Woot

Woot is a way to exclaim "Yes!" or "alright!" when excited. Most people use it in a celebratory manner, like when they win a match online or find out they will get free ice cream.

Where did woot come from?

The origins of woot are unclear. Some believe it traces back to the "wow, loot!" and "wondrous loot" phrases from Dungeons and Dragons (DND) in the 1980s and other video games.

Others believe it is a direct descendant of the "Whoot, there it is" hip-hop phrase from the early-1990s. And a smaller portion of people believes that it comes from the "WOOT" acronym, which stands for "We Owned (the) Other Team."

How is woot used?

You will most often see woot online when messaging and when gaming. You might also see it used in text messages or hear it uttered in real life.

People commonly say, "woot woot!" Or, they spell "woot" as "w00t" and "wewt," which is the leet variation used by hackers to change the spelling of words slightly.

Some gamers say that WOOT is an acronym, which stands for "we owned the other team." However, this meaning is apocryphal, and was likely assigned after gamers had already begun using woot to mean "yes!" or "woohoo!"

Still, you may see some gamers use WOOT to mean "we owned the other team." For example, if your team dominated another in an online game, one of your teammates might post "WOOT" in the post-game chat, to rub your victory in your opponents' faces.

When working on something with another person that seems pointless and a waste of your time, you might describe it as "WOOT," which stands for "waste of our time." For example, if you think shoveling the snow from your driveway before it's supposed to melt is pointless, you might text your mom, "Why do we have to do this? WOOT."

Most people who use WOOT will complain about something they don't deem as worthwhile (teenagers often come to mind). Examples of WOOT candidates include cleaning, homework, attending a distant relative's birthday party, and watering a lawn before it's supposed to rain.

Remember that people also commonly use "woot" as an expression of excitement, which is vastly different than the exasperated WOOT acronym.

In forums, people use WOOT (way out of topic) to signal that their own or someone else's post is incredibly off-topic. For example, you might see a user start a sentence with WOOT:, when the thought that follows is way off-topic. Or, you might see a poster say "that's great, but it's WOOT," when they think another user's post has derailed a discussion.

WOOT is an expansion of OT, used in more extreme situations. However, people no longer use WOOT frequently, likely because it can be confused with other, more popular versions of woot (many of which are listed on this page).

RPG players sometimes use woot as shorthand for "wonderful loot." Most often, players use this abbreviation when they're excited about the treasure (or loot) they've found in a treasure chest or dungeon.

For example, a DnD player might enter "Look at all this woot" in chat, if their party has happened upon a cache of valuable items. You may also see woot spelled as w00t, which is an example of leetspeak.

More commonly, however, RPG players use woot to mean "woohoo!" (just like most people do). Thus, when an RPG player enters woot in chat, they're likely just excited about something - and that thing may or may not be wonderful loot.