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Rhymes with 'own' -- which is why it's "pwn to own."

It was originally a misspelling of 'own' I think.

KnowYourMeme [1] is surpisingly high quality and informative sometimes. "pwn" apparently has origins going as far back as the 60s, but I had to guess it's mostly popular these days due to the brief leetspeak phase of the early 90s, where it was a more pointed, edgier way to write "owned".

[1] http://knowyourmeme.com/memes/owned-pwned

It's pronounced "own" like "I am going to own you!" Or "you lost that 1 on 1 rocket arena match 10-0, he owned you." It's a corruption /slang evolution of own. p being next to o on qwerty keyboards.

Probably accidental at first and then subsequently used mockingly to engender cavalier sloppyness as if the recipient was not worthy of the respect or fleeting seconds required to fix simple mistakes before sending the message. This etomology is now lost on most users of "pwn". People who were not around before "pwn" was ever used pronounce it differently. Generally "poned"

Rhymes with scone

Only in America

It's whatever you want it to be

Strong Bad has your back: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_SctWtK2h_w#t=2m17s