I use 1337 speak all the time. Just not around people who are bothered by it. Hence you never hear it out of me here on TS

"PWN" is not a word. it's that simple...

is it commonly used? perhaps (by a select few) but that does not make it an official word. as already mentioned, it will never be an official [English] word for the simple reason that it contains no vowel(s).

also, many times words are abbreviated while IM'ing or TXT'ing by simply removing the vowels. is "PWN" just short for "PAWN" ????

in gaming, the [slang] word "PWN" is used in place of the [real] word "OWN", it seems like it was simply a common "typo" that somehow caught on over time and eventually became a regularly used term.

oh and BTW, as already stated, slang/abbreviated terms like "PWN" are ok in gaming or IM/TXT'ing... but have no place in a forum such as TS. when speaking on a forum like this, one should always type out full words. (there is no reasonable excuse not to)

just my 2¢ :wave:

But "pwn" is kind of like a higher version of "own." If one gets "owned" in a video game, that means they were defeated in a complete and/or humiliating way. But to get "pwned" is to get defeating in such a complete and/or humiliating way that "owned" just doesn't cut it for describing the manner in which they were defeated That's my opinion.

I don't think its a word, its just an expression. Like "wow".

1337 speak really isn't English, it is closer to a whole new languages based on alphanumeric numbers and symbols.

And since we speak English here, 1337speak is not acceptable.

I Voted No.....

.....and while I agree that the shortened version of a word can be quite useful when IM'ing and gaming (sometimes haste is a necessary evil), in traditional communication such as forums, blogs, letters (remember those? ) where clarity is the preferred norm, pwn or any other "crimped" term has absolutely no place. There's absolutely no reason for not taking one's time and explaining things clearly, with the proper punctuation, etc.

Just my $.02

Okay, I finally decided to look up the definition of what's a 'real word' and what isn't.

A 'word' is:
"A speech sound [or written symbol] or a group of sounds [or symbols] which has come to signify and communicate a particular thought or idea."

'Pwn' certainly qualifies as a word as far as I'm concerned. What remains to be debated is weather it's an English word, I suppose.

There are several dialects of English, none of which is any less English than the others. Pidgin English, Old English and Gaelic English ('Newfie') are all perfect examples. Sometimes one comes along that isn't accepted by whoever, and it feels excluded , like Basic English (for being constructed) and 1337speak (for being relatively new).

I thought it might help to share that.

To MetalX,
The official deffinition of 'pwn' is "to forceably take control of someone or their property without their consent". I guess that means technically it's being misused in gaming and, well, everywhere else!
I tend not to use that type of language on TS as well, just in case someone can't understand it. When I started gaming I couldn't tell what anyone was saying and I was like "what's that mean?" all the time.

To KingCody,
I say a slang word is as much a word as any other. Just my opinion.

To CMH,
'Wow' certainly is a word. There's a whole category - interjections - for words like 'wow,' 'ouch' and 'kaboom' which are a sentence all their own. However, 'pwn' is generally a verb; 'pwnt,' along with the half-dozen or so other past tenses, are interjections from time to time, and can also be nouns or adjectives.

To Masque,
Very good point. I wanted to say that initially, but wasn't sure how to word it.

'Weather' certainly is an English word. But so is 'whether'.

Envergure: in that case, I view pwn, lol, and a whole lot of other SMS words "interjections".