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{{Short description|Slang term for a novice or newcomer}}{{Other uses}}
A '''newbie''' is a ] to a particular field, the term being commonly used on the ], where it might refer to new, inexperienced, or ignorant users of a ], a ], an ] or the Internet itself.
{{pp-vandalism|small=yes}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=November 2012}}


'''''Newbie'''''{{efn|Also '''''newb''''', '''''noob''''', '''''newby''''', '''''newbie''''', '''''newbee''''', '''''noobie''''', '''''n00b''''', '''''nub''''', and '''''nubie'''''.}} is a ] term for a ], ], or somebody inexperienced in a given profession or activity. In particular, it may refer to a new user of ], and often concerns ] activity, such as ]<ref>{{cite web |url=http://web.mit.edu/dryfoo/Masonry/Misc/welaish.html |title=MIT.edu |publisher=Web.mit.edu |access-date=July 9, 2012 |archive-date=July 8, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120708225739/http://web.mit.edu/dryfoo/Masonry/Misc/welaish.html |url-status=dead }}</ref> or ] use.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.linuxquestions.org/ |title=LinuxQuestions.org |publisher=LinuxQuestions.org |access-date=July 9, 2012 |archive-date=February 7, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180207010101/https://www.linuxquestions.org/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://ubuntuforums.org/ |title=Ubuntu Forums |publisher=Ubuntu Forums |access-date=July 9, 2012 |archive-date=May 3, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220503233544/https://ubuntuforums.org/ |url-status=live }}</ref>
Variant spellings, such as '''newb''', '''noob''', or '''n00b''' (in "]"), are numerous and common in Internet use, particularly in the Internet language ].
<!-- Removed extra variants. There are many variants of the word "newbie", but they should not all be displayed here. If you really have a comprehensive list, create a section for that purpose. -->


The origin of this term is uncertain. Earliest uses probably date to late twentieth century ] ], though possible precursor terms date much earlier. The related term '''noob''' (often stylized as '']'') is frequently used in online gaming.
==Semantics==
It can be both a disparaging and friendly term, referring to a ], someone who behaves as such, or someone who is seen as such. A newb is generally a positive term, while n00b usually has a negative connotation.


==History==
The word itself is probably a corruption of ''new boy''; a new arrival in a school and who is, therefore, vulnerable to bullying of various kinds, such as ] or ]. It could also derive from "new beginner".
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 ] slang "new boy" or "new blood", which is attributed to the same era and was applied to a schoolboy in his first term.<ref name="oed">" {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200327185742/https://public.oed.com/help/ |date=March 27, 2020 }}" ''The Oxford English Dictionary'', 2nd ed., 1989, ''OED Online'', Oxford University Press, (subscription needed) March 8, 2010.</ref>


In the 1960s and 1970s, the term "newbie" had a limited usage among U.S. troops in the ] as a slang term for a new man in a unit.<ref>Entry for ''newbie'' in John Robert Elting, Ernest L. Deal, and Dan Cragg, ''A Dictionary of Soldier Talk'', New York: ], 1984, p. 209. {{ISBN|0-684-17862-1}}</ref>
"Newbie" was used prior to this as ] in the ] to denote men who had finished technical school (so no longer a ] and ]) and were just arriving to their first permanent assignment.


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, ].{{citation needed|date=August 2017}}
==Discouraging newbies==


The earliest appearance of the term on ] may have been on the ] ''talk.bizarre''.<ref name="esr">{{cite web |title=Newbie |url=https://www.lysator.liu.se/hackdict/split2/newbie.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151221112546/http://www.lysator.liu.se/hackdict/split2/newbie.html |archive-date=December 21, 2015 |access-date=July 17, 2024 |work=] |publisher=Lysator, the Academic Computer Society}}</ref> <span data-darkreader-inline-color="" data-darkreader-inline-bgcolor="">By 1988, it had already entered online usage.</span><ref>{{cite newsgroup |title=Re: some (should-be) ground-rules for submissions to comp.binaries.* |author=Dyker, Barbara |date=May 31, 1988 |newsgroup=comp.sys.mac |url=http://groups.google.com/group/comp.sys.mac/msg/68659de9d2d8e42d?hl=en |access-date=May 5, 2009 |archive-date=September 27, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110927085309/http://groups.google.com/group/comp.sys.mac/msg/68659de9d2d8e42d?hl=en |url-status=live}}</ref>
In some contexts, such as on Usenet and in multiplayer video games, being a newbie is discouraged. Newbies may ask questions that seem extremely simple to experienced users, or disrupt normal order with their lack of skills or etiquette in a certain type of technology. For example, video game players may dislike newbies because they think newbies will hurt or bring down the collective efforts of a team game. Usenet posters may dislike newbies for bringing up off-topic discussion or violating ].


Coming from an oral tradition, the term has various spellings. Among alternative forms are "newby", "nubie", and "newbee" (e.g. '']'' of August 1985: "It had to do with newbees. I could be wrong on the spelling, but newbies are the rookies among the ].").<ref name="oed"/>
In some groups, the term "newbie" is used by experienced users to refer to any newcomer, whether the newcomer acts ignorantly or not. In this case, the regulars assert their position with a sort of ] (sometimes called ]ing in video games).


In 2000, ] released ]. The game featured a tutorial house with a family called The Newbies.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.thegamer.com/the-sims-longest-existing-families/|title=The Sims: The Longest Existing Families|work=]|publisher=]|date=January 21, 2020|author=Ericka Blye|access-date=March 25, 2021|archive-date=February 27, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200227091840/https://www.thegamer.com/the-sims-longest-existing-families/|url-status=live}}</ref>
In some ]'s a newbie is anyone who is lower-leveled than the person making the remark, regardless of actual time spent playing the game. (for example, a level 60 player in ] may consider a level 30 player a newbie). Some forums and ]'s have banned some of the more common spelling variations ("newb", "nub", "noob", "n00b", "n4b") in an attempt to reduce flame wars. This has, of course, led to more variations.


==Connotations of variants==
Referring to regular members as newbies is often considered to be highly insulting. The implication is that they are behaving as if they do not know the rules when in fact they have had more than sufficient opportunity to learn them.
Different spellings can have quite different connotations; so in some contexts a "newb" refers to a beginner who is willing to learn,<ref name=forbes/> while a "]" refers disparagingly to an inexperienced or under-talented hacker or gamer who lacks the determination to learn.<ref name=forbes>{{cite web|url=https://www.forbes.com/2009/04/23/words-online-gaming-opinions-books-newbs.html|title=Gamer Speak for Newbs|work=]|author=Broek, Anna Vander|date=April 23, 2009|access-date=February 16, 2010|archive-date=April 9, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120409134803/http://www.forbes.com/2009/04/23/words-online-gaming-opinions-books-newbs.html|url-status=live}}</ref>


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.
In ], newbies are both discouraged and encouraged, depending on the particular channel. There are channels on any of the major networks dedicated to catering to newbie questions and getting into the IRC community. However, beyond the scope of these introductory rooms there are many channels where common newbie mistakes are not tolerated. This may include, repeating the same sentence, begging for pirated software, immature insult slinging, attacking an operator, usage of color, and the use of channel bot search and file list commands (such as !find or @search). Most channels have rules that are posted as a link in the topic or sent to the user as an on-join message. Breaking said rules or established policy by someone who does not take the initiative to find out the rules can result in an instant kick-ban.


==Similar terms in other languages==
==Encouraging newbies==
* In ], the equivalent term is ''''']''''' or '''''hasu''''', the opposite of '']'', meaning "highly skilled".{{citation needed|date=May 2017}}
* In ], ''''']''''' ({{Lang-zh |t=菜鳥 |s=菜鸟 |p=càiniǎo |l=vegetable bird }}). It either originated from ]<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.chinaonlineedu.com/tougao/special.asp?id=96 |language=zh-hans |author=都市汉子 |title=试论网络语言的基本特点上 |trans-title=On the Basic Characteristics of Internet Slangs |date=2005-07-04 |access-date=2018-10-31 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20051201120216/http://www.chinaonlineedu.com/tougao/special.asp?id=96 |archive-date=2005-12-01}}</ref> or from the ].{{citation needed|date=March 2019}} It became an ].


==See also==
It is often a personal choice within a community whether to discourage or encourage newbies. For example, some ] users may discourage non-technical users who try to install GNU/Linux, because supporting these users will be difficult and the newbies may be dissatified in the long run. On the other hand, some GNU/Linux users may prefer to encourage newbies, because it grows their userbase and may help the newbies learn more about computing.
{{Portal|Internet}}
* ], another term for someone new to a unit used in the ]
* ], a pejorative term for inexperienced computer users


== Notes ==
Sometimes newbies are recognized as the most important members and received with extra attention. Some ]s, for example, have established rules to ask "oldies" to first answer the newbies' questions or concerns before resuming their ongoing discussions. Large ] such as ] and ] have special boards for newbies to learn the basics of chatting on that forum.
{{Notelist}}


==References==
Other communities do not treat newbies with a significantly elevated status, but do greet most of the friendly newbies with welcomes informing them of methods to receive assistance. In these situations, the term is basically synonymous with ''newcomer'' and is meant with or without affection. For example, ] has a firm policy of welcoming all new contributors whether or not their first edits are helpful to an encyclopedia. This way, users who make mistakes will be encouraged to learn the rules and keep contributing, rather than provoking censure or anger.
{{Reflist}}


==External links==
The positive interpretation is probably the more recent but has become quite common. The only way to determine the intended connotation is to examine the context.
{{wiktionary|newbie|noob|n00b|newb}}
*


{{internet slang}}
Individuals may refer to themselves as newbies in a self-deprecating manner or in acknowledgment of their newcomer status, which may (or may not) lessen the amount of harassment they receive. This may have negative or a positive connotations, depending on the standards of the community.
{{Authority control}}

==Newb vs. noob==

''Newb'' and ''noob'' may have somewhat different connotations. Newbs are simply newcomers&mdash;noob, on the other hand, generally means someone who is obnoxious, annoying, or breaks the rules; whether they are actual newcomers or not is mostly irrelevant. Therefore, a noob may be someone who has been around for a time but still engages in behavior that he or she should have learned is unacceptable. Noobs are generally confident in what they are doing, but in reality are annoying others. "Newb" is not necessarily an insulting word, but "noob" is.

More experienced players are often encouraged to give friendly advice and help to Newbs, to support them as they tackle the learning curve of whichever game they're playing, and some game servers are set up explicitly for the purpose of allowing Newbs to gain experience before entering more competitive environments.

"Noob" can also mean a person who claims to know a lot about a subject but in truth does not. It was first used in ] groups on the ] chat systems in the ]. It is important to note that noob and newb are not necessarily interchangeable.

Recently, the spelling ''noob'' has been used more interchangably with "newb", however, and is being used in a more joking manner.

In online gaming, the term is also often used as a general insult. Frustrated players on the losing team may refer to the winning team as noobs. In this case there is no actual connotation of newness meant; the word is simply being used as an insult. By the same token, members of a dominating team may use the term "noobs" (n00bs) to further frustrate their opposition by implying a general lack of skill on the losing team's part, such as "camping" (staying in the general vicinity for an extended period of time) or wastefully firing at a wall. ''Noob'' might also be used by veteran players to criticize cheap tactics or overusage of unbalanced weaponry. E.g., in an online team game where friendly fire is turned off, a noob "tactic" would be to overuse explosives in cramped areas around fellow teammates. ''Noob'' also specifically applies in games where team-play is important, and the players choose to completely ignore the team structure and goals.

Noob has frequently been written in different forms. Because of the proximity of the "j" key to the "n" key, players in online games often typed "j00b" or "joob" by accident, and the recent proliferation of "nub" (used to shorten the word noob) has often turned into "jub". Though neither "joob" or "jub" have any meaning, their connection with "noob" makes the two words equivalent. "B00b" and "m00b" sometimes appear in a similar manner ("b" and "m" are right beside "n" in a standard computer keyboard).

==U.S. Navy Usage==

The term "non-useful body", or N.U.B. was coined in the submariner world. A brand new sailor reporting aboard a submarine had to earn his "dolphins" (submarine-qualification = learning everything about a submarine and how to assist in damage control). Until the sailor became so qualified, he could not do his assigned function aboard the submarine. During this time, he was declared a non-useful-body, and was generally harassed until he completed it. The term has since migrated to the surface fleet, and is used to negatively refer to new sailors, who are not as experienced and useful as their shipmates.

== Likely etymology of n00b ==

The following is the likely etymology of n00b:

# newbie (new person)
# newb (shortened version of newbie)
# noob (a variant probably for both phonetics and "]")
# n00b (Partial ]speak of "noob")

==Noob Talk==

An underground joke is "Noob talk" or "NOB TALK". Noob talk is when an individual uses harsh spelling errors and terrible punctuation to insult noobs. A lot of "real" noob talk is found on games such as '']'', '']'', '']'', and '']''. An example of this dialect is "ITAM PLEX" (translated into "Items Please") (In ''Runescape'', the higher leveled players usually use the term "PLX" or "PLOX" when imitating N00b Speak."). Noob talk is fairly simple to grasp: one makes numerous spelling mistakes and overuses common Internet abbreviations. It is easy to discern between "real" noob talk and "joke" noob talk. In many ways, this is similar to the 1980s ] postings on Usenet.

Example of real "noob talk": OMG LOLOLOLO U SUK!!!!!!11

Example of joke "noob talk": ] U SUK!!!!!11oneone11!one

Example of total "noob talk": "DOOM BUCKET YOUR THE NOOB!!!"

This is also "fr00b," meaning cheater, or fake.

Noob or n00b as insult is sometimes ethically loaded in ways similar to '']''. Thus, there are certain actions which will trigger someone's being labeled as a noob or n00b, as a form of peer-to-peer negative sanction. In role-playing games for instance, this would include such actions as begging for free in-game items off other players, attempting to initiate trading with other players outside usual trading areas, following or harassing players, and massively under-/over-charging or /-paying for ingame items. It can also include asking for in-game help rather than solving problems oneself or by Googling, using dirty tricks to gain an advantage in competitive situations over more skillful or higher-level players, and letting down a team effort through incompetence - with the exact parameters depending on who is using the term. Although apparently originating in descriptions of ignorant actions common among new players, its usage extends to high-level players who act in these ways, and does not cover new players (newbs) who do not act in these ways. Its pervasiveness as a general insult or means of chiding players for annoying, foolish or disruptive actions probably originates from the banning, censoring or penalising of more common insults and swearing in many online gaming settings. Someone online may call someone a "n00b", who offline would call him or her a bastard or idiot.

== Noob as a verb ==

The verb "noob" usually means "to own (] in some cases) someone like a noob." Noob is not necessarily a derogatory verb, but can be depending on the context. For instance: if person A beats person B to the point where person B looked like a newbie in comparison, person A noobed person B. In any situation where person A could say he "owned" or beat person B like person B was a noob or newbie, person A noobed person B.

It is also possible to hear the verb used in the opposite context. If person A is new to the game or does not play well and beats person B on a lucky chance, then person B could say that he "got noobed", especially if he or she is an excellent player. Noob as a derogatory verb is therefore not hard to grasp, as it is merely an extension of its noun and adjective counterparts.

And finally, the verb "noob" is sometimes seen as "noobing it up" (or more commonly, "newbin' it up"), which means to be or act like a noob. If person A is getting pwned by person B, one could say person A is "newbin' it up."

== See also ==
*]
*]
*]
*]
*]
*]
*]

==References==
{{unsourced}}


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Latest revision as of 11:53, 6 January 2025

Slang term for a novice or newcomerFor other uses, see Newbie (disambiguation).

Newbie 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 or Linux use.

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.

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.

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.

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

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.").

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

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, while a "noob" refers disparagingly to an inexperienced or under-talented hacker or gamer who lacks the determination to learn.

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. ^ "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. ^ Broek, Anna Vander (April 23, 2009). "Gamer Speak for Newbs". Forbes. Archived from the original on April 9, 2012. Retrieved February 16, 2010.
  10. 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.

External links

Internet slang
Abuse Map of the Internet
Chatspeak
Imageboard
Memes
Usenet
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