What Is This Leet Thing?
Entry posted by EmperorWhenua
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When I was a brand new baby in the world of BZP, back in late '05, I had no idea what half the stuff people talked about was. I was clueless when it came to banners, signatures, avatars, ranks, and I thought that whenever i got a board message, it meant there were no staff online. But one curiosity that caught my attention was the internet phenomenon known as "leet." I didn't understand it when I arrived on the shores of BZ-Wahi, but now, almost four and a half hears later, I still do not quite understand leet. So, I turned to my trustworthy friend, Hon. Dictionary dot Com.
Main Entry: LeetPart of Speech: n
Definition: an alphabet used primarily on the Internet, which uses various combinations of ASCII characters to replace Latinate letters; also called Leetspeak, [removed]
Example: Many words originally derived from Leet have now become part of the modern Internet slang, such as "owneded."
Etymology: c 1980, derived from "elite"
Hon. Dictionary dot Com doesn't enlighten me too much, but it does cause me to ask a question: if it was derived from "elite," then... huh?
See, I see nothing elite in leet. Numbers in words. Big deal...? It's hard to read, understand, and serves no purpose but to apparently make the person using it feel cool. But drugs do the same thing. Alcohol, tobacco, a phone so cool you use it during driving. What this amounts to is that leet, like the things mentioned, use completely useless, uplifts nobody, and serves only to confuse the others. Bottom line: leet sucks.
Did I mention how easy it is to smuggle some bad phrase into it? Indeed, something so confusing easily can be used incorrectly, since some may not understand it and a fad phrase can be injected into the obscene amount of symbols and numbers. Here on BZP, we don't have these sorts of cases, but it's still possible. Well, not really--
Because leet is banned here on BZP! That's right kids, you can't use it here! Not a number! Not a pound sign! Not a thing! There are times I wish the thingy about losing a proto point for every leet word used-- oh, that would be glorious, glorious!
In sum: Leet is stupid, leet is overrated, leet is banned here on BZP, and if you want to show just how "elite" you are, do it by being mature and helpful to the site, not acting like a hamster playing Halo 2.
~EW~
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