needed) March 8, 2010.
  5. ^ Entry for newbie in John Robert Elting, Ernest L. Deal, and Dan Cragg, A Dictionary of Soldier Talk, New York: Scribner, 1984, p. 209. ISBN 0-684-17862-1
  6. ^ "Newbie". The Hacker's Dictionary. Lysator, the Academic Computer Society. Archived from the original on December 21, 2015. Retrieved July 17, 2024.
  7. ^ Dyker, Barbara (May 31, 1988). "Re: some (should-be) ground-rules for submissions to comp.binaries.*". Newsgroup: comp.sys.mac. Archived from the original on September 27, 2011. Retrieved May 5, 2009.
  8. ^ Ericka Blye (January 21, 2020). "The Sims: The Longest Existing Families". The Gamer. Webtoon. Archived from the original on February 27, 2020. Retrieved March 25, 2021.
  9. ^ Moore, Matthew (May 6, 2009). "One millionth English word could be 'defriend' or 'noob'". The Telegraph. Telegraph Media Group. Archived from the original on January 12, 2022. Retrieved February 16, 2010.
  10. ^ "The Global Language Monitor: Millionth Word Finalists Announced". Global Language Monitor. May 29, 2009. Archived from the original on August 24, 2009. Retrieved September 18, 2009. N00b – From the Gamer Community; a neophyte in playing a particular game; used as a disparaging term.
  11. ^ a b Broek, Anna Vander (April 23, 2009). "Gamer Speak for Newbs". Forbes. Archived from the original on April 9, 2012. Retrieved February 16, 2010.
  12. ^ 都市汉子 (July 4, 2005). "试论网络语言的基本特点上" [On the Basic Characteristics of Internet Slangs] (in Simplified Chinese). Archived from the original on December 1, 2005. Retrieved October 31, 2018.
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