So you may have been seeing this word “pwn” in articles regarding security and hacking and thought it was a typo and it should have read “own.” Well you’re partly correct. Pwn (pronounced “powned“) “is an leetspeak (elite speak) term meaning to appropriate or to conquer or gain ownership. In hacker-ese, it means to compromise or control, specifically another computer (server or PC), web site, gateway device or application.” See Wikipedia article.
The Urban Dictionary describes pwn as the following:
- 1. An act of dominating an opponent.
2. Great, ingenious; applied to methods and objects.
Originally dates back to the days of WarCraft, when a map designer mispelled “Own” as “Pwn”. What was originally supose to be “player has been owned.” was “player has been pwned”.
Pwn eventually grew from there and is now used throughout the online world, especially in online games.1. “I pwn these guys on battlenet”
2. “This strategy pwns!” or “This game pwn.” - Perfect ownage. Flawless victory. Schooled. Lesson taught. Owned beyond conventional words, and so excited about it, it’s mistyped.
- The word Pwn was originally a typo from when the writer wanted to say Own. Pwn is commonly used in internet games, for example: Counter-Strike. Pwn is used to explain that the player was badly beaten.
So, the next time to own someone, make sure you pwn them! Make sure your antivirus is up-to-date and that you don’t click links you shouldn’t or you will be pwned by hackers!