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The word newbie is used mostly in Internet gaming culture. Its definition is to be new to something, mainly video games or an internet service. There are variant spellings, such as newb, n00b, nob, noob and nub, although noob is sometimes used as another definition.
The term newb itself is usually used to refer to a person who is new to the field in question, whereas noob is used as an insult.
Usage
"Newbie" is used as an endearing term to identify newcomers to a game or place. This definition can be shared with the term "noob", although many believe it has a different meaning.
In popular belief, the term "noob" can also be an insult to a person who is being irritating by their actions. Noob is used as a term of disdain for a new or lower ranking player or used as a method of demeaning accomplished players who make "stupid mistakes".
Internet Relay Chat
In IRC, newbies may be either discouraged or 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 the rules or established policy can result in an instant kick-ban.
Military 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 in order to quickly and decisively 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.
A "newbie" in the U.S. Army was a term to describe new arrivals in the Vietnam theater of war, decades before its popular use on 1980s bulletin boards and subsequent internet message boards and chat rooms.
Usage in popular culture
- Doctor Cox in the TV show Scrubs continuously refers to his protége John Dorian (J.D.) as "Newbie" as a way of breaking his spirits and constantly reminding him who's in charge.
- In The Sims video game, the tutorial family with which you learn how to play the game are called Bob & Betty Newbie.
- In the webcomic Ctrl+Alt+Del, The strips "Glossary:Newb/Noob" and "Real Life" describe the behaviors of "newbs" and "noobs".
- The internet TV series, Pure Pwnage, the main character Jeremy says the catchphrase, "I pwn noobs", meaning he dominates lower ranking players.
- In the online game Kingdom of Loathing, one enemy that the player may face in the Valley of Rof L'm Fao is a "Lamz0r N00b." Their attacks include "omgwtf"ing the player and asking "how u mine 4 fish?," a reference to noobspeak. In the same game, the area where new players are taught the basics of gameplay is called Mt. Noob.
- In the game Baldur's Gate, there is an NPC called Noober (obviously from noob), who talks to the party for a while before running out of things to say. His purpose in the game is to annoy the player (and give experience if you wait long enough). Also, there is a character in the sequel, Baldur's Gate 2, called Neeber (variation of newb), who is commonly thought as the brother of Noober.
- In the South Park episode "Make Love, Not Warcraft", there are several mentions of the word "noob" one of which is "you can't entrust the sword of a thousand truths to a noob."
- In the English version of Suikoden V, one character says "Hmm? Hey, noob! Are you some apprentice guy for Professor Gear?"
- In Mortal Kombat Armegeddon, a character in the game is called "Noob". He is a boss that challenges the player, and after he is defeated, it is revealed that he is Sub Zero's brother.
References
- "USS Tucson Submariners Earn Dolphins in Record Time". US Navy. Retrieved 2007-03-15.
- "See many examples in Google Book Search".