OWNAGE On The Internet!

[Allan Gabriel]

      First of all, I'll begin this article about ownage by showing you what smilies we have @ Media-X that define and give nuances to the term "ownage":

= Big OWNAGE
= ride-ownage
= have-a-beer-ownage (also as "I'll drink to that" - referring to something stated that the user agrees with)
= rock-on ownage
= normal-ownage (not as big as the first in this list)

      An ownage-man/ownage-lady (ownator - as we like to call it, pronounced like "predator") is the person who knows a lot of things about life, has self-confidence, very intelligent and with lots of high-quality skills in various areas of work: they are called ownators because if challenged by nasty people ( who are obviously in the absence of intelligence and a good constructive way of spending their free time) - they can humiliate their opponents publicly by giving strong, accurate and powerful arguments, also on various web communities, like forums or on instant messaging systems, like Yahoo Messenger, Windows Live Messenger.

      "Owned" is an Internet slang word used commonly in gaming circles to acknowledge a form of superiority through the downfall of another group, be it another gaming clan, or a single user. This can be in the context of winning an online game, a debate on a forum, or attaining a successful hacking, as well as the signature to a rebuttal, such as "You got owned!" to announce the defeat of another user on the Internet in the form of a debate or flame war on a community. It signifies screwing up and humiliation, often through the dominance or superiority of another party. Usually, the term is used to express dominance in a negative sense, proclaiming better skill than the opponent for purposes of humiliating them. "Owned" can be used as both a verb (to "own") and noun ("ownage").

Examples of Ownage:

      - A player who repeatedly beats their opponent in online computer games, may claim they have "owned" him or her.

      - A player in a single match that has been killed in a way that is deemed to have taken a large amount of skill, but mostly luck (though players with a high amount of skill or experience can pull off more difficult moves) it is said that the opponent who is killed, "got owned". There are military examples of similar sentiments being expressed by a victorious party.

      - A player who dominates another team, or consistently maintains a better Kill to Death Ratio, is said to "own" at games, or have "owned" the game.

      -To get owned means: to be made a fool of, to be confounded or proven wrong, to be embarrassed by someone.

      - In the context of computer Hacking, Owned refers to the compromise of confidential computer systems, computers, or networks. There is also another form of owned such as "y0u g0t 0wn3d".

      - A player who achieves a high score may decree "ownage" upon the other team.

      Because of its popularity among leetspeakers, "owned" has taken on a number of derivatives, such as ownage, pwned and pwnage; each of these words can have various spellings by substituting characters by numbers (such as replacing e by 3) or other ways of expressing a letter (such as \/\/ for w). The etymology of the term pwn is believed to be rooted in a typographical error arising from the proximity of the 'p' key to the 'o' key on a standard English keyboard. An explanation can be found >>here<<.

      Many videogame players abbreviate this term even further while at the same time give it a tense by simply saying "ownt" (but it doesn't mean it's correctly spelled!). There is even a an Internet-distributed mockumentary series from ROFLMAO Productions, Pure Pwnage - The fictional series purports to chronicle the life and adventures of Jeremy, a Canadian self-proclaimed "pro" video game player. Originating in 2004, twelve episodes of the series have been released to date. The creators of the show recently estimated their current viewer base to be well over three million. The series is filmed primarily in Toronto but has also included scenes filmed in Calgary, Montréal, and the Netherlands. The episodes are filmed mostly from the vantage point of Kyle, Jeremy’s brother and roommate in the story. Kyle, a former physics student, is currently working full time on Pure Pwnage, making income from the "noobstore". The Pure Pwnage website states that ROFLMAO may go into full-time production after Kyle’s graduation, and, as of January 2006, is negotiating the airing of Pure Pwnage on television. A DVD is now scheduled to be released, as the first season is now over. The Pure Pwnage crew will have a brief hiatus before resuming the creation of Pure Pwnage. In an interview with Good Game, Geoff Lapaire (Kyle) revealed that there will be three seasons each consisting of twelve episodes and possibly a feature length film. This show has generated a strong cult following. The characters, as seen through several episodes, are becoming known “in RL” (real life). Although staged, the recognition seems genuine. As well, the official Internet forum has several users counting posts into the thousands from daily in-depth examination of episodes or, more frequently, choice banter between enthusiasts.

      The term "ownage" (own) was one of 16 to appear on the 2006 "List of Words and Phrases Banished from the Queen's English for Misuse, Overuse and General Uselessness", released annually by Lake Superior State University.

      "Owned" is also commonly used in a context when one person has decisively finished an argument and the other arguing party(ies) are at complete lack of words. "Owned" can also be used to signify self-contradiction, when someone has been injured in a comical/funny way, or when someone has fallen victim to a practical joke. (when the joke is made by the same person - self-irony that is, it's also known as self-ownage and it can be very humiliating sometimes).

      For example, someone may be "owned" if they base their knowledge on a source, but then are contradicted by the very source on which they 'based' their knowledge upon - we have met recently such cases. "Owned" is most commonly used in England to signify being outwitted by a person or object in a usually competitive situation. "Owned" can be used to signify being defeated in a way that shows dominance, by a person in reality and in Internet gaming, (e.g. if someone talking about someone behind their back is confronted, and knocked out in one punch it could be said they just got "owned" by their opponent.) As said is most often used in Internet gaming, as a form of slight insult. On online communities is a way of defeating the opponents by giving strong, accurate and detailed arguments in such a manner that the opponents remain speechless.

      "Pwned" or "Pwnt" or "P0wned" or the more recent Twned, have the same meanings as "Owned" but are generally used as lighter variations of the original term. "Pwnage" or "Ownage" also tends to be used to signify that something is awesome. Proper usage: "Your wings are utter OWNAGE! I so wish I had them!" Another common use is "Owned in the face" or "Pwned in the face," which roughly is "term used in most online games meaning to get killed an extensive amount and not killing the other player".

I hope you enjoyed this lesson about OWNAGE and have a better comprehension of what this term implies and includes.

[Johnny Curly]

Originally Posted by LightSabre

"Owned" is also commonly used in a context when one person has decisively finished an argument and the other arguing party(ies) are at complete lack of words.

this one's my favourite ! why?
just because I tend to use it the most

[Allan Gabriel]

Originally Posted by BlackViper

this one's my favourite !

It's my favourite too!