/337 sp33/<

[Johnny Angel]

As irritating as it is, I've come to realize that so-called "leet speak" is a fairly fascinating phenomenon. If I were going into linguistics, it would be the subject of my master's thesis. It's an art of visual puns, taking familiar patterns that we recognize as letters and sounds and twists them, breaks them apart, abstracts them away from the litteral (as it were). It's an experiment in the boundaries of recognition and comprehension. It's all the more fascinating that this profound project is being taken on by people who are not, it seems, particularly bright. It highlights something fundamental to the way the linguistics functions of our brain put things together. Linguists would be quite remiss not to start logging chatroom conversations.

Here's a partial alphabet from examples of `leet' that I've actually seen:

The `Leet' alphabet

A 4 @
B 8
C ( ©
D /)
E 3
F /= ph
G 9
H |-| /-\
I / !
J
K /{ /<
L l / /_
M /\/\
N |\| /\/
O 0
P Þ
Ph F
Q
R ®
S z $ 5
T 7
U J (_)
V \/
W \/\/
X ><
Y
Z

[Czarcasm]

If ever there was a thread suited for MPSIMS, this is it.
Buh-bye.

[Alonist]

¥µ@§ ¶\� �¶\& ®3$Þ�¶\|)&|} +0 +][1$ +][®€@]) ¥&†¿

[Johnny Angel]

Czarcasm wrote:

If ever there was a thread suited for MPSIMS, this is it.
Buh-bye.

Did you even read my post?

[Gozu Tashoya]

Maybe he did, maybe he didn't. Oh well, bygones.

Anyway, you might want to rethink the mentality of those 'leet haxors' who you dismiss as not appearing particularly bright. Granted, in the chats, you'll see a lot of teens and script kiddies that talk in leet, but "real" hackers often use leet just for the hell of it, more often than not using it self-reflexively. This self-reflexivity is often coupled by the awareness that a) most people see them as immature because of it and b) they can screw you over nine ways from Sunday if they wanted to, as well as c) the appreciation of this irony.

It's been a long day, so I'm really not going anywhere with this, but it's something to think about.

[Johnny Angel]

There was a little of that sort of thing I remember from long ago -- the use of certain conventions that appeared in such e-zines as Phrack. But those weren't full-borg /337 sp33c, and to tell you the truth, I don't think anybody associates this stuff with hackers anymore. I think it's become associated with the new generation of BBS posters who got on the net before they got into high school.

In any case, the apologism that a certain group would actually try to get themselves dismissed as immature is sort of ad hoc, don't you think? Out of a sense of irony, I can buy. That is, after all, the whole point. But as a disarming strategy. As the kids say, "Bitch, please."

But aside from it being irritating to read, there is nothing precluding smart people from using it, and probably a lot of them do. As I said, there is something profound going on with this stuff, a marvelous sort of word game being played here. It would not suprise me at all if this originated very self-consciously as just that, and it would be interesting to know either way.

What's at stake is to what extent is playing word games natural. Most of the fasinating wordplay I notice going around is usually linked to some movie or T.V. show whose humor is based on wordplay -- i.e. Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure, Wayne's World, and Beavis and Butthead. I suspect that the incidence of casual wordplay among teenagers rose sharply with the popularity of these franchises, and dropped also accordingly. If that were true, it would suggest that perhaps not all people are inclined to play word games, but will sometimes imitate the word games of others.

What I'd like to believe is that people, left to their own devices, do play word games, and that this is a natural function of our linguistic minds. But in practice, this stuff always seems to permeate from some other in-group, perhaps, as you say, the actual /337 /-/@><0rz.

[Sterra]

f00 I will qw0n j00, w00t w00t

[Johnny Angel]

There you go. Much more strongly associated with gamers than with hackers. Another illustration:

http://www.gamespy.com/comics/february01/angst3/

[Alonist]

Originally posted by Asmodean
f00 I will qw0n j00, w00t w00t

Well, I've reread Asmodean's post, and I'm none the wiser. But now my ][3@]) hurts.

[Gozu Tashoya]

Disarming strategy? Nice to see somebody that wasn't me made the connection, 'cause it never even crossed my mind. And, if nothing else, the hackers still associate it with the hackers. More the script kiddies, than anything else (the true 'leet hackers presumably having 'outgrown' it, but still). Whether or not this form of speech has been appropriated by the gamers would be very interesting to me. Though, with all due respect, I'd like a cite that has more tangible evidence/examples of use than a comic.

http://www.antionline.com/archives/p...ww.beds4u.com/
http://www.antionline.com/archives/p...terschule.com/
http://www.antionline.com/archives/p...omehealth.com/
http://www.2600.com/hacked_pages/200...homas.loc.gov/

The KKK Web page, hacked. No leet, but something worth seeing anyway....

[Alonist]

i m3@n, my ß®^¹¶\.

[Gozu Tashoya]

The English to Leet translator

Another strip.

@+ 1eaS+ |t\'5 |\|0t m0r5E <0de.

_{Please, mods, don't kill me.}

[Alonist]

On the acceptance of "leet" by young gamers, I note that my 15-year-old nephew sneers at his fellow EverQuest gamers who use abbreviations in in-game chat.

[Gozu Tashoya]

The beginnings of a linguist's look at leet speak.

Some history of leet.

Yeah, I agree with alonicist, from my experience, everybody sneers at the K3w1 D00dz (or whatever) on EQ. Then again, all the real hackers sneer at the script kiddies who use it too. I'm not sure anybody really likes these guys....

[Coldfire]

G0d, j00 GuYS 5Ur3 KN0\/\/ h0W gET @ MO|>era+Or a H34d4Ch3.
1+\'5 |\/|Y 8IRth|>Ay, J00 b457aRds!

[Alonist]

#^Þþ¥ ß/®‡µ|)@¥ ,(�1[)ƒ¹®€ !

+][@!/!!<z 4 +#3 k3w1 1yn><, KK d00d!

[smoke]

I'm probably gonna take some crap for this. Understand that I have no complaint w/ either this thread or the following ones, but how is this thread different from this one, or even this one, both of which were locked for being a pain in the butt?

I just wanna know the reasoning- I'm NOT crying "Foul!" on mods here!!!

The original reasoning was discussed here.

[smoke]

p3RH4PS 3yE shoU1D gots P#RA53D I+ mOR3 L|ke THis: |\'|\/| PRo64bLY G0N|\|A T@K3 50me kRAP f0r t#i5. |_||\|DErst4|\||> 7hA+ 3YE 9o7S N0 c0|\/|Pla1|\|+ \/\// E1TheR +His thReA|> 0r t#3 f0lL0\/\/i|\|9 o|\|35, bU7 #0W 1s Thi5 t#R3AD |>yff3RE|\|t FR0|\/| 7#15 o|\|3, 0r 3V3n T#y5 ONE, 8OT# Uv \/\/h1Ch \/\/3rE 1OKk3D F0R Be1n9 a Pa|n 1N 7h3 6u+T? | jU57 WanN@ |<n0W 7HE R3A50|\|1n9- I\'|\/| |\|0t kRY1Ng \"F0|_|1!\" 0n MO|>s hErE!!! t#e 0R19in4L re4SOn1Ng \/\/4S d15k|_|SSEd hEr3.

-----------------------------
\"1n 7h3 647+LE bEtW3en U 4n|> tHe \/\/0Rld, Be+ 0|\| +he \/\/0RL|>.\" ---Th3 D3-|\/|0tyV@TI0n@1 s3r|3s

[Gozu Tashoya]

My WAG is that if we keep abusing the English to Leet translator, that this thread will be locked sooner or later. (I also fully expect the mods to decapitate me and stick my head on a pike as a warning.) After all, though Coldfire appears to be the coolest mod ever (happy birthday, Coldie ), it's bound to wear on someone's nerves sooner or later. OTOH, it is quite a bit easier to read leet than it is morse code, IMHO, so who knows?

0#, 4|\||> @lOn|<yS7, y0|_|\'r3 W3Lcom3 FoR +HE 1y|\|Kz D00D.

[Coldfire]

Originally posted by smoke
I just wanna know the reasoning- I'm NOT crying "Foul!" on mods here!!!

The main difference is that the OP actually is attempting to start something serious here, as opposed to posting "May your camel contract herpes" in Morse Code. And a few of these Leet-Translations are funny, but as others pointed out, we can't have an entire thread of it. As it is now, I'm leaving it open to see where it will lead. If it continues to be an MPSIMS page-one Leet Speak Fest, then yeah, it's got a good chance of being locked. But maybe something interesting will grow from it, I dunno.

74+3r d00d5!

[Guinastasia]

Do any of you hang out at Something Awful?

[Alonist]

Not me- give us a link? Thought-- anybody wanting to do an entire thread in leet could probably do it at Salon.com Table Talk. As I understand it, the objection to threads like this is, that the mods here are duty-bound to examine each post for flames and such, and coding makes posts hard to read. Over there it's much less busy and much looser; board users pretty much police themselves if anybody gets abusive. I haven't spent any time over there lately, though, because surfing the boards here is more compelling.

[Alonist]

(I'm aware, of course, that JA didn't start this thread in order to gibber in leet [or fake-leet], but to speculate about language change, pattern recognition, etc.)

[Bawdysurfer]

<sub>other similar confusions must not be discussed in polite company, here or elsewhere.

Convention holds that clarity of topic and intent shall always supersede contrivations to confuse.</sub>

[Johnny Angel]

Here's another example of the strong association of 'i33+ sp33|{ with gaming:

From http://www.3dactionplanet.com/featur...ls/collectors/

[emphasis mine]

Yeah, I admit it... I bought Quake 3: Elite Edition. Pre-ordered it, even, and paid in advance the princely sum of $91.54 CDN (I still have the receipt in my wallet). I called Electronics Boutique every morning for a week, asking "Is it in yet? Do you have it?" The morning they finally said yes, I skipped out of school, sped to the bus station, then sprinted through the mall towards EB, slowing to a calculated swagger just before I got within sight of the clerks.

I casually pulled the receipt out of my wallet, tossed it on the counter, and said "Hey, I think you have a game for me or something." The clerk rummaged around under then counter, then produced a shiny metal box, tucked it in a bag, and handed it to me. I didn't even look at it. I didn't dare -I was afraid I'd go into spontaneous multiple orgasms on the spot. Only when I reached the bus station did I pull the game out and gaze upon it in all its glory. It was metal. It was shiny, and had the Q3 logo embossed on the front. I felt cool. Hell, I felt downright h4rdc0r3. I was r337.

Then a little old lady came to the bus stop, and stood beside me. She looked at the box. I looked at her, thinking "Aww yeah. That's Q3 Elite, biatch. ph34r." The little old lady looked at me, smiled, and said "What a lovely box, dearie... is that pot pourri?"

[bouv]

At my college, 1337 5p34x is something that is used as a sort of joke. Many of the students play network games, particularly Counter-Strike, and will use an occasional 1337 word for fun.
In fact, my friends and I will often talk in 1337 by pronoucing the words as the look. It's hard to explain, but we will pronounce h4x0r as haxor, not hacker. Get the idea?

Anyways, just my +uu0 <3^+5.

[Alonist]

"biatch.ph34r"="biosfear", right?