Gosu (고수) is a

Korean Korean may refer to: People and culture * Koreans, ethnic group originating in the Korean Peninsula * Korean cuisine * Korean culture * Korean language **Korean alphabet, known as Hangul or Chosŏn'gŭl **Korean dialects and the Jeju language * ...

term used to refer to a highly skilled person. In

computer gaming A personal computer game, also known as a PC game or computer game, is a type of video game played on a personal computer (PC) rather than a video game console or arcade machine. Its defining characteristics include: more diverse and user-dete ...

the term is usually used to refer to a person who dominated games like ''

StarCraft ''StarCraft'' is a military science fiction media franchise created by Chris Metzen and James Phinney and owned by Blizzard Entertainment. The series, set in the beginning of the 26th century, centers on a galactic struggle for dominance a ...

'', ''

Counter-Strike ''Counter-Strike'' (''CS'') is a series of multiplayer tactical first-person shooter video games in which teams of terrorists battle to perpetrate an act of terror (bombing, hostage-taking, assassination) while counter-terrorists try to preve ...

'', Tekken, ''

Warcraft III ''Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos'' is a high fantasy real-time strategy computer video game developed and published by Blizzard Entertainment released in July 2002. It is the second sequel to '' Warcraft: Orcs & Humans'', after '' Warcraft II: Ti ...

'', ''

Diablo II ''Diablo II'' is an action role-playing hack-and-slash video game developed by Blizzard North and published by Blizzard Entertainment in 2000 for Microsoft Windows, Classic Mac OS, and macOS. The game, with its dark fantasy and horror themes ...

'', ''

DotA ''Dota'' is a series of strategy video games by Valve. The series began in 2003 with the release of ''Defense of the Ancients'' (''DotA''), a fan-developed multiplayer online battle arena (MOBA) mod for the video game '' Warcraft III: Reign ...

'', ''

League of Legends ''League of Legends'' (''LoL''), commonly referred to as ''League'', is a 2009 multiplayer online battle arena video game developed and published by Riot Games. Inspired by '' Defense of the Ancients'', a custom map for ''Warcraft III'', ...

'', ''

Heroes of the Storm ''Heroes of the Storm'' is a crossover multiplayer online battle arena video game developed and published by Blizzard Entertainment. It was released for Microsoft Windows and macOS on June 2, 2015. The game features various characters from ...

'', ''

Overwatch ''Overwatch'' is a multimedia franchise centered on a series of online multiplayer first-person shooter (FPS) video games developed by Blizzard Entertainment: '' Overwatch'' released in 2016, and ''Overwatch 2'' released in 2022. Both games f ...

'', ''

Apex Legends ''Apex Legends'' is a free-to-play battle royale-hero shooter game developed by Respawn Entertainment and published by Electronic Arts. It was released for PlayStation 4, Windows, and Xbox One in February 2019, for Nintendo Switch in March 20 ...

'' and others. The term was adopted by gaming communities in many countries because of a large

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korean Peninsula and sharing a land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed by the Yellow Sea, while its eas ...

n presence in online gaming communities.

Origin

The term is

Sino-Korean vocabulary Sino-Korean vocabulary or Hanja-eo () refers to Korean words of Chinese origin. Sino-Korean vocabulary includes words borrowed directly from Chinese, as well as new Korean words created from Chinese characters, and words borrowed from Sino-Jap ...

, and

cognate In historical linguistics, cognates or lexical cognates are sets of words in different languages that have been inherited in direct descent from an etymological ancestor in a common parent language. Because language change can have radical ...

s in other

East Asian language The languages of East Asia belong to several distinct language families, with many common features attributed to interaction. In the Mainland Southeast Asia linguistic area, Chinese varieties and languages of southeast Asia share many areal featu ...

s that feature the same

hanja Hanja (Hangul: ; Hanja: , ), alternatively known as Hancha, are Chinese characters () used in the writing of Korean. Hanja was used as early as the Gojoseon period, the first ever Korean kingdom. (, ) refers to Sino-Korean vocabulary, whi ...

( 高手, literally "high hand") include ''gāoshǒu'' (

Mandarin Mandarin or The Mandarin may refer to: Language * Mandarin Chinese, branch of Chinese originally spoken in northern parts of the country ** Standard Chinese or Modern Standard Mandarin, the official language of China ** Taiwanese Mandarin, Stand ...

, "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 Martial arts are codified systems and traditions of combat practiced for a number of reasons such as self-defense; military and law enforcement applications; competition; physical, mental, and spiritual development; entertainment; and the pre ...

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'' (

hangul The Korean alphabet, known as Hangul, . Hangul may also be written as following South Korea's standard Romanization. ( ) in South Korea and Chosŏn'gŭl in North Korea, is the modern official writing system for the Korean language. The l ...

: 중수,

: 中手, literally "middle hand") stands for "a moderately good player", ''hasu'' (

: 하수,

: 下手, literally "low hand") for "a poor player" or "a person with no skill" and '' chobo'' (

: 초보,

: 初步, literally "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 "scrub" and chobo would be "beginner" or "newbie".

Synonyms

* leet or 1337 * Über *

Pro Pro is an abbreviation meaning "professional". Pro, PRO or variants thereof may also refer to: People * Miguel Pro (1891–1927), Mexican priest * Pro Hart (1928–2006), Australian painter * Mlungisi Mdluli (born 1980), South African retired ...

*Master

References

{{Reflist Korean words and phrases South Korean popular culture Video game culture

Origin

Related terms

Synonyms

See also

References