# Does the culture of the SDMB drive morons away by itself?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-culture-of-the-sdmb-drive-morons-away-by-itself/375395>\
**Category:** In My Humble Opinion\
**Created:** [October 5, 2006, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-culture-of-the-sdmb-drive-morons-away-by-itself/375395 "2006-10-05T16:17:07Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 7\
**Page:** 5

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![athelas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5e9695/32.png) [@athelas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/athelas)\
**Post date:** [October 10, 2006, 1:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-culture-of-the-sdmb-drive-morons-away-by-itself/375395/81 "2006-10-10T13:45:30Z")

</div>

Well, then, you must be drowning in OH-.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\
**Post date:** [October 10, 2006, 10:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-culture-of-the-sdmb-drive-morons-away-by-itself/375395/82 "2006-10-10T22:38:24Z")

</div>

[QUOTE=twickster]  
And thus, ladies and gentleman, we see how **gabriela** racked up 1000 posts in six months.

Please don’t look at my post-count. Please please please.  
[/QUOTE]

The post counts are biased in favour of those of us with old, tired brains.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Gary\_Robson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gary_robson/32/3448_2.png) [@Gary\_Robson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gary_Robson)\
**Post date:** [October 11, 2006, 12:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-culture-of-the-sdmb-drive-morons-away-by-itself/375395/83 "2006-10-11T12:36:13Z")

</div>

[QUOTE=athelas]  
Well, then, you must be drowning in OH-.  
[/QUOTE]  
Gee, I thought you had an _acidic_ sense of humor. 😃

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Mr.Slant](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c57346/32.png) [@Mr.Slant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Slant)\
**Post date:** [October 11, 2006, 9:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-culture-of-the-sdmb-drive-morons-away-by-itself/375395/84 "2006-10-11T21:10:57Z")

</div>

[QUOTE=John Corrado]  
Actually, specifically it was developed by First-Person-Shooter gamers on the Internet. Therefore, many of the terms within it are specificially geared to telling an opponent he sucks or that you’re great (suxxorz and roxxors, respectively). It’s also why it makes heavy use of abbreviation (“u” for “you”, “2” for “to”; “noob” for newbie): to make it easier to type quickly while still playing competitively in the game. It’s also why, conversely, some of the spelling or letter exchanges (using ASCII symbols for letters, such as saying r0\>\<\>\<0rs instead of roxxors) are actually more convoluted: what better way to prove your ability than to type something extremely complex even as you kick your opponent’s ass? Finally, its use in game quick chat is why common typos tend to be enshrined in it: “pwned” for “owned” and “teh” for “the”.

SNIP  
[/QUOTE]

l33tsp34k predates multi-player FPS games by several years.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Mr.Slant](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c57346/32.png) [@Mr.Slant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Slant)\
**Post date:** [October 11, 2006, 9:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-culture-of-the-sdmb-drive-morons-away-by-itself/375395/85 "2006-10-11T21:13:10Z")

</div>

[QUOTE=InvisibleWombat]  
I saw a lot of what’s now called “Leet Speak” in the computer hacker world long before it showed up in the first-person shooters. Go look at old archives from alt.2600 and some of the other old “haxor” forums.

SNIP  
[/QUOTE]

I am afraid that in this matter, j00 B34t m3 t0 Sk00l!nG h1M 0n 7h4t f4Ct.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Gary\_Robson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gary_robson/32/3448_2.png) [@Gary\_Robson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gary_Robson)\
**Post date:** [October 11, 2006, 10:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-culture-of-the-sdmb-drive-morons-away-by-itself/375395/86 "2006-10-11T22:21:26Z")

</div>

[QUOTE=Mr. Slant]  
I am afraid that in this matter, j00 B34t m3 t0 Sk00l!nG h1M 0n 7h4t f4Ct.  
[/QUOTE]  
Pwned!

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![fisha](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/da6949/32.png) [@fisha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fisha)\
**Post date:** [October 12, 2006, 12:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-culture-of-the-sdmb-drive-morons-away-by-itself/375395/87 "2006-10-12T00:06:30Z")

</div>

[QUOTE=Mr. Slant]  
I am afraid that in this matter, j00 B34t m3 t0 Sk00l!nG h1M 0n 7h4t f4Ct.  
[/QUOTE]

OW! Stop doing that!

[Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-culture-of-the-sdmb-drive-morons-away-by-itself/375395.md?page=4)