Examples
Words
For full definitions please see Internet slang.
pr0n, pornography
w4r3z, "warez" or illegally copied software available for download (with copy protection, if any, disabled)
sploitz, (short for exploits) a piece of computer software that takes advantage of a bug, glitch or vulnerability --> exploit (computer science)
pwn, to "own" or otherwise completely dominate. (See main article for alternative spellings of pwn.)
r00t, administrator privileges, from the "root" account on Unix-like systems
m4d sk1llz, talent of one sort or another; "m4d" itself is often used for emphasis (such as in "m4d fragging")
n00b, some consider it to be synonomous with newbie (n00b is short for n00bie which is newbie leetified), while others make the distinction that "n00b" is an insult applicable to anyone acting stupid and "newbie" is an affectionate term for new users. (Also, newb.)
w00t or the emoticon \o/, a common interjection, analogous to "woohoo!" also used for what.
hax0r, h4x0r, "hacker", where the symbols are used to draw rough approximations to letters: >< is an "x", |2 is an "r". It is possible that the substitution of "ck" with "x" is a linguistic nod to the Greek letter chi (see TeX for the original example of this). Also, Haxor is sometimes found as "Haxxor", as symbols for "x" are often doubled.
rox0rz, "rocks"
sux0rz, "sucks", as in "s|_|x0rz my n|_|tz0rz" when one feels pity for someone else, or when angry
suxxor, some other person considered unfriendly; also used in friendly name calling among gamers
ub3r, from the German word über, meaning "super", as in "Ub3r-l337" or "ub3r-g33kx0rz".
b4k4, from the Japanese word "baka", meaning "idiots" or "stupidity"
ph33r or ph34r, a respelling "leetage" of fear.
ghey or geh, leetifed form of 'Gay', meaning that a player is either overpowered or underpowered.
Use of x0r
Note that the construction "-xor" or any variation thereof can mean not only "-ker" but also "zor" (which is how majority of English speakers would say it). In the phrase "r0x0rz my b0x0rz", which means the object of the phrase (usually a game, program, exploit, etc.) is of high quality, the "x0rz" in "b0x0rz" and "r0x0rz" is pronounced "kszors". It is important to note that while "b0x0rz" appears to be leet for "boxers", it is actually from a common leet expression "r0x0r j00r b0x0rz", "b0x0rz" meaning "computers" (sometimes referred to as boxes, or among system administrators, boxen). "r0x0rz" is generally pronounced as "roks-ors", which is how it is spelled; however, a very small minority pronounce it "rockers", following the usage in "hax0rz". The term "r0x0r j00r b0x0r" itself is probably a derivation from "r0x0r j00r s0x0r" ("rocks your socks"). It should be noted that although the spelling of leet is fairly standardized, pronunciation differs widely, as does the actual alphabet used. Much depends on which forum, newsgroup, or chat room the Leetspeak is being spoken in.
An increasingly common use of the "-xor" is changing its grammatical usage to be deliberately incorrect. Instead of using "Bob r0x0r", "Bob am teh r0x0r" is deliberately to increase the level of irony and to separate it from less-ironic true leetspeak. The origins of this variation are unknown.
There are many incarnations of leet, and it is continuously evolving as more people add to it, and thus, a single word can be "spelled" in many different ways. For example, "phonetic" could be |>|-|0n371><, p|-|0|\|3+1|<, |>h0|\|371<, ph0n371k.
Phonetic spellings
"d00d" for "dude"
"joo" for "you", also written as "j00" or "_|00"
"ph" for "f", as in "phear" for "fear" (as in "ph34r my l33t skillz") and vice versa, such as spelling "phonetic" as "f0|\|371("
Note that in true leet, the following are considered improper. They are seen more as IM lingo.
"kewl" or kwel or ku or ql for cool
"r" for are, u for you, c for see (giving the common "see you")
"2" for to or too, 4 for for (but note "4" can also represent an "A")
"8" for -ate, as l8r for later
"ne" for any
"u 1 2" for "you want to".
Frequent misspellings
Frequently, common typing errors are also absorbed into leet, such as:
"aer" for "are"
"yuo" for "you"
"teh" or "t3h" for "the" (also sometimes used as an intensifier: "He is teh lame")
"smrt" for "smart" (This may also be an intentional reference to an episode of The Simpsons in which Homer misspells smart in song: "I am so smart! I am so smart! S-M-R-T! I mean S-M-A-R-T!")
"waht" for "what"
"gaem" for "game"
"leik" or "liek" for "like", usually sarcastic—generally when making fun of a skript kiddie or AOL-er
German "ist" for "is", often used with word "death". e.g. "mp3 ist death."
"pwn" or "pwned" for "own" or "owned". This originates from the 'P' key on a QWERTY typeface being immediately beside the 'o' key.
Some of these examples, in paticular 'teh' and 'pwn' are frequently used on purpose, to lighten up a mood, strengthen a point, or annoy the receiving parties.
Phrases
"WHeRE @re J00" or "Wh3re aer j00?" for "where are you"
"wH4+'S uR nAME" for "what is your name"
"/\/\?|<£'§ 1££+ §|<?11§ þ|/\||\| _|¤¤", an example of especially obfuscated leet (see:obfuscated code), this translates to "Mike's leet skills own you".
"g0s\/" for gosu, meaning "pro", from Korean players of Starcraft
"skilled r0x0rt lookin for a team pgm only high lvl, pv me" for "I'm a qualified player looking forward to be hired by a progaming clan in electronic sports, contact me now".
Over-exclamation
Another common feature of Leet is over-exclamation, where a sentence is postfixed with many exclamation marks: pHu><x0|2z j00 L4yMUr!!!!!!!!!!
In some cases, because the exclamation symbol (!) resides on the same key as the number one ("1"), over-exclamation can be accidentally typed with extraneous digits, owing to the excitement of the typist: y0 d00d th1s 5h1zZ47 R0Xx0rzZ!!!!!11
The first known usage of the "!!111!!111!" was by The Gonif on the Adventurers' Tavern BBS in about the 1986 timeframe. He was satirizing the growing number of "new warez kids" who would become overly excited when acquiring new software, and in their excitement could barely type properly. It was reintroduced around 1995 in the context of online multiplayer games, in particular Quake.
Additionally, the adjacent ~ (tilde) and @ keys may be used in this fashion: t3h leik this OwNz!!11!?!??!@!!
?//1!!~~ Some users have adopted this and include it deliberately.
A growing phenomenon is deliberately typing the word "one": pwnz0r3d!!!!!11oneoneone. In some cases, this has been purposely exaggerated for comic or ub3r-L33+ effect, i.e. L0l!!!11!eleventy-one1!1!11one1. It can also be used to poke fun at users of AOL speak, and other "lesser" cultures. Note that letter-to-number translations tend not to occur within these "oneoneone" blocks.
Another example of accidental mispelling may also be used in this manner, such as "omg!!11oneoneelven", where elven is the mispelling of eleven.
?//1!!~~ Some users have adopted this and include it deliberately.
