How to Speak LEET

“Leet” (or “l33t”) is a kind of typed, slang-driven language/code that originated online in the eighties on hacker bulletin boards (BBSes) and early multiplayer chat-driven games called MUDs (Multi-User Dungeons). “Leet” is short for “elite.” The language is a type of conversation shorthand, and it is still evolving.

Instructions

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

1. Learn basic chat room acronyms for starters. These were the first examples of LEET, used on BBSes, and are still standards for chat. The most common acronyms include “ROFL” (rolling on the floor laughing), “LOL” (laugh out loud) and “BRB” (be right back).
2. LEET often uses number characters that look like letter characters. For example, “LEET” itself can also be spelled “l33t” Common substitutions include: “A” looks like “4”; “l” (el) looks like “1” (one); and “O” (oh) looks like “0” (zero). For example, “w00t” is a victory exclamation originated by gamers. Note that LEET is a constantly evolving language, its writers constantly adding their own creative spins. For example, “O” (oh) looks like “0” (zero) which also looks like “()” (two parentheses). In this case, punctuation marks act as letter substitutions.
3. There are some LEET words that are deliberate misspellings. For example, “Pr0n” is a deliberately misspelled version of “porn.” And “pwn3d” is a deliberate misspelling of “owned”, which is gamer “smack talk” to a defeated opponent. LEET as code probably originated out of necessity for hackers and other members of the cyber-underworld, and the code aspect is getting more sophisticated each day, evolving to what’s been called “hardcore LEET.”
4. Understand that, with the immense worldwide popularity of massively multiplayer online games, foreign language words are beginning to be introduced into the LEET language. Blizzard’s “World of Warcraft” in particular includes a huge South Korean player community.