May 17, 2004 by J3ff C4r00s0

One-time hacker slang now ridiculed by all except those who use it.
They’re a familiar sight on chat boards, in spam messages and in viruses. Even a co-worker might use one – jokingly, of course. They’re words that look unpronounceable: “l33t,” “w00t” and “h4x0r,” among many others.

They’re all part of “l33tspeak” (pronounced “leet speak”), Internet slang that at one time identified the writer as a proficient hacker and now identifies anyone who uses it seriously as a hopeless wannabe.

L33tspeak started in the 1980s in the hacker community. Some say it was born of a need to avoid the prying eyes of keyword searches, while others say it was really just a form of graffiti-like expression in a drab, text-based world.

“It’s a very quick way of identifying who’s in your gang,” says Graham Cluley, senior technology consultant for security vendor Sophos.

In the late 1990s, use of l33tspeak made its way into online chat boards and online games. Sinc...