Never was that way. It's like saying read = reed. Or tea = tee. Or pee = pea. Capital = capitol.
They are spelled different and are very different words. It always had different meanings. They still have different meanings. You'll even still see people use noob as an insult. But at the same time, go and use it in a friendly way for someone who just started the game. It's just ignorance I'd say overall. Though to be fair, it's done with words all the time. Such as people who can't tell the difference between there, their, and they're.