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ArqadeGaming quotes and memes that have made their way into the real world?
[+16] [15] Mechko
[2010-07-29 23:40:33]
[ meme ]
[ http://gaming.stackexchange.com/questions/3913] [DELETED]

I know the quote "The Cake is a lie" has made its way into the real world because I've heard non-gamers say it in an attempt to be cryptic.

Are there any other quotes or memes like that which have come into common parlance after being coined in the gaming world?

EDIT:

I would suggest the word n00b, but I'm not sure that it came from the gaming world directly.

(1) Hi @Mechko, it's tradition for this kind of questions to be Community Wiki. - Juan Manuel
@Juan. Whoops :S - Mechko
(2) The spelling of newb as n00b might be attributed to the gaming world but newb (and newbie) originated in the military as an abbreviation of the term "new boots" used to refer to new recruits. - Zemm
@Zemm: This sounds like a folk etymology to me: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Folk_etymology - Merlyn Morgan-Graham
(1) I always thought of it as an abbreviation to newbie -> newb -> n00b - StampedeXV
now wasn't this closed? - Mechko
[+21] [2010-07-30 00:15:15] eL13

Game Over

Sorry, I'm not a native English speaker, so please correct me if its origin is not from video games. Anyway, at least in Germany video games made it a meme — even though by now it's pretty antiquated.


(1) Technically, it started on the pinball machines, however it gained it current popularity and recognition from the arcade games and later systems. - alexanderpas
(1) And the movie Alien.... - Clyde
(1) @Clyde don't you mean 'Aliens' - Willbill
@WIllbill I think it was Alien. - Arda Xi
(3) He's referring to Hudson (played by Bill Paxton) in James Cameron's Aliens. "That's it man, game over man, game over!" - Delameko
(1) Pinball is a game... right? - Mechko
Mechko > Well, yes, but traditional pinball tables sort of blur the lines between video gaming and non-video gaming. - GnomeSlice
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[+17] [2010-07-29 23:48:02] WillfulWizard

"All your base are belong to us."

And to some extent its lesser known companion quote:

"Someone set us up the bomb."

Although I'm not sure these are from the "gaming world". They certainly came from a game, but, according to Wikipedia at least (Thank you @GalacticCowboy) it was popularized by SomethingAwful.


Actually, I heard that one in Fruity Loops Studio as the vocoder demo. If you make a new vocoder instrument, the default settings have the computer singing "All your base are belong to us, are belong to us, belong to us" - Mechko
(1) @Mechko - But it's actually from a game... :) en.wikipedia.org/wiki/All_your_base_are_belong_to_us - GalacticCowboy
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[+13] [2010-08-04 13:28:28] Hooray Im Helping

FTW.

for teh win. It started in MMOs as a saying of general approval or excitement and gradually worked its way to FPS, and now it seems everyone on facebook, twitter, digg, reddit and youtube is saying it.


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[+11] [2010-08-04 13:38:33] Dan

Woot.

My gf isn't a gamer even in the most remote sense of the word, but she uses woot all too frequently.


(1) As my understanding, woot originally came from a different type of gaming - table-top D&D, where it was short for "wow, loot". - Delameko
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[+10] [2010-07-30 00:13:06] Noctrine

Pwn

And its various tenses.

I mean really, I'm starting to hear this one on TV now.


(1) Something I've always wondered -- I pronounce that as "pawn", but my brother pronounces it as "pone". Which is 'correct'? - Raven Dreamer
(4) pwn == own + typo: p and o are right next to each other, so in the heat of battle, I owned you n00b becomes I pwned you n90b - Mechko
(1) @raven: i've always pronounced it "pewn"... - RCIX
(3) I pronounce it as pone or own with a p since it's most likely a typo of own. - Hooray Im Helping
Technically it's pronounced "own" as it is indeed derived from a common typo of the same word. However, the most common pronunciation of the term in modern society is ' Pone ' - GnomeSlice
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[+8] [2010-07-30 00:01:14] alexanderpas

While technically [1] started on the pinball machines, the current meaning of the term

1-UP

to designate an extra life first appeared in Super Mario Bros., where the player could collect 100 coins, or find a green mushroom, to get an extra life.

When used outside the gaming world, it usually means an improvement for something has happened.

[1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1-up#History

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[+6] [2010-07-30 00:13:49] Raven Dreamer

Zerg. Phonetic: "ZURGH"; verb.

To overwhelm by force of raw numbers, speed, and/or surprise;

It may not have breached mainstream vernacular, but the term "zerg" "zerged" or "zerging" has spread beyond starcraft to other RTS games, at least, and some MMOs, especially PvP focused ones.

"We can't cap the flag, they are zerging our graveyard"


+1 for the dictionary entry format :) - Zemm
(1) Don't think it's mainstream though. I've played many an RTS and a lot of MMOs but I have literally never heard the word. - Arda Xi
I have never heard this outside of Starcraft - BlueRaja - Danny Pflughoeft
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[+4] [2010-07-30 00:17:12] dag729

Fatality/Babality/Animality/etc... as a threat to someone.

(Taken from Mortal Kombat)


(5) " Finish him! " - Gnoupi
"Finish him!" is a little too...english to hear it here in Italy! :D Here I only heard "Fatality" (Curious about? "Ti faccio la Fatality!" ---> "I'll give you the Fatality" ---> "Tee faccho lah fatality" (the latter is similar to how an english speaker could pronounce that italian threat). - dag729
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[+3] [2010-08-04 01:08:08] shul

Portals, the cake is a lie, this was a triumph - all from valve's "portal"


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[+3] [2010-08-27 20:09:31] deizel

BOOM HEADSHOT!

[1] http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=olm7xC-gBMY
[2] http://www.purepwnage.com/

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[+3] [2010-08-27 23:31:41] Cristina

Leeroy Jenkins

This is used pretty often in messaging or forums:

http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Leeroy%20Jenkins


Ah, good ol' Leeroy, what would WoW be without him? :) - NPC
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[+2] [2010-08-28 03:56:24] Dreamlane

I hear the term Fail a lot more nowadays.

People will say stuff like "Dang this dinner I made is fail."

I'm pretty sure that incorrect English spawned from gamers haha.


But is this from video games? I would think it's from lolcats and those memes, but I'm not sure. - Wikwocket
You could be right. I am unaware of the original source of it's popularity. All I know is that I picked it up from gaiming, and I am starting to hear randoms say it IRL. - Dreamlane
Its not from games it's from people too lazy to write "failure." - Andy
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[+2] [2010-08-27 22:16:28] Eric

I say

GG

a lot regardless of the game I play.


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[+2] [2010-08-06 16:34:03] Keaanu

See this [1].

Do a barrel roll!

[1] http://gaming.stackexchange.com/questions/4624/how-do-i-do-a-barrel-roll

+1 for posting the obvious answer everyone else seems to have missed. - GnomeSlice
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[+1] [2010-08-04 13:31:03] espais

As a followup to Raven's post...

KEKEKEKEKEKEKEKEKEKEKE


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