W00t the heck?

Call me old-fashioned, call me linguistically conservative, call me uncool--Merriam-Webster's word of the year for 2007--"w00t"--is not a word. It has numbers--those two zeros are supposed to be there--or at least as much as zeros are ever supposed to be in a "word." "Woot" isn't a word, either.

Don't believe me? Go to Merriam-Webster's own website and try looking up "w00t." As of now you'll get this page--which begins with the sentence, "The word you've entered isn't in the dictionary." and goes on to suggest 20 alternatives , including such prescient ones as "hoot," "ought," and "outlaw."

This is what happens when lexicographers lose their minds!