Beater

«Beater» is derogatory term used by the players of «Sword Art Online». It is meant to be an insult for beta-testers who play unfairly. It is the result of Kirito trying to contrast the difference between beta-testers that are only out to protect themselves and to play for their own gain from beta-testers who are normal players.



Etymology
«Beater» is a portmanteau of the words «Beta Tester» or «Cheater», the "be" coming from "Beta Tester", and the "-ater" coming from "Cheater". Beta Testers have a bad reputation among the players of «SAO», since most of them had gone solo and did not bother to help the new players after the start of the death game was announced.

The term was first created after Kirito defined the difference between «Newbies» and himself. He even refers to the other beta testers as newbies and not to compare them to himself, as he got to Floor 8, further than any other beta tester. This way, he chose to create this swear as a way of pushing the discrimination of SAO to the minimum. He ended up being the first person to be called «Beater», right after the Floor 1 boss fight.