# The origin of 'elite', as in leetspeak **URL:** \ **Category:** Cecil's Columns/Staff Reports\ **Created:** [December 21, 2003, 1:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-origin-of-elite-as-in-leetspeak/220307 "2003-12-21T13:50:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 3\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![plattopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/bb73d2/32.png) [@plattopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/plattopus)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2003, 1:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-origin-of-elite-as-in-leetspeak/220307/1 "2003-12-21T13:50:00Z")
In “What the heck is leetspeak?” ( [http://www.straightdope.com/columns/030110.html](http://www.straightdope.com/columns/030110.html) ) the following was said: > [@](#): > > [snip] What’s a leet? It’s short for elite [snip]. No one is sure where the name came from… [snip] The term ‘elite’ originated from old school gamers in the early-to-mid 90s on internet game servers. Someone who was ‘elite’ was a particularly talented or highly-ranked gamer, and was looked up to… usually someone who had been playing the game or frequenting the server for a long time. Leet speak was usually only used by these ‘elite’ people who regularly frequented the server, and newcomers (or the ‘n00b5’) didn’t know what it was. So it was eventually referred to as ‘elite speak’, or the language used by the elite ones. And as you now know it was eventually shortened to leetspeak, or |3375P34|\<. Hope that answers some questions. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2003, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-origin-of-elite-as-in-leetspeak/220307/2 "2003-12-21T18:09:09Z")
Sorry, but “leet speak” probably dates back to the 1980s and was only later picked up by gamers in the 90s. [http://en2.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leet](http://en2.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leet) > [@](#): > > The name “leet” is a shortened form of “elite”, made by fully pronouncing the “l” and then the “eet.” The most probable explanation of its origin is from bulletin board systems in the 1980s and early 1990s where having “elite” status on a BBS allowed a user access to file areas, games, and special chat rooms, often including archives of pirated software, pornography, and text files of dubious quality documenting topics such as how to construct explosives and manufacture illegal drugs. It may have also developed to defeat text filters created by BBS sysops for message boards to discourage the discussion of forbidden topics (such as cracking). > **[Urban Dictionary: leet](https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=leet&f=1)** > > A derivitave of the 80's software piracy scene. Originally "elite" was used to show status on a BBS. Commonly the people who cracked the software, or had sysop access on a board would be referred to as Elite. Later it became common to just use... > [@](#): > > A derivitave of the 80’s software piracy scene. Originally “elite” was used to show status on a BBS. Commonly the people who cracked the software, or had sysop access on a board would be referred to as Elite. Later it became common to just use “leet.” [http://developer.syndetic.org/query\_jargon.pl](http://developer.syndetic.org/query_jargon.pl) > [@](#): > > elite: > adj. Clueful. Plugged-in. One of the cognoscenti. Also used as a general positive adjective. This term is not actually native hacker slang; it is used primarily by crackers and warez d00dz, for which reason hackers use it only with heavy irony. The term used to refer to the folks allowed in to the “hidden” or “privileged” sections of BBSes in the early 1980s (which, typically, contained pirated software). Frequently, early boards would only let you post, or even see, a certain subset of the sections (or `boards') on a BBS. Those who got to the frequently legendary `triple super secret’ boards were elite. Misspellings of this term in warez d00dz style abound; the forms `l337' `eleet’, and `31337' (among others) have been sighted. A true hacker would be more likely to use `wizardly’. Oppose lamer. Welcome to the Boards, though. Good start, proper quoting, sensible answer. Wish I could say it was also correct, but I can’t. ---
**Author:** ![schizmaticism](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e8c25b/32.png) [@schizmaticism](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/schizmaticism)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2003, 11:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-origin-of-elite-as-in-leetspeak/220307/3 "2003-12-29T23:59:59Z")
As an aged hacker (not cracker), perhaps I can enlighten some people. ‘leet’ or ‘1337’ or ‘L33T’ or any number of variants come not from ‘elite’ hackers, at least not in the way that you think. There was once a group of crackers and hackers way back called “Elite” or “Elite Group”. Their exploits resulted in a little fame, so people started looking them up in search engines. In order to hide a slight bit from the search engines (and be cool, well before script kiddies made it uncool), they changed ‘hacker’ to things like ‘h4ck3r’. And ‘Elite’ became ‘Leet’ became ‘1337’. For a good while script kiddies claimed they were ‘leet’, and part of the Elite group. That’s (IMO) when things went to hell in a handbasket.