this post was submitted on 29 Aug 2024

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What is the (subjectively) weirdest word in the English language? (lemmy.blahaj.zone)

submitted 3 months ago by [email protected] to c/asklemmy

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[–] [email protected] 5 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago) (3 children)

pwn

When I run grep -v "[aeiouy]" /usr/share/dict/words|less on my system, it's the only non-abbreviation word that comes up that doesn't have a "a", "e", "i", "o", "u", or "y" and is a real word -- like, Mirriam-Webster lists it:

https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/pwn

slang

: to dominate and defeat (someone or something) : OWN sense 1b, ROUT entry 2 sense 1a

Online gamers use "pwn" to describe annihilating an opponent, or owning them. The word came from misspelling "own" by gamers typing quickly and striking the letter P instead of the neighboring letter O.
— Christopher Rhoads

No government, including Britain's, should have the power to pwn the Internet, and destroy it in the process.
— Amie Stepanovich

Why pwn the noobs from your couch when you could do it in front of an audience at New York's first-ever Fortnite In The Heights Tournament?
—Eva Kis

Then, a bunch of federal attorneys general got pwned in the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals regarding their prosecution of medical marijuana businesses, which is a pretty big deal.
—Vince Silwoski

[–] Anticorp 9 points 3 months ago

That's in the dictionary now? I was there. 4000 years ago. When angry counterstrike players typed too fast and didn't correct their typos.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 3 months ago (1 children)

What about cwm?

It's Welsh, but in the English dictionary for some reason.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 3 months ago (1 children)

How is that pronounced?

[–] Suck_on_my_Presence 2 points 3 months ago (1 children)

Cwoom

[–] maniii 1 points 3 months ago

Cymru is weird :'D

[–] [email protected] 2 points 3 months ago

For people who pronounce it like p+own are just adding the vowel in without it being written.

I've also heard it said more like 'poon' which I guess is more true to how w would work as a vowel (uu).