Gosu

Gosu (고수) is a computer gaming term usually used to refer a person highly skilled in multiplayer games like Starcraft, Warcraft III (RTS), Diablo II, Counter-Strike (FPS) and others. It has a Korean origin and the term was widely adopted by gaming communities in many countries including USA, Germany, France and Russia because of a large South Korean presence in online gaming communities. [ [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/2499957.stm BBC News: South Korea's gaming addicts] ]

Origin

In Korean, the word "gosu" (hangul: 고수, hanja: 高手, literally "high hand") is used for a person with great skill, usually in martial arts or in "baduk" (the game of Go). [ [http://krdic.naver.com/detail.nhn?docid=2774300 Gosu (고수) entry in Korean language thesaurus] ] In the dialect of the Gyeongnam province, "gosu" also has the meaning of "leader". [ [http://krdic.naver.com/detail.nhn?docid=2773400 Gosu (고수) entry in Korean language thesaurus] ] The word is derived from the Chinese term 高手 "gāoshǒu", and is similar to the Japanese word 上手 "jōzu" (literally "upper hand").

There is an urban legend saying that term "gosu" originated in the "Starcraft" community as an acronym for "God Of "Starcraft" Universe" or "Guardian of "Starcraft" Universe". However, this is actually a backronym, as the term has long been applied to martial arts experts and players of other multiplayer games including first-person shooters like "Counter-Strike". It is most likely that "Starcraft" players were among the first gamers to adopt the Korean word with a new meaning.

Related terms

Though not as popular, there are also several other commonly used Korean words for describing gamers with various skill levels. Jungsu stands for "a moderately good player", hasu for "a mediocre player" or "a person with no skill" and chobo (초보) for "a novice player". "Hasu" and "chobo" are the same skill level, but "chobo"'s literal meaning for beginners and thus implies the speaker has a general respect for the person as a human, or at least not a lack thereof. "hasu" is a more insulting way of describing the player, implying the speaker looks down upon the person they are describing. The English equivalent to chobo would be newbie and hasu would be "noob". Hasu would also be "lame". A large European Starcraft, Warcraft III, DotA community, GosuGamers.net [http://Gosugamers.net] , is named after the term.Gosu has also come to mean "cool" or "awesome" among some American gamers, particularly in Warcraft III and first-person shooters. Even lower level than that of chobo and hasu is hujub (허접), meaning "noob trash", and jotbop (좆밥), meaning even worse - everybody's food.

ynonyms

*leet or 1337
*pro
*über
*Mado

ee also

* List of English words of Korean origin

External links

* [http://gosu.com gosu community with starcraft replays]
* [http://screplays.com starcraft replays]
* [http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=gosu Gosu definitions in Urban Dictionary ]

Notes