Leetspeak

Leetspeak or Leet is a written form of slang used primarily on the internet and in online video games. Leet uses a combination of alphanumerics to replace proper letters.

The word "leet" is a degenerative form of the word "elite" as the language originated with highly-skilled computer hackers and advanced gamers.

The popular internet slang terms "pwned," "w00t" and "n00b" were originally derived from Leet.

• -xor suffix: Synonymous with English -er and -r suffixes
• -age suffix: Suffix attached to verb stem forms a noun (Ex. Speakage, Pwnage)
• -ness suffix: Suffix attached to an adjective forms a noun

The above Guide Note translated into Leetspeak would read:

L3375p34k 0r L337 i5 4 wri773|\| f0rm 0f 514|\|g u53d prim4ri1y 0|\| 7|-|3 i|\|73r|\|37 4|\|d i|\| 0|\|1i|\|3 vid30 g4m35. L337 u535 4 (0mbi|\|47i0|\| 0f 41p|-|4|\|um3ri(5 70 r3p14(3 pr0p3r 13773r5.

• The Wall Street Journal asked Gail Kern Paster, the director of the Folger Shakespeare Library, to weigh in on leetspeak. Apparently, Shakespeare would have appreciated leet's playful approach to language. Pastner's remarks are translated into leet for the leet literate.

• Wall Street Journal: Shakespeare Would Like Leet, Scholar Says (August 23, 2007)

• WBZTV.com: Online Language Keeps Parents Guessing (April 12, 2007)

• WBZTV.com: Parent's Guide To Computer Slang (April 13, 2007)

• The Vocabula Review: The Leet Wars

• USA Today: ZOMG LOL FIGHT FIGHT FIGHT!!!!!!!!!1 (August 23, 2007)

• The Wall Street Journal's August 2007 article on Leetspeak caused an uproar in the blogosphere which deemed the piece lazy, behind the times and downright conservative. Scholar Robert Hartwell Fiske is quoted in the article as saying, "There used to be a time when people cared about how they spoke and wrote."

• Boing Boing: Deep and surprising "origins of leetspeek" Wikipedia article

• Boing Boing: IT Crowd DVD has subtitles in leet (December 15, 2006)

• NameWire: Will L33t, LoLcats Be the Next Company and Brand Naming Trends? (August 27, 2007)

• Gizmodo: The $5 Million Leetspeak iPhone Promotes Experimental Relations (June 30, 2007)

• Gizmodo: Omg: WSJ Goes Back to 1999 to Freak Out About 'l33t 5p34k' (August 23, 2007)

• Network Performance Links: WSJ gets "Pwned" (August 23, 2007)

• Wandering Rocks: Leetspeak? Pwning? (August 23, 2007)

• Zero Sum Mind: 1337 Katz0rz (May 3, 2007)