Why can't y'all remember noob vs newb/newbie

[TaleraRistain]

Sorry to tell you, but we were using newb and noob back in EQ days and it just described a new person, whether they were obnoxious or not. We used n00b when we were being edgy. Just because someone decided to write some articles focusing on their preferred definition doesn't mean they're the definitive authority and everyone else is using it "wrong".

[Iscah]

What we can say is that languages are always alive and meanings change. And what we can also say is just because you've seen people use terms in the wrong way doesn't mean it was correct. We can have a bunch of people come in here and tell you that they were abducted by aliens, but would that make it true?

Language does evolve, and that's why there's no point arguing an old distinction between newbie and noob. They converged many moons ago.

And "falsely claiming something happened" has nothing to do with "using a word to mean something different to what it would in the past", so your example doesn't make sense.

If one person alone is using a word wrong so people don't understand what they mean, it's wrong.

If they use it in a new way that other people understand, it's an evolution of the word.

I would still personally make the distinction, but it's not worth arguing over the fact that other people don't see a difference in the terms, especially if it's clear from context what they mean.

[Canadane]

Just because someones somewhere decided that the different spellings had meaning other than "this is how I like to spell it" doesn't mean people are using it "wrong".

My made maid my bed.

[Krotoan]

My made maid my bed.

Both words that come from different roots entirely. Noob/nub/n00b/newb are all shortened slangs of Newbie.

Your point?

[Vinupra-Rosa]

A key feature of languages is that words can easily change meaning and/or split depending on usage. Skirt and Shirt were once the same word. Shadow, shade, and shed were all once the same word. As a more recent example, Animé comes from Animation, being a reborrowing of the English word into Japanese as アニメーション, which was shortened to アニメ which yields the English word "Animé".

But despite "Anime" being derived from "Animation" incredibly recently, you don't generally use the word "Anime" in English to refer to Western Animation (which are usually called cartoons)-- it's used to refer exclusively to Eastern Animation.

Now, on to "Noob" vs "Newb"-- while both come from "Newbie", they have both acquired clear negative connotations due to their overuse as insults, with "Noob" being a more severe insult than "Newb", which is only slightly negative and can still be mostly neutral. "Newbie" on the other hand remains neutral to positive. Due to this differentiation in connotation, while it can be argued that "Noob", "Newb" and "Newbie" all refer to a general state of being new to something, they are not entirely interchangeable... at least in a broader internet context.

Nonetheless, due to the nature of slang and the internet at large, it's entirely possible that there are pockets of internet-space where the word "Noob" has yet to acquire a negative connotation. It's a distinction that's worth keeping in mind, but honestly being prescriptivist towards slang is a lost cause.

[Canadane]

Both words that come from different roots entirely. Noob/nub/n00b/newb are all shortened slangs of Newbie.

Your point?

My point was spelling does matter.
n00b and newbie hail from different parts too. You seemed to forget this while you didn't consider my point.

[Krotoan]

My point was spelling does matter.
n00b and newbie hail from different parts too. You seemed to forget this while you didn't consider my point.

Spelling matters when you are using homophones, yes. Great point. Nothing to do with what someone intends when spouting "newb" variants online. Spelling can change based on experience, region, age, game, the list goes on. They don't have actual defined meanings or complex linguistic roots. They mean what you mean them to mean and that can be generally extrapolated by context.
What "parts" do they hail from? What linguistic roots do they have besides leetspeak bastardization of English characters?

This is a manufactured pedantic circle-fluff.

[Tarryme]

I am a Aytbg
As yet to be great.

[ShizukuOikawa]

I don't think it makes any difference. I'm surprised how this is even a debate lol. A noob can be a newb and a newb can be a noob.

[Valkyrie_Lenneth]

As someone whose been playing numerous mmos since... late 2000s? They are all used interchangeably. At least in the dozen or so MMOs I've played.