Leet (often l33t, 31337 or 1337) is a coded, or simply a novelty form of English spelling. It is characterized by the use of non-alphabet characters to stand for letters bearing a superficial resemblance, and by a number of quasi-standard spelling changes such as the substitution of "z" for final "s" and "x" for "ck". It is often used on the Internet by hackers, crackerss, script kiddies and gamers. Even lamers are beginning to pick up parts of it. Some hackers do not use l33tspeak due to its association with Internet users whom they dislike.
Certain factions maintain that "true" leetspeak is spelled correctly, with the exceptions described above. They do not consider the use of extreme short forms (Such as b, or u) to be leet or leetspeak; instead, they refer to it by such terms as "AOL speak" because they associate such habits with people who chat using MSN Messenger or AOL Instant Messenger. Other habits which are sometimes associated with leetspeak or Internet chatting is capitalizing every other letter (JuSt LiKe ThIs). A similar habit involves capitalizing every letter except for vowels (JuST LiKe THiS).
Table of contents |
2 Examples 3 Phonetic spellings 4 Frequent misspellings 5 Other examples 6 Common letter-to-number or letter-to-symbol translations 7 See also 8 External links |
The term "leet" comes from the word "elite". Leet can be either be pronounced as "leet" (monosyllabic, rhymes with "eat") or by pronouncing the L separate from the rest of the word as "elle eat" (elite). The most probable explanation of its origin is from bulletin board systems in the 1980s and early 1990s where having "elite" status on a BBS allowed a user access to file areas, games, and special chat rooms, often including archives of pirated software, pornography, and text files of dubious quality documenting topics such as how to construct explosives and manufacture illegal drugs. It may also have developed to defeat text filters created by BBS sysops for message boards to discourage the discussion of forbidden topics (such as cracking).
Leet is also known as hakspek or leetspeak, especially when used to shorten messages. This type of Leet may have been developed to decrease bandwidth usage before the bandwidth explosion of the 1990s. It is also regaining popularity in SMS (Short Message Service) mediums, especially among users of Trillian. More recently, leet has re-entered the mainstream thanks to such webcomics as Megatokyo and its character Largo.
Leet is a form of written slang. It is used to create group identity, and to obscure meaning from outsiders, especially newbies (which may be written "n00bs"). It also establishes a hierarchy, as more complex forms of leet are increasingly unreadable to the untrained eye (consider the phrase "PHr3Ku3N7ly H4s|{3d K0o£St330nZ!": it translates to "frequently asked questions". Note the extraneous h in front of asked and the construction "teeonz" as meaning "tions"). Simple forms of leet are making their way into the mainstream, as employees whose companies use email filters resort to creative spellings to prevent swearwords from being censored.
Websites exist that are written entirely in leet. There are also converter programs which amusingly render ordinary English text into leet, at varying levels of complexity.
Frequent typos are also absorbed into leet, such as
"WHeRE @Re J00 " for "where are you"
Leet also draws elements from Engrish, such as "b4k4" (baka), a Japanese term for "fool". Lately, leet draws more and more from Japanese slang, due to the increasing fascination of leet-speakers with it.
Another common feature of leet is over-exclamation, where a sentence is postfixed with far too many exclamation marks!!!!!!!!!! In some cases, because the exclamation symbol (!) resides on the same key as the number 1, over-exclamation can be accidentally typed with extraneous digits, owing to the excitement of the typist: d00d th1s r0x0rz!!!!!11 Some users have adopted this and include it deliberately. A growing phenomenon is deliberately typing the word "one": pwnz0r3d!!!!!11oneoneone. Interestingly, letter-to-number translations do not often occur within these "oneoneone" blocks.Overview
Examples
Phonetic spellings
Note that in true leet, the following are considered improper.
Frequent misspellings
Other examples
"wH4+'S uR nAME " for "what is your name"
A | 4 or /\\ or @ | G | 9 or 6 | M | //. or ^^ or |v| or |\\/| or /\\/\\ or (u) | S | 5 or $ | Y | Y or '/ or `/ or \\-/ |
B | 6 or |3 or 8 or |> | H | # or |-| or ]~[ | N | // or ^/ or |\\| or /\\/ | T | 7 or + or -|- | Z | 2 |
C | [ or ¢ or ( | I | 1 or ! or | | O | 0 or () | U | (_) or |_| |
D | |) or o| | J | ,| or _| | P | |* or |o or |" | V | \\/ or < |
E | 3 or & | K | |< or |{ | Q | 9 or (,) | W | \\/\\/ or '// or \\^/ or (n) |
F | |= | L | 1 or | or |_ | R | |2 | X | >< or }{ |