Fun Over Performance

Newbie is a slang term for a novice or newcomer, or somebody inexperienced in any profession or activity. Contemporary use can particularly refer to a beginner or new user of computers, often concerning Internet activity, such as online gaming. It should be used for descriptive purposes only, without a value judgment.

HISTORY

The term's origin is uncertain. Earliest uses probably date to late twentieth century U.S. military jargon, though possible precursor terms are much earlier.

ETYMOLOGY

The etymology of the word is uncertain. It may derive from "newie", which is attested in U.S. and Australian sources of the 1850s and means a neophyte in a place or situation; alternatively, it may derive from the British public school slang "new boy", which is attributed to the same era and was applied to a schoolboy in his first term.

In the 1960s–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. Its earliest known usage on the Internet may have been on the Usenet newsgroup talk.bizarre. The term is believed to have entered online usage by 1981.

VARIANTS

Coming from an oral tradition, the term has variant 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 newbees are the rookies among the Blue Angels...").

The related term is "newb", a beginner who is willing to learn.

MISUSAGE

Common misspellings for the word include "noob", "n00b", "nub", and "nab".
Also worth noticing is that the word itself is not a derogatory name, as often implied by certain newbies using the word or it's misspelled variants.

FUNNY FACT

The variant "noob" was among candidates for the one-millionth English word selection by the Global Language Monitor.
Reason for rejection was that misspellings do not count.

IN OTHER WORDS

1) If you didn't spell it "newbie" you failed and are one yourself.
2) It's not an insult, like most of the fails mentioned above try to use it as. ^^
( In many cases the term "human" would be more insulting xD )

newbie @ wikipedia[en.wikipedia.org]