Gosu
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Gosu (고수) is a computer gaming term usually used to refer a person highly skilled in multiplayer game like Starcraft, Warcraft III (RTS), 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. [1]
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[edit] Origin
In Korean, word gosu (Hangul: 고수, literally a high hand) is used for a person with great skill, usually in martial arts or in baduk (Go).[2] In Gyeongnam province dialect gosu also has a meaning "leader"[3]. The word is partially derived from the Chinese word gaoshou and similar to the Japanese word jouzu. There is an urban legend saying that term gosu originated from 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.
[edit] 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 be "lame". A large European Starcraft, Warcraft III, DotA community, 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.
