/n[y]oo'bee/ (Sometimes shorted to "noob") Originally
from British public-school and military slang variant of "new
boy", an inexperienced user.
This term surfaced in the
newsgroup news:talk.bizarre but
is now in wide use. Criteria for being considered a newbie
vary wildly; a person can be called a newbie in one group
while remaining a respected regular in another. The label
"newbie" is sometimes applied as a serious insult to a person
who has been around for a long time but who carefully hides
all evidence of having a clue.
See
BIFF.