The Internet is an amazing world with its own rules and laws. And sometimes this world is not entirely clear to new, uninitiated users.
1337 - what is it?
Sometimes on the Internet you can come across incomprehensible phrases, phrases, numbers. For users who are only recently on the World Wide Web, it can be difficult to understand the so-called Internet slang. And it needs to be fixed! In this article, we will talk about part of Internet jargon. Quite common is the number 1337. "What is this?" - you ask. You can find out the answer to this question from this article.
1337 - what does this mean?
The Internet is a means of communication between users. But sometimes communication between users is difficult. The reason for this is Internet jargon. Indeed, not all users can speak the "Internet language". Want to know about 1337, what is it, other interesting facts about this language? Then you have come to the address. In this article you can read a lot of interesting things about 1337: what it is and much more.
1337, or simply Leet (from English ellite - elite), is a popular style of using the English language on the Internet. Most often, hackers and gamers communicate on it. But ordinary users can take possession of Leet (but why?).
1337 and its features
Want to know about 1337. What is it and what are its features? Read this article. As mentioned above, Leet is a true Internet language that is based on English (but there is also a Russian version). The replacement of Latin letters with similar characters and combinations of characters is characteristic of 1337. What does this mean? For example, in the word Leet itself, the number 1 is similar to the letter L, 3 resembles E, well, and 7 looks a bit like T.
Another feature of this language - 1337 is not used in oral speech. This is due to the fact that some words simply do not have a specific pronunciation (for example, pwn means "to take away" the enemy in the game).
It is also worth noting that in 1337 abbreviations are actively used. Because of this, it’s even harder to understand what the user wanted to write. For example, idk (from English i don’t know - I don’t know; I have no idea) it is quite difficult to understand a Russian-speaking user.
As mentioned above, Leet is descended from English. And this means that 1337 uses the basic grammatical laws and rules of this language (albeit slightly distorted).
Alphabet
In Leet, a specific letter is not tied to a specific character. Because of this, confusion often arises. For example, the letter A can be designated as 4, / - |, / \, / - \, @, D (in the Russian version) or any other similar symbol. Sometimes it is possible to understand which letter is written in a sentence only by looking closely, and also through the general context.
Origin of Leet
Leet appeared back in 1990. It is still unknown who developed this language (it is believed that this is the common "asset" of the Internet). For the first time 1337 began to be used in BBS (electronic bulletin board) ordinary users, who thus communicated with each other. Then 1337 became a hacker language, a kind of cipher that made it possible to calculate "strangers".
A little later, Leet migrated to the vocabulary of gamers. Leet Speak began to be actively used in various network games. For example, before the release of a specific patch, Leet was the only way to communicate between the horde and the alliance in the cult game World of Warcraft. In addition to WoW, Leet also communicated in the first Quake. For the most part, this is due to the network comics that were written in this language.
Closer to 2000, Leet began to spread among advanced users. This language was often used in chat rooms in order to circumvent word filters that replaced non-standard words with asterisks.
In the modern Internet in its pure form 1337 is practically not used. Often, users simply use some words from a given language in their vocabulary, without knowing its origin. True, there are exceptions to this rule. Sometimes you can stumble upon forums where users communicate with each other using pure 1337, but this is very rare. The word 1337 itself has long been a meme, which indicates the superiority of the author over uninitiated users.
Mainstream and Professional Leet
Leet is conditionally divided into mainstream and professional. The mainstream Leet is characterized by simplicity and clarity. For example, words like bb (bye bye - farewell), wp (well played - well played), gl (good luck - good luck) are understood by most Internet users. Using these words, users do not try to encrypt the meaning of what was said.
As for the professional Leet, it's the other way around. It is used by a limited circle of people in order to disguise the meaning of the conversation. Professional Leet can use a variety of cryptological techniques and designs. This is done so that strangers could not find out what the conversation is about. Solving Leet using cryptology is no easy task.
1337 boy
Also, sometimes you can find the concept of 1337 boys. What is it? There are several interpretations. The first and most obvious is a user who speaks Leet rather poorly, but at the same time boasts of his knowledge. It is characteristic that in this case the boy 1337 is used in a sarcastic, mocking manner. The second interpretation refers to the "mechanical voice" that appears when using certain programs. Similar programs are used by some YouTube content makers in order not to give out their real voice.