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Leet

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Leet
Script type
Alternative
Time period
1980 to the present
DirectionLeft-to-right Edit this on Wikidata
LanguagesEnglish, with some use in other languages
Related scripts
Parent systems
 This article contains phonetic transcriptions in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA). For an introductory guide on IPA symbols, see Help:IPA. For the distinction between [ ], / / and ⟨ ⟩, see IPA § Brackets and transcription delimiters.
For other uses, see Leet (disambiguation).

Leet is a slang term used primarily on the Internet, particularly in online games. It is derived from the word "Elite" and generally has the same meaning when referring to the skills of another person. The term is often written with numbers replacing letters, such as 1337, l33t, l33+, as well as many other variations.

Leet can be defined as the corruption or modification of written text. For example, the term "leet" itself is often written "l33t" or "1337". Such corruptions are frequently referred to as "Leetspeak". In addition to corruption of standard language, new colloquialisms have been added to the parlance. It is also important to note that Leet itself is not solely based upon one language or character set. Greek, Russian, Chinese, and other languages have been subjected to the Leet "cipher". As such, while it may be referred to as a "cipher", a "dialect", or a "language", Leet does not fit squarely into any of these categories. This article primarily concerns the English Language variant of Leet.

The name Leet itself is derived from the word elite (also 31337). Elite has been used in the past to designate a group of users as belonging to a higher social echelon than other users. Originally, elite had been reduced to one syllable, leet.

Calling someone or something 'leet' may be considered a compliment, although it is also used in an ironic derogatory manner[1].

Origins of Leet

Leet finds its base in written communication over electronic media. Most simply, it has evolved as a way of forming exclusive cliques in online communities, notably Bulletin Board Systems and online multiplayer games (see Examples of Leet in videogaming).

It has been noted that the mechanism began because early online communication was quite slow, and people sought ways to shorten messages, so that they could be delivered more quickly. A similarly probable answer is that early users of BBS systems and other online boards were not skilled typists and thus shortened words so they could get their message across faster.

Some wrongly believe that the origin involved using a dynamic cipher, so that only experienced users would be privy to the message [citation needed]. As a result, newcomers would be excluded from communication with those who had defined (and continued to evolve) the cipher.

When modem use became widespread and a large general audience gained access to online communication systems, these new users did not understand the abbreviations commonly used by the experienced users. These experienced users became known as "elite users", abbreviated as "leet".

Primitive Leet was generally much less elaborately substituted than modern forms. Typical transpositions included:

  • f / ph ("fone phreaks")
  • z / s (generally only in the final position, ie. "phi1ez" but not "za1ezman")
  • 1 / l (usually only once in a word, ie. "1iar")
  • c / k ("krap" as opposed to "crap", and "cill" in place of "kill") - sometimes x is substituted instead, giving "xrap" or the like. This might be influenced by the shape of the letter or by the Russian/Cyrillic X
  • 0 / o ("n00b" instead of noob or newb, etc.)

For users of the Commodore 64 or the Sinclair ZX Spectrum, communities began to use PETSCII pictographic characters as letter substitutes. Over time these tendencies of replacing letters became increasingly exaggerated.

Another early phenomenon was the prefix "k-" (for kilo) to some words, the most common and enduring example being "k-rad". The roots of the term "k-rad" are most likely mocking of the mid- to late-1980s use of the term "radical" (compare "extreme" of the 1990s), which was itself abbreviated to "rad." V. was also used, as an abbreviation for “very”. This may have come from the v. in modem protocols, possibly via v.fast, although it's also a longstanding usage in British English so may have spilled over into American leet via increased international communication.

Also interesting to note is the group Stiff Little Fingers' use of what could be considered a form of Leet on their 1980 album Nobody's Heroes, thus:

Stiff Little Fingers logo rendered in a "leetish" typeface.
Stiff Little Fingers logo rendered in a "leetish" typeface.

Similarly, the group Journey produced an album titled "E5C4P3", and the band Technology released a song called “1337”.

After the emergence of Leet on bulletin boards and other non-real-time communications media, Leet found a sort of renaissance in real-time protocols such as Internet Relay Chat (IRC) and Instant messaging (such as AIM). Some conflict can exist between those who use Leet in communication on such services, and those who do not.

Through this process, Leet acquired an increasingly expanding vocabulary. As Internet slang grew (such as w00t, teh, and so on), it was absorbed into Leet (and subsequently enciphered). Along the way, additional languages began to be enciphered with Leet-like processes (see “krieg”, “ist” below). In this regard, Leet resembles a creole language, a pidgin, or mixed language.

In addition to the broader vocabulary, Leet's ciphers became even more complex and dynamic. Where originally, a one-to-one relationship existed between the source and cipher text (such as “E” → “3”), newer one-to-many and many-to-many ciphers began to emerge (such as “A” → “@”, “4”, and so on).

Several outside sources have been instrumental in the formation and evolution of Leet as a dialect or cipher. Primarily, the exclusive nature of enciphering text in communities drove the evolution of the cipher. Additionally, in online games where certain text was forbidden (such as swearing), newer, more clever ciphers had to be created to prevent software limitations from hindering communication. The same sort of evolution has been spurred by e-mail content filters which may prevent a user from including certain words in their “written” communication. As such, in addition to the socially exclusionary properties of using a cipher, it may be said that Leet is used as a means to defeat regular expression engines used for matching content in written communication.

More recently, the exclusive value of Leet as a cipher has been reduced. As Leet has become popular in the common Internet vernacular, many users who would previously have been excluded by enciphered text have caught on to the cipher. Even highly irregular ciphers (see below for a full discussion of various ciphers) have proven to be easily decipherable by users determined to do so. Because of this, using Leet in discussion has become a bit of a novelty or joke. Users have begun using Leet to indicate that they are part of the Leet-using counterculture, or to mock the existence thereof.

Curiously, as Leet's effectiveness as a cipher has waned, it has evolved due to its continued use in communities which tend to value it solely for humor value. The process of using Leet for humor, combined with its highly flexible and dynamic nature, causes it to metamorphose into further derivations of its original cipher. Ergo, as Leet evolves, its vocabulary expands, and new expressions begin to emerge and solidify from older constructs.

Sociological considerations

File:Jeopardy-1337.jpg
An example of 1337 in Jeopardy.
File:Biddersrow.jpg
…and another on The Price is Right.
File:Google 1337.png
Google's home page, translated into Leet.

Because of the problems surrounding its lack of a spoken component and what can been seen as ethnocentric beginnings, there has recently been something of a stigma attached to use of the Leet cipher. Because of its popularity with children, parenting organizations have seen fit to warn parents about the cipher. Parents, it is reasoned, may not be able to understand what their children are saying in email, SMSs, or instant messaging, and dismiss it as nonsense. Guides have been published to help parents decipher their children's Leet-enciphered communication[2].

Leet has become such a part of common culture that the cipher is used even in mainstream advertising, such as the Sears Kenmore "HE4T" washing machine and dryer. Television shows have also joined in, with Numb3rs and Sev7n.

Practical uses

Arguably, one of the first practical uses of Leet was on the BBSs of the late 1980s. On public BBSs, administrators would frequently search for illegal or otherwise undesirable material and remove it. To combat this, many terms that are now common terminology in Leet appeared. "Wares" would become "W4R3Z," "porn" would become "pr0n," exploits would become "spl01tz," etc. Leet continued to evolve in this fashion, so when the new terms were picked up by administrators they were quickly replaced. [3] An additional use in the late 1980s and throughout the 1990s was in chat rooms that had filters enabled that were designed to block profanity.

A more modern and legal use of Leet is as a cipher that is opaque to computer systems. Computer security systems often disallow the use of common English words as passwords. Leet's use as a way of ciphering English words and phrases as strings of punctuation characters can make it useful as a means of creating memorable passwords that such systems will accept. A system that will refuse "Now is the time" as a password will often be quite happy to accept "|\|0\/\/ 15 7|-|3 71|\/|3".

Another location for similar text obfuscation is in multiplayer gaming, especially involving other characters not contained in the ASCII set. Some multiplayer games allow for users to be evicted (kicked out) by issuing a simple command such as "!kick [a username]." To foil this method, some users have resorted to making their usernames difficult to type. An example of this would be "É|ï†è HàЖor". Because typing such a name would require using the character map, which is impossible in some games, the user can become virtually impossible to kick off the server. However, on many modern games they may be kicked by selecting them in a menu.

On occasion in multiplayer gaming, the action can be too intense for the player to properly express themselves with ‘standard’ English in a timely manner. Utilizing leetspeak, the player is able to abbreviate what they wish to communicate without severely interrupting their game.

Leet can also be used to transmit obscenities via channels that may be monitored by automatic filtering software, or indeed any other communication intended for another human. If one is concerned that one's communications may be monitored, leet is one way of attempting to defeat this monitoring.

Similarly, simple Leet is often found on websites selling or distributing pirated software or cracks, and in the unwelcome solicitations of email spam. Some examples of solicitation Leet are: "W1ndOws 20OO", "Ph0t0sh0p", "Natura1 Pen0r en1argement pi11". Note that this type of leet tends to be simple and easy to read, as it is intended to foil computers but communicate to potential customers.

The Leet cipher and syntax

The Leet cipher is a highly dynamic, subjective cipher. It can be applied to many languages and character sets. As it incorporates new vocabulary and morphemes, the set of transliterations and corruptions increases. As the cipher was originally based upon English and the Latin alphabet, it is possible to derive a very basic set of common transliterations and corruptions.

Common transliterations

The cipher itself is highly dynamic, and subject to stylistic interpretation. A simple list of transliterations follows:

Note: Leet is not standardized, thus variations of the following transliterations may exist or be created.

A B C D E * F G H I * J K L * M N O P Q R * S T * U V W X Y Z *
4
/\
@
/-\
^
aye
(L
Д 		8
13
|3
ß
P>
|:
!3
(3
/3
)3
|-] 		[
¢
<
(
© 		)
|)
(|
|o
[)
I>
|>
 ?
T)
I7
cl 		3
&
£
€
ë
[-
|=- 		|=
ƒ
|#
ph
/=
v 		6
&
(_+
9
C-
gee
(?,
[,
{,
<-
(. 		#
/-/
[-]
]-[
)-(
(-)
 :-:
|~|
|-|
]~[
}{
 !-!
1-1
\-/
I+I
 ?
}-{ 		1
 !
¡
|
eye
3y3
][
]
/me 		_|
_/
¿
</
_]
(/ 		X
|<
|{
]{
|X 		1
£
7
1_
|
|_
el
[]_
[_ 		|v|
[V]
{V}
em
AA
|\/|
/\/\
(u)
(V)
(\/)
/|\
^^
/|/|
//\
|\|\
]\/[ 		^/
|\|
/\/
[\]
<\>
{\}
[]\
// []
/V
И
^ 		0
()
oh
[]
p
<> 		|*
|o
|º
 ?
|^(o)
|>
|"
9
[]D
|°
|7 		(_,)
()_
0_
<| 		|`
|~
|?
/2
|^
lz
|9
2
12
®
[z
Я
.-
|2
|- 		5
$
z
§
ehs
es 		7
+
-|-
1
']['
†
"|" 		(_)
|_|
v
L|
µ 		\/
|/
\|
\/\/
vv
\N
'//
\\'
\^/
dubya
(n)
\V/
\X/
\|/
\_|_/
\_:_/
?
uu
2u 		><
Ж
}{
ecks
×
?
)(
][
}{ 		j
`/
Ч
7
\|/ 		2
7_
-/_
 %
>_
s
* Note the use of 7 for either L, T, or Y; the use of 2 for either R or Z; the use of £ for either E or L; the use of 9 for either G or P; and the use of 1 for either I, L, or T. The Position of ~ may change depending on the font

J, Q, and Y typically are not transliterated and are often used as themselves. There are some common Leet alternatives for other sounds, e.g. "ck" is often replaced with an "x" (based on the Greek letter Chi) as in "hax0r" and "sux0rs" (hacker and sucks/suckers). Sometimes an "-0r" is added in place of "-er".

Additionally, letters in the middle of words may be transposed. This has become the subject of some discussion in the linguistics community [2]. People seem to be able to discern meaning from words in which the first and last morphemic letters are correctly placed, even if some of the intervening letters are incorrectly placed.

While the intentional transposition of letters in language is novel [citation needed] Davis and Rawlinson have demonstrated that readers of most languages are capable of understanding the meaning of a word, provided complex phonemes and diphthongs are not corrupted. Because the meaning is easily conveyed, even with severe corruption of the original wording, the transpositions and substitutions can become quite elaborate.

Many of these characters cannot be typed simply in Microsoft Windows and therefore must be inserted via Alt Codes or the Character Map. The Keyboard Viewer in the Mac OS (both X and Classic) displays the key combinations necessary to type special characters.

Word endings

Use of "x0r" and "z0r"

The suffix "-x0r" (also "-z0r", or other variations thereof) can be used, like the standard English -er and -or, to derive an agent noun from a verb, such as "pwnz0r" or "h4x0r", meaning one who pwns or hacks, respectively. It can also be suffixed to the stem of any verb, with no apparent change in meaning. The resulting verbs can be conjugated as regular English verbs. It is rumored that it originates from the word for "king" in a different language. While many insist that it was created as a divination from other abbreviations; e.g. X meaning cross and O + R with an implied V between them. Altogether meaning Crossover a clever synonym for anything translated into leet(1337-5p34k).

In the phrase "r0x0r j00r b0x0rz", "b0x0rz" may not refer to "boxers" (i.e. underwear) but might refer to "boxes" (in computer slang: computers, though boxen or b0x3n may be more commonly used in this context). The more naïve interpretation "rocks your boxers" is still meaningful, however, as the sentiment is much the same and is often used to carry a connotation that one was 'rocked' so hard they felt it in their boxer shorts. This is also similar to the phrase "to scare one's pants off".

An increasingly common use of the "-xor" is changing its grammatical usage to be deliberately incorrect. Instead of using "Bob r0x0r", "Bob am teh r0x0r" or "Bob are teh r0x0r" is deliberately used to increase the level of irony and to separate it from less ironic, true Leet. This deliberate misspelling is similar to the cult following of the All your base are belong to us phrase. Indeed, the online and computer communities have been international from their inception, so that spellings and phrases typical of non-native speakers are quite common.

Another example is "/me sex0rz teh botz0rz" ("I sex the bots"), a sarcastic reference to downloading from XDCC bots on IRC.

Due to the phonetic sound of "xor" (ksor), Leet speakers quickly began using "zor" and "zorz" as well and in similar context. "zorz" however is often used on the end of every major word in a sentence for comedic effect such as "H0ly sh1tz0rz j00 Pwnz0rzed him upz0rz!1"

Using "ri" in combination with "xor" brings about long suffixes for higher levels of irony (e.g., "I am t3h sux0rix0rage"). The suffix "-izzle" may also be added to words in the same way as "zor," "xor," etc. This practice entered the popular culture based on rapper Snoop Dogg's use of the term. "izzle" is quickly becoming a cliche and the people who use it are often labeled as "posers". "Xor" itself becoming mainstream to a degree, and is beginning to produce its own share of "p0z0rz".

Use of the -age suffix

A verb may be changed to a noun simply by adding -age, or an adjective to a noun with '-ness'. For example, speak becomes speakage or leet becomes leetage, as in "1 |<|\|0w 1337//355 5p34k4g3" ("I know leetness speakage", that is, "I speak leet"). The addition of this suffix to the lexicon of popular culture is attributed to Pauly Shore.

The "-age" suffix has also been attributed to the punk/hardcore/emo band The Descendents, and sometimes with the band All. The lead singer of former, Milo Aukerman, possesses a Ph.D in biochemistry, and comically associates the band and himself with nerds and geeks. Members of the band have been involved with computers and software since the early 1980s. The Descendents commonly add the suffix "-age" to song and album titles such as "Myage," "Cameage," "Bikage," "Liveage," "Tonyage," "Marriage," and even "Coolidge," which is close enough. Most of these songs can be found on their 1981 release Milo Goes to College. A Descendents tribute album was appropriately named "Homage," which recognized the band's most common word morphology. Stockage was a punk music festival highlighted by performances from the Descendents and All.

Due to the fluid nature of Leet, such derived nouns can be further re'puposed as verbs: "h3 pwn4g3d m3" ("He pwnaged me", that is, "He dominationated me").

Other variations include phrases such as "I am t3h pwnage" ("I am the ownage", i.e., "I dominate"), signifying that the person saying this believes he is highly skilled, and "tht was t3h suck4ge" ("That was the suckage," i.e., "That sucked").

Words ending in -ed

Words ending in -ed may have -t substituted. For example, "pwned" would become pwnt. This should not be confused with misspellings such as samrt for smart. Additionally, it is fairly common for the e to be dropped. It can either be replaced by an apostrophe, as in poetry (e.g., "pwned" becomes "pwn'd"), or omitted entirely (e.g., "pwned" becomes "pwnd").

Grammar

Leet, like other hacker slang, enjoys a looser grammar than standard English. The loose grammar, just like loose spelling, encodes some of the level of emphasis, ironic or otherwise. A reader must rely more on intuitive parsing of Leet to determine the meaning of a sentence rather than the actual sentence structure. In particular, speakers of Leet are fond of verbing nouns, turning verbs into nouns (and back again) as forms of emphasis (e.g. "Bob rocks" is weaker than "Bob r0xx0rz" (spelling) is weaker than "Bob is t3h r0xx0rz" (grammar)). Leet, like in other hacker slang, employs overgeneralization in construction of new words. For example, if "h4xx0r3d" is the past tense of the verb "to hack" (hack ? haxxor ? haxxored), then "bl0wz0r3d" would be easily understood to be the past tense conjugation of "to blow", even if the reader had not seen that particular word before (e.g: "I g0+ t3h qu4d damag3 4nd bl0wz0r3d h1m up!!1"). "Pwnz0r3d" is used often in the same way as owned hence "1 pwnz0r3d his @$5 L4s+ N1gh+ on C$" (I "pwned" his ass last night on CS)

Also, any word ending in -xor (eg h4xx0r) can be construed as a noun, thus rendering "I @m t3h h@xx0r" grammatically 'correct'.

Thirdly, the 'xx' in haxxor can also mean 'ck' Thus, "hackor," or, more correctly, hacker.

Rhyming and rhythm

While Leet is not generally spoken, it can be deemed close to stress-timed. Care is taken by users of Leet to combine similarly timed words, or to encipher words into ways such that they have a common rhythm or rhyme. The archetypal example of this is the phrase "roffle my woffles" (note both spelling error, "woffle", and word timing) (roffle my woffles is derived from rofl). Other examples would be "r0x0rz j00r b0x0rz" (in this case, only matching sounds). Leet can be highly lyrical and stylistic (even poetic) the way a typical pidgin language can be.

Over-exclamation and other emphasis

Another common feature of Leet is over-exclamation, where a sentence is postfixed with many exclamation marks.

In some cases, because the exclamation symbol (!) resides on the same key as the number one ("1") on english keyboards, over-exclamation can be accidentally (or purposely) typed with extraneous digits, owing to the excitement of the typist: y0 d00d th1s 5h1zZ47 R0Xx0rzZ!!!!!11. This was especially likely in the context of online multiplayer games, such as Quake. Some sarcastically take the exclamation further and replace some of the digits with words: "y0 d00d th1s 5h1zZ47 RoXx0rzZ!!!!!!11eleven1111one", or perhaps even "y0 d00d th1s 5h1zZ47 RoXx0rzZ!!!!!!111onetwo". In some cases, Leet speakers purposely type exactly one "1" for every 3 "!"s. This is an action satirical of newbies (n00bs) and users of AOL speak who let go of the shift key too soon, causing some of their intended exclamation marks to become the number 1.

Other common typos and uses, whether intentional or otherwise, are the use of the adjacent ~ (tilde) and @ keys; the number 4 (from Hungarian Leet speakers using "Shift + 4" for "!"); the intentional typing of the words "one," "eleven," "eleventyone", and other similar actions. Along this line is the misspelling of "?" following the same line of "!" The most common being "/" and "slash", as in: "W@t r j00 ta1kin b0u+, n00b???//??/?SLASH//?QUESTIONMARK? ("What are you talking about, noob?") A similar derivation comes from the location of the Z key next to the left shift. When typing words such as OMG or OMFG, it has become common to instead type ZOMG or ZOMFG to simulate the accidental typing of the Z in an effort to press the shift key. Note this only applies to Leet speakers with keyboards similar to the english key layout. On Hungarian keyboards, for example, the key next to the left shift key is Í (and next to that is Y - Z and Y are mixed), so Hungarian Leetspeakers sometimes say, for example, "íOMFG", though this is not very common.

In addition to variations on punctuation-based emphasis, it is common to combine two (or more) words and capitalize them to show emphasis. Perhaps most common would be the combination of "omg" and "wtf" to produce "OMGWTF" (and to make fun of these people, there are those who will then add "BBQHAX" to the mix, creating "OMGWTFBBQHAX", which of course makes 4 70/\ o l= 53/\53). Also common is "NOWAI" (from "no way"). Constructions such as these are frequently reduced to abbreviations when their use becomes frequent, and repeated typing becomes time consuming. Another phonetic abbreviation is "omigawd" (omg with an "bimbo" accent clearly visible in the phonetic word structure).

As with most alternate Leet spellings or grammar, inclusion of these traits in a sentence is often done on purpose. The intent is typically to either lighten the mood, strengthen a point (by mocking someone who may not be party to the discussion), or convey a sense of irony, depending on the context.

Vocabulary

Main article: Internet slang

Many words originally derived from Leet slang have now become part of the modern Internet slang, such as "pwned". The primary driving force of new vocabulary in Leet is the need to describe new phenomena. Another force is common (intentional) misspelling such as "teh", and especially the "z" at the end of words ("skillz"). Another prominent example of a surviving Leet expression is the ever-popular "w00t" (now sometimes purposely done as w0t0). Gamers in particular may use Leet in a sarcastic manner, e.g. "ph34/2 m`/ 1337 sk1llz" ("Fear my leet skills"), as the practice is frowned upon by the community.

Additionally, new words (or corruptions thereof) may arise from a need to make one's username unique. As Internet gaming reaches more people, the number of names available to a given user is drastically reduced. While many users may wish to have the username "Muad'Dib", in many cases it is only possible for one user to have the moniker. As such, degradations of the name may evolve, such as "M00ad'd33b" and so on. As the Leet cipher is highly dynamic, there are virtually limitless combinations of phonemes and transliterations.

In addition to the common transliterations and enciphering, misspelling (intentionally) is particularly prevalent in Leet dialects.

Frequently, common typing errors are also absorbed. Transposition of adjacent characters is a common construction (make -> maek, you -> yuo, is -> si). Other common misspellings now standard in Leet are:

  • "evar", "evah", and "eva" for "ever." Generally used the phrase "Worst. <something>. Evar." (Worst. Game. Evar.) This construct is largely credited as a reference to a phrase oft uttered by The Comic Book Guy, a recurring character on The Simpsons, which itself is a reference to a complaint uttered about the quality of the show by participants in the alt.tv.simpsons newsgroup.
  • German "[ist] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help)" for "is" has crept into Leet, including English encipherings. Frequently used with word "death". (mp3 ist death.) Also, "[krieg] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help)" — German for "war" — in this context means, approximately, "favourable". (mp3 ist krieg). This usage is common among internet users who are fans of black metal. It is most likely derived from the Nargaroth album title "Black Metal ist Krieg".
  • Über (from German [über] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help) "above", "over") has also made its way into gaming communities to represent a quality of superiority. It usually appears as a prefix attached to adjectives ("His rushes are uberquick"; "The rocket launcher is uberpowerful") although it is occasionally used as a standalone descriptor ("Her playing style is uber").
  • "smrt" or "samrt" for "smart" (The former may also be an intentional reference to an episode of The Simpsons in which Homer misspells smart in song whilst burning his high school diploma: "I am so smart! I am so smart! S-M-R-T! I mean S-M-A-R-T!")
  • "teh", "t3h", or "73h" for "the". "Teh" is the archetypal example of Leet's letter-transposition construction. Additionally, "teh" may have a different grammatical function from "the". Consider the following: "I rock" versus "I am teh r0xx0r." "Teh" is often used to show sarcasm, carrying far less seriousness than the traditional "The". Other examples of "teh" are "I am teh back", "Teh song pwns", or "teh book of d00m".
  • "gom" for "omg" for "oh my god/gosh!". Originating from omg in which the user moved the last g to the beginning.
  • "r" for "are", "y" for "why", "k" for "ok" and "u" for "you," although this is also (possibly more often) considered to be chatroom speak, and mocked.
  • "J00" for "you". This originates from other languages where "J" has the same sound as "Y".

Kekeke

The expression "kekeke" is widely believed to have come from Koreans. In the Korean language, people expressed laughter in writing by repeating the letter "ㅋ" (Korean letter for the hard k [as opposed to the g or soft k, "ㄱ"], called 키읔 or "kieuk") many times over. Since early versions of StarCraft did not allow players to write in Hangul (the name of the Korean writing system), Koreans would romanize their language. Hence, kekeke was born. The phrase is an onomatopoetic Korean phrase similar to the English "hahaha", Spanish "jajaja," French "hoh-hoh-hoh-hoh-hoh," or Japanese "fufufu" (sometimes romanized more phonetically as "huhuhu", as the Japanese character "fu" is pronounced as a slur between the two sounds, producing a sound similar to "phu"), and is meant to express laughter. It is often used in-game as an expression of exaltation or as a form of mockery. Commonly, it is associated with a simple StarCraft tactic that involves massing a large number of units and using them to attack an enemy base before its owner is sufficiently prepared to defend. This is often called a Zerg Rush, after the StarCraft faction for whom the tactic was created. The phrase "OMG Zerg Rush! kekeke!!" is sometimes used outside of the game to indicate any form of overwhelming or swarming force.

Some English speakers use "kekeke" as a form of laughing, similar to giggling although it is still primarily used by Korean speakers.

The phrase also occurs on the MMORPG World of Warcraft, although its origin is completely different. There are two major factions in the game which 'speak' different languages. All chat text entered by a member of one faction will appear jumbled to a member of the other, and vice versa. As a result, members of the Alliance faction will see "kek" when a member of the Horde faction had typed "lol". This is often extended, and "lolololol" becomes "kekekekek". This has become an in-joke amongst World of Warcraft players. This is also a good example of what is known as an Easter Egg in the game World of Warcraft. The game writers at Blizzard used hundreds of famous phrases and names in populating the game world. KeK (Orcish for LOL) was intentional[citation needed].

The term has also found its way to public chat channels on Battle.net.

Kekeke is also used as an evil laugh and is used by players using devious tactics and/or playing evil characters. While this usage is thought to have its roots in the laugh of Kefka, the main villain from Final Fantasy VI, kekeke is commonly associated with laughs of devious characters in Japanese Manga, Anime, and Video Games, and has made its way through various translations.

Pr0n

Pr0n or pron is Leet slang for pornography.

This deliberately inaccurate spelling/pronunciation for "porn" where a zero is often used to replace the letter O and is sometimes used in legitimate communications (such as email discussion groups, Usenet, chat rooms, and Internet web pages) to circumvent language and content filters - which might result in messages being rejected as offensive or flagged as spam - and to prevent search engines from associating them with pornography - which might result in unwelcome traffic. It has subsequently become one of the most widely used examples of 1337 speak (leet speak). Pr0n is also sometimes spelled backwards to further obscure the meaning to potential uninformed readers.

It can also refer to ASCII art depicting pornographic images. The word "Pr0n" is not only used as a way to circumnavigate internet blocks, but also as a way to emphasize ones point. Porn in itself can be a strong word, but used in context, Pr0n will get the readers' attention a little better.

Pwn

Main articles: pwn and owned

Pwn refers to the domination of a player in a video game or argument (rather than just a win). There are several commonly accepted theories about its origin, most of which suggest derivation from the word own. The word "pwn" is pronounced the same as the common English word "own," though it is sometimes pronounced "pone." The most obvious of these is that pwn is a simple misspelling of the word own (since p is adjacent to o on QWERTY keyboards), but there are other plausible theories. One example is that 'pwn' in fact means "power own"; another theory is that the word originates from "perfectly own"; alternatively, since the letter P is one letter further along in the alphabet than the letter O, using "pwn" rather than "own" means that you have been beaten to a higher degree than "own." All denote the utter massacre of the other player(s). Another example of a common phrase used is lol pwned no re meaning the opponent was completely annihilated (not just beaten) and there is no rematch requested. Variations include pwnt, pwnz0red, pwnx0r3d, pwnihilation, pwnz0rz, pwn3d, "pwnm45t3r" and wtfpwn.

Another theory is that the term came into being through the misspelling of the word pawn, pawn being the lowest prized chess piece. Therefore, when you have pwned someone you have placed him or her in the lowest standing. However even this word has been purposefully used as "p4wn3d" as in "I p4wn3d j00 n00by"

Yet another theory is that the term "pwn" was initially associated with being "pistol-owned" in online multiplayer games. The term "pwn" gained notoriety within the Counterstrike community after a person with a superior weapon (AK-47, M-4A1, or other automatic weapon) was defeated with the use of a simple pistol. This progression of events would seem to indicate dominant skill in the player with the inferior pistol outplayed (owned) the player with superior firepower.

n00b

Main article: newbie

Within Leet, the term newbie (and derivations thereof) is used extensively. This is due in part to its origins as a means of segregating the elite echelon from outsiders. There have been other variations of the spelling and pronunciation of Noob. For example, a contemporary derivative of newbie (or n00b) is the nubcake (often spelled nubcaek). Naab came from the pakistani accent. Another example is the commonly used n00blet which can sometimes have its own meaning, which is a Noob that acts or is actually young (young is considered under the age of 12, meaning not a teenager). Referring to a player as "Duke Noobins" indicates that he or she has been elevated to a regal level of noobness above that which normal people can achive. The most recent incarnation of noob is boon, simply the word noob backwards.

Though they are often used interchangeably, there is a widely accepted use of Newb/Newbie and Noob/N00b as two separate entities: a Newb is a person who is new to something, while the Noob is a lot more annoying, being ignorant of his or her own failures, blaming others without reason, failing to learn, etc. It is used most commonly to tell another person that they are inferior when it comes to skill in any video game. For example if someone is getting beaten badly they would be called a n00b as they have a significant lack of skill compared to the other players. It would be seen most commonly used in a first person shooter and it can also be used as an insult in person. Such as if someone makes frequent mistakes, they could be called a n00b. Ex: '/0|3 15 4 n00b (Yob is a n00b)

According to the lexicon, Newbs do not use Leet as much as Noobs; they mainly use Txt-Tlk. Noobs use Leet more frequently and tend to find ways to emphasize it.

In primitive Leet as used on BBS systems in the 1980s and into the very early 1990s, the usual term was greenie which was derived from the cowboy slang greenhorn. A variant was Christmas greenies which referred to the phenomenon where BBS systems were flooded with new members immediately following Christmas and Hanukkah because modems were a common holiday gift. If the greenie was young, the term ruggie (derived from rugrat meaning child) might be used. The term "greenie" is also used in the MMORPG Everquest to refer to mosters far below the level of the player speaking. A player can "con" or consider a monster, and the returning text is green to indicate the monster's inferiority.

Suxxor or sux0rz

Suxxor is a derogatory term which originated in warez culture and currently used in computer gaming communities (such as Everquest and Counter-Strike). The word is a modified version of the phrase "to suck", and the meaning is roughly the same. There are two main uses, as a verb ("Dude, that suxxorz!") and as a noun ("You are teh suxxor."). They appeared independently: the verb version is antonymous to roxxor (Leet for "to rock"), and a noun could be considered as a counterpart to "haxor" (Leet for "hacker"). The pronunciation is "suck zor". Contrary to some claims, EverQuest's spell "Succor" has nothing to do with that word (actually pronounced "Soo-kore"). This is one of the early uses of the -zor word-ending.

Alternate spellings: sux0r, suxx0r.

Alternate meaning: Bastardization of the word, "sucker" (i.e. fool)

FTW

The term "FTW" is short for For The Win, which is used by gamers in reference to something powerful that helps the players win. In World of Warcraft, for instance, "Moonfire FTW" or "soulstone is FTW." This is also commonly used in online racing games such as Live for Speed. One may say "XRT FTW!" or "LX6 PWNDS JOO FTW!" Similarly, FTL has come around with the opposite meaning: For The Loss/lose. "FTW" may sometimes be used as a satirical form of "WTF" simply producing the reverse of the common saying. The origins of this phrase may have been from the gameshow "Hollywood Squares" where it is said often.

Lol, Rofl, Lmao and derivatives thereof

Main article: LOL (Internet slang)

Among the early Internet slang were "rofl," "lol," "lmao," and others indicating an appreciation of humor. As such, derivations thereof quickly became incorporated into the Leet vocabulary. Leet is prone to corruptions of words to suit rhythm and rhyming. This, in addition to various plays on the word (such as "ROFLCOPTER," "LMAONADE," "LOLLERSKATES," "LOLLERGASM," "LOLipops," "lollercaust,"lollercoaster," "ROFFLEWAFFLEZ" etc…) has led to the creation of phrases such as "roffle my woffles" and "lawlsauce". Many people will say "lawl" or "lawlz" in place of "lol" or otherwise phoneticize the acronym's pronunciation. Lawl or lawlz, however, can be used as a sarcasm. lol is a shortened form of "laugh out loud" and lawl means, "It wasn't very funny, but I'll give you credit."

Plz

In on-line games such as World of Warcraft or Runescape the term “Plz” is widely used. It is an abbreviated version of the word please. This term can be found in conjuncture with other terms when someone is begging for something such as “Rez plz!” or “Monies plz!” or “ITMS PLZ” the reason it is used is that it is much faster to type, and can be repeated easily if needed (e.g. “Rez plz! Plzplzplzplzplz”).

Teh

Teh in on-line games and internet forums is a misspelling of the word "The", usually a result of typing quickly and hitting the E key before the H key. It is sometimes used to help convey humor in the person's statement as a form of ironic inflection.
Teh is also used as a dismissive and derogatory reaction to information that isn't up-to-the-second new. It is used in this manner as a contraction of the full phrase "teh old".

14:41

14:41 it's infact one of the newest shortenings. It means "Laughing at a loser" (LAAL or just lal). Coming from Swedish westcoast, from the leets in the Clan RoeM8.Their homepage

An example of a paragraph in leet

Note: The following statement of "leet at its finest" might be untrue because of the cipher's unstandardized nature.


Example: 7h1$ 1$ 4n 3x4mp£3 0ƒ £337 47 17$ ƒ1n3$7. 1 w1££ 74|{3 7h1$ 0pp3r7µn17¥ 70 r3m1nÐ ¥0µ 7h47 ¥0µ $h0µ£Ð 4£w4¥$ 937 ¥0µr |{1Ð$ p37 $p4¥3Ð 0r n3µ73r3Ð. N3v3r £34v3 h0m3 w17h0µ7 4 70w3£. 4nÐ n0 m4773r wh47 7h3¥ $4¥, 7h3r3 1$ n0 ([]\/\/ |_3\/3|_.

Translation: This is an example of leet at its finest. I will take this opportunity to remind you that you should always get your kids pet spayed or neutered. Never leave home without a towel. And no matter what they say, there is no cow level.


Example: ! _/(_)$7 134|?/\/3|) vv#47 1337 /\/\34/\/5.

Translation: I just learned what leet means.


More common example: That move was teh l33t!!11

Translation: That move was (misuse of the) elite!

Forums

On many Forums on the internet, Leet is viewed as childish, and ignorant. It can be considered difficult to read as well. However it can also be viewed as comical, when used in a comedic situation to emphasize insulting someone or emphasize the silliness of the situation, as well as often being used sarcastically. Such as one person saying something about lollipops, and another countering it with some sort of an insult. It would then be comical for the next poster to type something like "omgz0rz pwn3d n00biez0rz!"

See also

Terminology

Leet in the Internet Social Corpus

References

  1. ^ "Gamer-to-English Dictionary". Retrieved 21 June. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)
  2. ^ For example, Microsoft's [1]
  3. ^ Hacker Crackdown: Law and Disorder on the Electronic Frontier ISBN 055356370X.

Vocabulary

  • Blashki, Katherine. "Game Geek's Goss: Linguistic Creativity In Young Males Within An Online University Forum (94/\/\3 933k'5 9055oneone)" (PDF). Australian Journal of Emerging Technologies and Society. 3 (2). Retrieved 6 March. {{cite journal}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help); Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
  • Bruce Sterling, The Hacker Crackdown: Law and Disorder on the Electronic Frontier ISBN 055356370X.

Syntax and structure

Evolution, current state, and spread

Leet guides and instruction

Translation tools

Examples

Template:English pseudo-dialects

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