The English-L33tspeak Dictionary
The Internet is widely recognized for its rapid cultural progression- entire online communities frequented by thousands of people rise ad fall within months, and every part of the internet has its own sayings, philosophies, and in-jokes, all nearly incomprehensible to the outsider. However, some properties, shared by the internet community at large, are perhaps even more startling- the most significant of these being the evolution of "l33tspeak", the language of the internet.
Famous for the numeric-letter word that forms its most common name, l33tspeak has its origins in the very lowest underground of the internet, the despised backwater chatrooms and semi-literate kiddie-scripter rings that sprang up in the golden age of the internet, and quickly spread across the internet, until now the language has a presence even in the sequestered intelligentsia of high-profile forums/newsgroups and the more internet-conscious web sites. This earliest version of l33tspeak was not very different from the modern one, and mainly consisted of substituting letters in various words with other letters, numbers, or common keyboard characters that looked more or less the same. Some gross distortions and misspellings of words became commonly accepted, but l33tspeak had yet to develop any words that were unique to itself, and indeed beyond a few signature terms, the "spelling" and usage of words and phrases varies widely, making l33tseak chains of more than a sentence or two almost completely incomprehensible even to those who make common usage of the language. All of this changed due to one event, again a change in a subculture widely scorned by much of the internet- the sudden appearance of America Online, and with it Instant Messenger. Suddenly, a unique subset of l33tspeak sprang up, one consisting not of the letter-character substitutions of the chatroom version but largely of abbreviations, entire phrases shortened into a few letters and commonly adopted to fit the rapid pace and marginally higher literacy rate of Instant Messages. This subdivision of l33tspeak spread even more widely than the original,and such terms as "LOL" and "STFU" are not only adopted, but accepted as legitimate, in many communities. The form of l33tspeak that now exists is noticeably changing already, shifting from a bastardized English to almost a language entirely its own- the first major language in existence created entirely by preteens and young teenagers, and spoken by nobody over 30 (excepting pedophiles). Though still widely considered as a joke, l33tspeak is gaining ground both in usage and accepted legitimacy, and soon enough a complete dictionary of the language may be necessary...
l33t: adj. (fr. elite)- highly skilled, knowledgeable. Variations include l337, 3l337, and l347.
ha)(or: n. Computer cracker. Generally intended as a semiserious compliment, or personal boast.
ownZ: adj/v. (fr. owns) is superior to, can beat; to be superior. variations include 0wnZ.
ownT: v. Lock a thread (forum)
j00: pn. You- generally used only in insults or threats
b33r: n. Any alcoholic beverage.
suxorz: adj (fr. sucks) Sucks in the obscene sense. Spelling varies.
luv: v. Love.
ph33r: v. Fear. Generally used in boasts. Variations include ph34r
AOL Instant Messenger phrases
LOL: lots of laughs, lots of love, laugh out loud, lascivious offal licking- the "aloha" of the internet, means absolutely nothing but general goodwill, and sometimes not even that. A form of punctuation in chatrooms.
ROTFLMAO: Rolling on the floor laughing my ass off- stronger expression of amusement. variations on the theme exist, and are usually recognizable as such
STFU: Shut the **** up. To be considered less offensive in the abbreviation than the full phrase
RL: Real life. anything not done online, including work, vacation, and bestiality
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That do it for ya?
