BS: Obama Wins Debate Moment With Hillary

Subject: RE: BS: Obama Wins Debate Moment With Hillary
From: Bill D
Date: 14 Dec 07 - 11:34 AM

True, Kevin...but it also shows how careless and shallow some folks awareness of the language & context is! In this case, someone has 'explained' the connection and origins in a quite fallacious way...and, I assume, the flawed explanation will be propagated and become part of lore. *tsk*

(reminds me of how the expression "Fuckin' A!" has become common thru mispronunciation of the word "aye".)

Subject: RE: BS: Obama Wins Debate Moment With Hillary
From: McGrath of Harlow
Date: 14 Dec 07 - 11:17 AM

No reason a word can't pick up a connection along the way that doesn't actually relate to its notional origin, which then becomes part of its meaning. In fact it happens all the time, and sometimes it's impossible to sort out which is the earlier connection and which is the acquired one.

Subject: RE: BS: Obama Wins Debate Moment With Hillary
From: Grab
Date: 14 Dec 07 - 10:36 AM

Charley, that's probably because it DOESN'T have any origin in chess...

That Urban Dictionary entry is plain wrong. The original phrase when beating someone by a substantial amount was that you "owned" them, and that phrase originated well before internet gaming. The word "pwn" or "pwned" then came from a simple spelling mistake from ("p" and "o" are adjacent on the keyboard), and gained popularity online until people recently started using it in spoken English. It may be pronounced the same as "pawn", but it is a distinct word in its own right, in the same way that "through" and "threw" are distinct words in their own right - and since it originated in a text-based form, even the pronunciation is not fixed. But two things are clear: it should not be spelled "pawn" (because this is a typo of a typo!); and it does not have (and never did have) any connection to the word or concept "pawn".

Graham.

Subject: RE: BS: Obama Wins Debate Moment With Hillary
From: Charley Noble
Date: 14 Dec 07 - 09:32 AM

Azizi-

Odd, that none of the above discussion of the origin of the term "p'wned" takes into consideration its classical chess meaning. The pawn on the gameboard is the least powerful piece. Therefore, when one gets "pawned" it's usually a humiliating loss of a more powerful piece. One can also get "forked" but only with a knight, also very humiliating.

Check!

Cheerily,
Charley Noble

Subject: RE: BS: Obama Wins Debate Moment With Hillary
From: Azizi
Date: 14 Dec 07 - 07:44 AM

Apart from the political implications of this exchange, I'm interested in Obama's quick wit and how younger folks * have coined that new term pwned/owned/pwanage etc and how they use it to describe this exchange.

I'm wondering what other examples of quick wit, or being pwned/owned/pwanage folks can think of in politics, and elsewhere.

* I'm assuming that these terms were coined by younger folks. At least they're probably younger than me.

Subject: RE: BS: Obama Wins Debate Moment With Hillary
From: Ron Davies
Date: 14 Dec 07 - 07:35 AM

Yes, very impressive. Not rattled in the least by the question, despite the laughter-- and a man who thinks on his feet.

What a refreshing change from the "leadership" we now have.

And why not get advice from all quarters?--again a vast contrast with the current "leadership"--but not spelling that out. Excellent answer.

Subject: RE: BS: Obama Wins Debate Moment With Hillary
From: Azizi
Date: 14 Dec 07 - 07:35 AM

Here's another definition of pawn/pwned from urban dictionary:

"pawn   

verb- Full spelling of "pwn" an internet term (which has migrated in some cases to real life) referencing humiliating defeat. Such defeats usually come due to a lack of skill of the pwn'd when challenging the pwn'er.

The use of the word references the fact The one who was pawned was so utterly humiliated by the pawner that the pawned belongs to the pawner from now on. The Pawner however, esteems them of no worth and instead chooses to sell them off. Thus the defeated has been "pwn'ed"

How did the test go? I was Pawned
-Master T; January 9, 2005

http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=pawn

Subject: RE: BS: Obama Wins Debate Moment With Hillary
From: Azizi
Date: 14 Dec 07 - 07:29 AM

That YouTube video clip whose link I provided has 174 viewer comments at this time [though every time I go back to that site the number of viewer comments increases].

Many of these commentors wrote that Hillary had gotten pawned or owned by Obama:

"HRC wuz pwned!!"
-rockgolf

**

"owned"
-swimdock333

**
"Hillary just got pwnz0red."
-eXcommunicate1979

**

"one day we'll look up that term in the video dictionary and this will be the clip that pops up."
-trevormail

**

Also, see this comment:
"This race is still a toss up, but you know if Obama wins, we will be looking back on this moment like we did with Reagan's "there you go again..."
-thestranger1996

-snip-

Here's a comment about the word "pawned" from urban dictionary:

"Pawned   

Many people attack "pawned" as a misspelling of "pwned", but it has, in fact, become an acceptable spelling. The original origin of the word "pwn" was a typo, probably from a high-speed chat, of the word "own". Think how "the" is now "teh" in traditional l337 internet slang. In any case, looking at the origins of the word "own," one could deduce that it implies some dominance over something or someone. When "own" and "owned" became "pwn", "pwned" and "pwnage", the words came to mean the same thing; dominance and superiority. The new word "pawn" is very simmilar in the sense; its plain definition is to belittle or reduce someone or something to pawn status, essentially, "owning" them.

1. I pawned you! All your bases now belong to us!
2. Drake pawned Dopple in Warcraft III. You cannot stop the Orcish Hordes!"
- Drake Christopher Dragon Apr

http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=pawned

Subject: BS: Obama Wins Debate Moment With Hillary
From: Azizi
Date: 14 Dec 07 - 07:00 AM

Posted FYI and for discussion:

[at the last debate before the Iowa caucus 12/13/2007] "Obama gets an interesting foreign policy question – why is it that he relies on many foreign policy advisers from the Clinton administration. Best moment of either Iowa debate as Clinton laughs and says she wants to hear and answer to that question as well – in other words, how would his policy differ from hers? Obama shoots back, "Hillary, I'm looking forward to you advising me as well," and says he wants to get advice from everywhere."

http://www.cbsnews.com/blogs/2007/12/13/politics/horserace/entry3615380.shtml

Here's the link to YouTube video of that exchange:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rhPxSm9Es0w
"Obama to Hillary: I look forward to you advising me"