T00by

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Synonyms: t00b, t00bs, and probably toob, tooby (with "o")
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T00by (with "0" zeros instead of the letter "o") is a term from Harry Potter fandom. Fans use it to fondly describe something absurd, silly, ridiculous, over-the-top, dumb but with all of these, endearing.


Around 2003, lorax523 said on the Potter Fanfiction yahoo group [1]

"T00b" is a hacker term that's been appropriated by the HP fandom.
It's the most useful term in the world. It can be a verb, an adjective, a noun, whatever.
...
As to what it means? Well, it varies with how you :use it. Generally and most commonly, it can mean :sort of "dopey" or "silly" or "goofy"
...
"To t00b around" generally means to do nothing much.


According to longtime fan aiffe[2]

It’s pronounced like “tube,” and the l33t is optional so it could be understood as “toob,” but “t00b” is the standard form.
Unlike words like stupid, idiot, fool, and the neologism “derp,” it has no history of referring specifically to people with disabilities, and it doesn’t really have the same meaning anyhow. T00b is a very loving kind of fail. A kitten that falls down is t00by. All aardvarks are t00bs. There’s nothing malicious about it.


References

  1. ^ [1] lorax523 on Yahoo, dated somewhere around June 2003
  2. ^ [2] Words I miss: t00b.