Newbie is a slang term for a , , or somebody inexperienced in a given profession or activity. In particular, it may refer to a new user of , and often concerns Internet activity, such as Online game or Linux use.
The origin of this term is uncertain. Earliest uses probably date to late twentieth century United States Armed Forces Military slang, though possible precursor terms date much earlier. The related term noob (often stylized as n00b) is frequently used in online gaming.
In the 1960s and 1970s, the term "newbie" had a limited usage among U.S. troops in the Vietnam War as a slang term for a new man in a unit.Entry for newbie in John Robert Elting, Ernest L. Deal, and Dan Cragg, A Dictionary of Soldier Talk, New York: Scribner, 1984, p. 209.
Another use of the term newbie was the moniker given to new U.S. Navy recruit students attending Basic Electricity and Electronics school by more senior students, a requisite course prior to enrollment in the A-school course at Naval Air Technical Training Center, Millington, Tennessee.
The earliest appearance of the term on Internet may have been on the Usenet newsgroup talk.bizarre. By 1988, it had already entered online usage.
Coming from an oral tradition, the term has various spellings. Among alternative forms are "newby", "nubie", and "newbee" (e.g. Los Angeles Times of August 1985: "It had to do with newbees. I could be wrong on the spelling, but newbies are the rookies among the Blue Angels.").
In 2000, Electronic Arts released The Sims. The game featured a tutorial house with a family called The Newbies.
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