| Gosu | |
| Hangul | 고수 |
|---|---|
| Hanja | 高手 |
| Revised Romanization | Gosu |
| McCune–Reischauer | Kosu |
Gosu (Korean: 고수) is a Korean term used to refer to a highly skilled person. In computer gaming the term is usually used to refer to a person who dominated games like StarCraft, Counter-Strike, Tekken, Warcraft III, Diablo II, DotA, League of Legends, Heroes of the Storm, Overwatch, Overwatch 2, Apex Legends and others. The term was adopted by gaming communities in many countries because of a large South Korean presence in online gaming communities.
Origin
The term is Sino-Korean vocabulary, and cognates in other East Asian languages that feature the same hanja (高手, literally "high hand") include gāoshǒu (Mandarin, "expert; ace; master"), and cao thủ (Vietnamese, "skilled person; master"). In the dialect of the Gyeongnam province, gosu also has the meaning of "leader". Figuratively meaning pro or highly skilled at something, gosu's pre-computing usage usually referred to martial arts or the game of go.
Related terms
Though not as popular, there are also several other commonly used Korean words for describing gamers with various skill levels. Jungsu (중수; 中手; lit. middle hand) stands for "a moderately good player", hasu (하수; 下手; lit. low hand) for "a poor player" or "a person with no skill" and chobo (초보; 初步; lit. first step) for "a novice player". Hasu and chobo are the same skill level, but hasu is disrespectful or derogatory (whereas chobo is not). The English equivalent to hasu would be "noob" or "scrub" and chobo would be "beginner" or "newbie".
Synonyms
- leet or 1337
- Über
- Pro
- Master
See also
References
- "BBC NEWS - Asia-Pacific - South Korea's gaming addicts". Retrieved 22 December 2016.
- "Online gaming addiction: signs, risk factors, and treatment - The Diamond Rehab Thailand". Retrieved 2024-01-15.
- "'고수' : 네이버 국어사전". Retrieved 22 December 2016.
- "'고수' : 네이버 국어사전". Retrieved 22 December 2016.