newbie: /n[y]oo'bee/ n. [orig. from British public-school and military slang variant of `new boy'] A USENET neophyte.

:newbie: /n[y]oo'bee/ n. [orig. from British public-school and
military slang variant of `new boy'] A USENET neophyte.
This term surfaced in the {newsgroup} 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 newsgroup while
remaining a respected regular in another. The label `newbie'
is sometimes applied as a serious insult to a person who has been
around USENET for a long time but who carefully hides all evidence
of having a clue. See {BIFF}.
-- The AI Hackers Dictionary