Start at this post. Play around with the pages up top, take a look at the leet speak alphabet link on the side. Familiarize yourself with it a bit.

Then begin at the post under this. It’s best to follow it in order, but jump around as you please. Each hyperlink opens in a new window, so if you choose to interrupt your viewing to take a look at those, go ahead.

This project is a little more informal than most, so enjoy that. My goal was to make the reader comfortable and to easily communicate with you. Comment as much as you wish; give me your feedback! and lastly, enjoy your experience.

-Nichole Baldino

Homographic substitution is where similar looking letters, punctuation marks, or graphics are used to represent the correct letter

Simply, leet is homographic substitution.

Leet means “elite”. By coining this phrase, those who use leet are saying that they are above and better than everyone else. They are the elite. Everybody use is a n00b, or a newbie or rookie.

In the 1980s, leet was used to get past restrictive text editors. Today, however, leet is used primarily as a way to reduce key strokes. Like mentioned above, it embraces the idea of abbreviations, often by eliminating vowels and creating acronyms.

MACMILLAN DICTIONARY contributor, Jonathan Cole, defined leet speak in what I think is a perfect way:

“Leet speak has developed from an obscure communication system into a cultural phenomenon, widely and increasingly used in online games, chat rooms, text messaging, instant messaging, websites and wider electronic communication.”

“Pwn” is derived from own and is used in many online games. In what context? “I pwned your mom last night!” (haha) So what does that mean? “I claimed ownership and dominated your mom last night!”

Some say that pwn derived from a pawn checkmate in chess. Others say it developed from the phrase PW OWN (password own), and some say that the p just makes it look more “elite” because it’s a bleeding o. Most likely though, it was a typo (note how close the o and p are on the QWERTY keyboard).

“Teh” simply means what it’s a typo for – the. It is also used by many gamers. “I just killed teh biggest monster!” (and just for kicks- my response would be “WOAH DUDE! You totally pwned it!”)

The BBC gives an explanation of leet speak and it’s vocabulary as well.

Instead of using –ed or –er, leet speakers use the -0r clause. Also, I’ve found that an -x often replaces a –ck. For example, instead of saying “I am a leet hacker” (in leet: I 4m 4 l337 h4ck3r), you could be really leet and say “1 4m l337 h4x0r!”

Also in leet, to make something plural, the –s is changed to a –z. The f is changed to a ph and u is commonly changed to a 00. I’ve sometimes seen the exchange of a c for k. Punctuation is used sparingly, mostly just exclamation points! Commas are continuously left out, as well are periods, or full stops.

So, combining Cole and the BBC, I would say something like, “1 7074lly pwn3d y000 by b31ng 73h l337 h4x0r!!!!!”

• 0w|\| or 0wn3d – One of the most popular l33t words it is very loosely defined as beaten or can simply be an expression of awe, for example, ‘I 0wn3d you’ means ‘I have beaten you in a very humiliating fashion’, or ’0wn4ge!’ which means ‘That was (or is) very nifty’.
• w00t – Derived from ‘hoot’, this is defined as ‘yay’, it can be used, for example, upon victory or, possibly, the release and procurement of a new video card.
• 13wt – Treasure, good merchandise, possessions, a misspelling of loot. Most commonly referring to pirated software, items in a game or promotional giveaways.
• h4x0r – Hacker, can be used for a real hacker or simply a very skillful person. This is the most common occurrence of the -0r clause.
• ph33r – Fear, most commonly used in such phrases as, ‘Ph33r m3!’ or ‘Ph33r |\/|y 1337 sk1llz!’ It can also be written as, ‘ph34r’.
• sk1llz – Obviously derived from ‘skill’, referring to skill in some type of online game, programming or hacking. Many times used in conjunction with ‘m4d’. As a general rule, if one has sk1llz, one is to be ph33r3d.
• m4d – Mad, mostly used as a descriptive term meaning great, for example, ‘h3s g0t m4d sk1llz’.
• j00 – You, commonly used in such phrases as, ‘j00 d34d f00′.
• f00 – Fool, one who isn’t very bright or skillful.
• j0 – Yo, as in the greeting.
• d00d – Dude; an expression of comrade, or just used to address a random person online.
• sux0r – Sucks, as in ’7h1s sux0r’, one of the few common examples of the -0r clause.
• l4m3r – Lamer, someone who is lame, someone who uses an unfair tactic or generally makes the things around him or her less fun.
• n00b – Short for noobie, misspelling of newbie; someone who is new to something, or just not very good at it.

Leet is an electronic form of written communication. It primarily evolved as an attempt to “circumvent text filters that block, or edit emails and text messages that contain offensive words” (104). Children can use this language without a fear of their parents or teachers understanding what they have written. It is used to prevent software limitations from stopping or disturbing communication.

What are the secrets and hidden meanings behind leet speak. Why do kids use it and what are they saying when they do?

Part 1 of the blog Pwn leet speak, thinks that parents and people such as the authors of this book “missed the main reason for the popularity of the sublanguage, and seemed to be aimed at determining whether ‘children’ were involved in illegal online activities”.

Let’s see if they’re right…

Just as THIS POST says, leet speak embraces abbreviations. Lol – laughing out loud; bbiab – be back in a bit; rofl – rolling on the floor laughing; u instead of you, r instead of are, o instead of oh, m instead of am.

Paw – parents are watching

Pos – parents over shoulder

Parents Guide says that you should familiarize yourself with these terms, so you are able to watch for them, as they can be warning signs for something bigger.

You can filter out certain sites, but will that filter catch pr0n, leet for porn? How about w4r3z, leet for illegally obtained software? Try 3xpl017z?

Here is a news report on leet speak which highlights the trouble that some say it could cause:

B451c4lly, 7h15 m34n5 7h47 l337 d035n’7 h4v3 4 51gn1f1c4n7 3ff3c7 0r 1mp4c7 0n 7h3 br41n 4nd 0n3’5 r34c710n 71m3. W17h c0n574n7s 4nd l337 d1g175/5ymb0l5 51m1l4r 70 7h3 l3773r5 1n qu35710n, 7h3 w0rd 15 r3c0gn1z4bl3.

IS THIS THE TRUTH?

How long did it take you to read that?

Basically, this means that leet doesn’t have a significant effect or impact on the brain and one’s reaction time. With constants and with leet digits/symbols similar to the letters in question, the word is recognizable.

And the translation?

Take Our Poll

I’m hoping that you learned something from this blog. I wanted to present you with not just the what, but the why, and I’m hoping I did. I think that each of the posts that you have read help to identify the why. It also portrays leet in every respect. You see the positives and the benefits that many people say it gives them, yet you also see how it can be negative and even potentially dangerous.

My aim was for you to understand this language and WHY there is a subculture based around it.

Bu7 7h47 d035n’7 m34n 7h47 1f y0u c0uld r34d 7h15 y0u’v3 4cc0mpl15h3d my g04l f0r y0u.

I don’t want you to just understand what that says, but the purpose of why it’s written like that. I want to leave you with an interest in this language and a desire to learn more about it. And I hope I did just that.