Huzzah for Cecil and the end of “leet”!!! Once an older generation starts to pay attention to and recognize the latest kids fad, it’s only a matter of time before the kids realize us old farts have taken an interest and, thus, will drop said fad like yesterday’s Valley Speak!
Soon there will be novelty songs, novelty candy, and maybe a Saturday morning cartoon. Such over exposure will be the deathknell of this inane little ‘code.’
God Bless the Straight Dope!!
//\4>< (4r|V4@3
And for those no||l33+ … a translation. (I hope I got it right…)
“£==7§=@/‹ ¿‡<=§ µ= @ 3@§§‡>= #=@Ð@©#=.”
“leet speak gives me a massive headache…”
Isn’t there a typo there - shouldn’t the first word be:
£==7§Þ=@/‹
(BTW, everything I know about 1337 I learned from that 4R+|C13.
I’ve been quoted in a column!
I prompted a column! 
Yup…but who am I to question The Master. 
Montfort, m’man, I was wondering if that was you. Haven’t seen you or Anniz in a dog’s age. How’s life there in Moder Svea?
That got me smiling. I guess “leet” is above the heads of the Chicago Reader’s editorial staff. Congratulations to Montfort, Jeff, mouthbreather, and fallom for being quoted in the column. That’s an honor to which I still aspire. The closest I’ve got is my brother was used as a source for one column, which really isn’t all that close when you think about it.
Ja, det var jag.
We’re doing fine here, trying to keep warm . I may start posting more often here again. I’ve been blessed by Cecil, so I should bow at the shrine, eh?
actually, we will know l33+ is REALLY on the way out when TIME does an half-page comment on how it’s “sweeping the internet community”. We will know it is dead and stinking up the environment when a major-studio movie or network show is produced called “h4x0rz”
I didn’t think I was old. I actually though 33 was realitively young (silly me) until i had 2 ask my 13 yr old |)4^9#73r 2 #31p |/|3 7r4||5l473 7#!5 #0r535#!7 fr0|/| 9!883r!5# !||2 intelligible English. Guess I’ll have to let the |<!|)z have the new(ish) computer and drag the old Amstrad out of the shed for myself - like it, I’m obsolete.
The thing that really has me stumped - how in hell did u guys get special symbols (Pound signs, greek letters, foreign punctuation etc) into a post? I thought symbols not found on a standard keyboard required at least a word processor.
I copied & pasted. But you can also use HTML special character codes with vBulletin - e.g. þ can be written as & thorn; (remove the space) when you’re composing your post. Finally, you can call up any of these characters by holding down ALT and typing their ASCII or ANSI codes on the numeric keypad (if you know them). There may be other methods of which I’m not aware. Sounds too much like hard work to me.
Im sorry but leet speak has always been incredibly lame. gg try again next fad old people 
Right on, and it does.
Its not so much actual leet as a parody thereof, ASCII text is a bitch in all net sub-cultures. I`m far from elite, although Cecil acknowledging my lowly existence goes a long way in mitigating that.
Er, not wanting to question the knowledge of the Master or anything, but didn’t Leet Speak originate with Clockwork Orange?
No, it didn’t. The slang in that book is almost all comprised of anglicizations derived from plain old everyday Russian, which linguistic quirk was of course intended by the author to be a political statement . The characters live what passes for their lives in a sort of post-apocalyptic police-state nightmare slum where Russian slang and Beethoven are considered “cool” accompaniments to mitigating boredom by engaging in a bit of the old ultra-violent. The few exceptions include made-up drug names like Drencrom and Vellocet, as well as forms like appy-polly-logies, which is just Goofish for apologies.
No-Fair Dept.: I slogged my way through almost half the book as a grade schooler, decoding and translating the slang until I had it down, BEFORE realizing there was a complete glossary in the back. Arrrggghhh.
But the kewlest thing about today’s entire exercise is that I am now an Official Confirmed Old Fart: This is the very first time I have ever even heard of “leetspeak”. F-in’ A!
//#@+ !5 +#3 P0!||+ 0F L33+?
Look in the FAQ for the posts discussing the symbol code and how to make special characters.
Interesting that Cecil used one of the key reasons l33t was created without mentioning it.
To get “dirty” words past brain dead dirty-word filters.
woot.