Leet
From Wikipedia, a free encyclopedia written in simple English for easy reading.
Leet is a word often used on the Internet, some being internet games, writing boards, and chatting rooms. It comes from the word "elite" meaning "better than everyone else". Lots of the time it is written like "1337" or "l33t". It can also be written in other ways, the numbers 1, 3 and 7 standing for L, E and T. It has turned into an Internet language which uses parts of this number spelling with words based on English. Called "leet speak" or "1337-sp33k" it is used by English speakers, but also by other language users including French, Spanish and German.
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[edit] Leet speak
The words of leet speak are a combination of words coming from (computer) gaming and English words spelt wrong like the mistakes of someone not knowing the use of a keyboard. Many of these words are special words, some are important on a bigger scale and replace everyday words. Many of these words are popular from internet communication. They are not new words that have been added to the vocabulary of many people, the words of leet speak are usually put together to create a 'dialect' (small language). This dialect is used in some places for funniness.
[edit] A Leet Speak Alphabet
Note: Most of the time it is only the vowels that are changed and then usually only they are replaced by letters, it is uncommon to see someone use the Leet Alphabet exclusivley
- A: 4, /-\, /_\
- B: 8,|3 and very uncommonly 13
- C: <, {, [, (
- D: |>, |), |}, |]
- E: 3
- F: |=, ph
- G: [, -, [+
- H: |-|, [-], {-}, |=|, [=], {=}
- I: 1, |
- J: usually the J is not changed.
- K: |<, 1<
- L: |_, |, 1
- M: |\/|, ^^, /\/\
- N: |\|, /\/
- O: 0, (), [], {}
- P: |o, |O
- Q: O, or 9
- R: |2, 12
- S: 5, $
- T: 7, +
- U: |_|
- V: \/
- W: \/\/, (/\), \^/, |/\|
- X: ><,
- Y: j (usualy only used in 'you' to make 'joo')
- Z: Usually unaltered
[edit] Numbers for letters
One of the qualities of leet speak is using numbers to replace letters. Many words have numbers leet speak.
- 1 --- L, I (I is more often shown as |, and sometimes as ][)
- 2 --- Z (not in common usage)
- 3 --- E
- 4 --- A
- 5 --- S
- 6 --- G (not in common usage)
- 7 --- T (can also be L)
- 8 --- B
- 9 --- G
- 0 --- O (Occasionally represented by "()")
Also other typing symbols are used to make letters that give another style. As a result of the few available letters in this style, there are few resulting word combinations and the method is only used to emphasize key words. This "language" is not part of l33t, and was made after as a different way to write. However, this way to write is not used a lot by people. A lot of the time it is used together with leet to make the meaning of a word stronger and to show lots of feeling.
- H --- ]|-|[
- I --- ][
- L --- ][,,
- M --- ]|v|[, (T)
- O --- (())
- P --- ]|D
- T --- ''][''(or "][")
[edit] Intentional mispelling
When people write in leet, they spell some words wrong all the time. They might do this to laugh at new people who do not write words with their keyboards well. When someone who writes in leet thinks something a new person writes is funny or stupid, they might use these words that are spelled wrong to pretend to be like the new person.
- an --- "and"
- d00d --- "dude"
- form --- "from"
- h4x --- "hacks" (see Vocabulary entry: "hax")
- j00 --- "you"
- kewl --- "cool"
- liek --- "like"
- mastah --- "master"
- max0r --- "max." or "maximum"
- OGM --- "Oh My God"
- PMGZ--- "OMG with a p and a z"
- OLO --- "LOL"
- pai --- "pie"
- phear --- "fear"
- powwah --- "power"
- pr0n --- "porn"
- pwn --- "0wn"
- t3h --- "the" (see Vocabulary entry: "teh")
- seks --- "sex"
- wen --- "when"
- whut --- "what"
- winnar --- "winner"
[edit] l33t vocabulary
- leet, l33t, 1337 --- "elite"
- ftw, 4tw --- "for the win", in order for something to be successful, or well received
- hax, h4x --- "hacks"
- haxor, hax0r, h4x0r, --- "hacker", cheater (note: also often spelled with two x's)
- joo, j00 --- "you" (often mistaken for 'Jew')
- meh --- [n1] "me"; [n2] "oh well", used as an indicator of undecidedness, unworriedness or often as a sign that the user has nothing to say
- newbie, newb --- "new", newcomer or new player. Thought to originate from "new boy", or "new-blood"
- noob, n00b, n00b13, nooblet, nub, newb, nubbins --- "new" or new (player), used more often as a derogatory term for the purpose of mockery or ridicule. The more common use is when an experienced player tries to rip someone off or offers up nooby items for more valuable items in trades, or is cheating or doing something that only a noob should do (i.e.asking for coins, bragging about low-level armour, in RS, level 3s that bother you, asking to be your "gf" or "bf")
- own, ownage, 0wn, pwn, pwnage --- "own" [v] to be superior to; [n1] superior; [n2] best
- phear, ph34r, ph33r --- "fear"
- pwn --- "pawn" or to beat extremely easily
- rox0r --- "rock" [v] to be amazing; [n] excellent, amazing
- secks, sechs --- "sex"
- c3n50r5ed --- "censored"
- teh, t3h --- "the"
- wft --- "wtf", what the f***
- woot, w00t --- [n1] "We 0wn (the) Other Team", it is thought that this is the true origin of the expression, being used at the end of a match to indicate that your team has won. It has come to be used primarily as an expression of celebration.
- ZoMG!!!11! --- "Oh My God"
- STFU!!11!1one--- "shut the f*** up" or "stupid f***er"
- Prawn- Another use of pwn, not to be confused with pr0n.
- Pr0n- Porn
[edit] Irregular syntax and grammar
When you write in English you must follow the rules, but most of the time people who write in leet do not use these rules. When they write in leet they try to write it in a special way, so that it is very different from English.
"l33t is teh suck!" (meaning: 'leet sucks') shows that in leet people can use their own rules, and not use the English rules. A lot of times adjectives (describing words) are turned into nouns using copula verbs (examples: is, was, will be). The leet word "teh" (the) is also often placed in front of verbs, as in "I teh pwnd j00" (meaning i the owned you, meaning: I beat you badly).
[edit] Pronunciation
Because some words are too long for use in games they have been written how they sound.. Here's a quick guide:
- pwn --- own, sometimes pawn, and rarley pone
- x or xx (as in haxxorz or haxorz) --- an x followed by a z. In this example, hackzorz would be pronunciation