Etymology of Zerk and other WTFs

ginny · **Joined:** Oct 2006 **Posts:** 86

What is the exact definition of this word? Where does it come from?

I hear it in so many contexts and used in so many different ways. It is like the English 'F' word... everything is Zerkin' this and Zerkin' that--Zerk, Zerk, Zerk!

Like the word 'noob' this is used it is often hard to know how relevant the term is. You are a noob if you are not as high as someone else or if you do something wrong or if they do not like you or if you misspell a word or if you lag or if you like herb tea and not coke ... and let's face it, most of the time the word is used, the noob caller is the noob ... also, noob rhymes with boob, which is always a conversation piece.

Conversation piece *snort*

it is kind of a homonym... by caliber I mean both the size of their characters and the size of their gun barrels...

Anyway, my definition of noob is:

Noob n one who does not reform in automatch parties

As for Zerk, not the archer Berzerker Arrow either, which is called Zerk too... which can be confusing as well.

So what gives? Which of you noobs Zerks?

ponder · **Joined:** Apr 2006 **Posts:** 530 **Location:**

i am royally confused

spins · **Joined:** Mar 2006 **Posts:** 51 **Location:**

berserkers were norse/viking wariors that ate mushrooms and fought like demons. Idk if that was your question but thats my answer.

Blackchocob0 · **Joined:** Sep 2006 **Posts:** 2840 **Location:** HIV, CA

Lol sweet answer. Way to reply with some history heh heh. No that's not what she was asking though.

I think zerk means berzerk. As in the red bar on the top left of screen. That you click and your char goes all red and aggro and shit.

XimperialdarkX · **Joined:** Oct 2006 **Posts:** 18 **Location:**

Blackchocob0 wrote:

Lol sweet answer. Way to reply with some history heh heh. No that's not what she was asking though.

I think zerk means berzerk. As in the red bar on the top left of screen. That you click and your char goes all red and aggro and shit.

i agree with black zerk i think means berzerk

amazn · **Joined:** Jul 2006 **Posts:** 149 **Location:**

it really doesnt take a genius to figure out that zerk is berzerk mode.

i might as well add that in that mode, you grow in size, do way more damage, look red, run faster, look demonic; if you didnt figure out that either.

niffnoff · **Joined:** Oct 2006 **Posts:** 72 **Location:**

wow i jusst got 50% dumber than i already was ima go eat my pen now!

ginny · **Joined:** Oct 2006 **Posts:** 86

Awww, you all are no fun. I am just being silly... I will avoid irony and sarcasm in the future

The word is used in a disparaging sense now on my server. If you Zerk, you are being unfair and unsportsmanlike. It is a put down in most contexts. It is almost a curse now.

I have even heard guilds referred to as a bunch of F'ing Zerkers...

Funny how a legal game mechanic can elicit such emotion.

Anyway

spins wrote:

berserkers were norse/viking wariors that ate mushrooms and fought like demons.

Great answer

MrJoey · **Posted:** Tue Oct 24, 2006 9:42 pm

No offense to anyone... but your server sounds kinda retarded...

Quyxz · **Posted:** Tue Oct 24, 2006 9:47 pm

I totally agree with the first post!

niffnoff · **Joined:** Oct 2006 **Posts:** 72 **Location:**

MrJoey wrote:

No offense to anyone... but your server sounds kinda retarded...

now just cause some people are dumb doesnt mean they r all retarded, i was speaking with a mr.bot he was quiet and he was taking my kills... wait a minute hes a bot!!!!!!!!

Bulletduster · **Joined:** Apr 2006 **Posts:** 224

ginny wrote:

Awww, you all are no fun. I am just being silly... I will avoid irony and sarcasm in the future

The word is used in a disparaging sense now on my server. If you Zerk, you are being unfair and unsportsmanlike.

What about when 3 people are coming to nuke you? (Don't say run

)

Well if it's there, then it should be used

niffnoff · **Joined:** Oct 2006 **Posts:** 72 **Location:**

Bulletduster wrote:

ginny wrote:

Awww, you all are no fun. I am just being silly... I will avoid irony and sarcasm in the future

The word is used in a disparaging sense now on my server. If you Zerk, you are being unfair and unsportsmanlike.

What about when 3 people are coming to nuke you? (Don't say run

)

Well if it's there, then it should be used

#

since we cant use run we need to find some thing hells i know GRASS WALK LVL 9 and walk?

spins · **Joined:** Mar 2006 **Posts:** 51 **Location:**

oh im sorry in that context "f-ing zerker" = im dead.

cl0aked · **Joined:** Jul 2006 **Posts:** 260 **Location:**

Wikipedia wrote:

The term berserker comes from Old Norse berserkr (plural berserkir), meaning "bare of shirt", meaning a warrior fighting without armor (debated), or "bear shirt", alluding to wearing clothing made of bear fur.

Some berserks also took names with bjørn in them in reference to a bear. The pre-battle ritual of the berserker included ritualistic group chants and dances, serving to work the warriors into a fighting rage; the rituals also seemed to give the berserkers the feeling of invulnerability, causing them to fight with a reckless disregard for their own safety. It is possible that these rituals also included psychoactives (the most commonly suggested psychoactive being the Amanita muscaria species of mushroom) mixed with mead, allowing the berserker to disregard pain and wounds in battle.

Another supposition about berserkers is that wearing bear or wolf skins served as a symbol of their proclivity for worshipping the spirit of the bear. Siberian and Sámi peoples venerated the bear (see bear worship), although there is no direct evidence of similar veneration in Viking Age Norse culture. Some scholars think that the berserker believed he was "possessed" by the spirit of the bear, having its strength and ferocity, and some sagas even suggest that the berserker could take on the animal's shape and force. In that respect, they are the basis of fantasy characters like Beorn in The Hobbit. A variant form of berserker was the ulfhednar who wore the skin of a wolf.

Hilda Ellis-Davidson draws a parallel between berserkers and the mention by the Byzantine emperor Constantine VII in his book De cerimoniis aulae byzantinae ("Book of Ceremonies of the Byzantine court") of a "Gothic Dance" performed by members of his Varangian Guard (Norse warriors working in the service of the Byzantine Empire), who took part wearing animal skins and masks: she believes this may have been connected with berserker rites (Hilda R. Ellis-Davidson. Pagan Scandinavia. NY: Frederick A. Praeger. 1967. p. 100).

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