Thoughts On 'l337' Speak
<div class="IPBDescription">-- save the english language --</div> Is anyone else out there bothered by the constant use of "leet"-isms ?
In all seriousness, is it a good thing for the younger generation to use inane lingo instead of reasonable english ? What sort of life skills are they gaining by doing this ?
I'd be curious as to the history of 'l337'... anyone have ideas as to how this all got started ?
In all seriousness, is it a good thing for the younger generation to use inane lingo instead of reasonable english ? What sort of life skills are they gaining by doing this ?
I'd be curious as to the history of 'l337'... anyone have ideas as to how this all got started ?
Comments
EDIT: lol acer our sigs are almost identical
leetspeak has been invented in the Quake community I believe, among the "leetest players" <!--emo&:p--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/tounge.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='tounge.gif'><!--endemo-->
i'm going to be brief with my reply, since i have extensive issues with "13.37" speak, "SMS" speak, and so on.
Yes, i believe that it is effecting the youth, i have a friend that works for an examining body in the UK who's told me on several occasions that she's seen children use "SMS speak" in their exam papers (for example: "Today i went 2 the mall to b with my friends"). English included. This is being encouraged, not only by the extensive use of mobile phones in the UK, but by films, tv shows and so on. Some examples being "2 Fast 2 Furious" and "Cradle 2 Tha Grave". Considering what an immense influence the media is on children these days, they're doing nothing but encouraging the poor use of English.
And before anyone brings in the whole "English is a constantly evolving language and this is natural". This is not natural. Changing the spelling of words such as "Through" to "Thru" would be understandable, since "Through" really does have too many unecessary letters. I fear that the entire English language is going down the pan.
And as far as the English language goes, it's a sad, sad day when the word "Bling" is added to the Oxford dictionary as a recognised word.
I have written many "SMS" style words in my essays at college, so much so that my tutor pulled me aside and commented about this. But I don't do it on purpose, I just happen to use my mobile phone a lot
as for "elite" speak, I hate it, god knows who invented it!
correct, although now serious hackers have abandoned this. Its now solely in the realm of games that the "elite" thrives.
Personally, I think its a fun and innocent use of slang to say things like ""elite"" "r0x0r" "pwn' etc, but of course only appropriate ingame or on irc.
People who think that these slang terms are actual words, I pity. The teachers whom have to read the essays of JohnnyB321@hotmail.com, I pity. But the ones I pity the most are the ones who honestly don't know when l33tspeak is appropriate and when it is not.
A good example of this, I was in the living room and mom was flipping channels, she went to one show were a teenager was talking with her boyfriend and her dad walks in. The boyfriend gets up and says "well, g2g". He SAYS "gee to gee". Outloud. As if it was words. Blasted cell phone text messaging...
I remember when my mother went through school they would teach you grammer and spelling. When I went through school ( 2 years ago) grammer was not taught. Most kids these days couldnt tell the different between subject and predicate. I wonder whether this is positive or a negative for soceity.
But generally I think that greater communication in any form is the way to go. People arent concerned with complexity. The texture of language, whether you follow a harsh syllable with a soft syllable to make a subtler point. People want greater interconnectivity. Its more important that people feel impowered to speak to eachother and to express their opinion in any form that they may. I am dissappointed by the degradation of the English language, however I will always have example of language in its purest form. Classic books, literature journals, my uni assignments *cough yer right*.
That said there will always be people able to write great things and people who know how to appreciate them.
Cheers.
ps. schooling in Australia has dropped grammer (as a distinctly taught rule by rule entity) in its syllabus.
edit: well that was way off topic and barely made a passing remark at the leetspeak issue. leetspeak is kinda silly i suppose. But i remember my friend in highschool used to be able to talk fluently and extremely fast in pig latin (igpay atinlay) which was fun. so if you want to say OMG WTH HAX! the more power to you.
edit2: whee!! I am a minon. I pwn j00.... wait... some sort of irony there.
a cookie AND milk for the person who can understand what i just wrote <!--emo&:p--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/tounge.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='tounge.gif'><!--endemo-->
Whoever thought up j00 as you should be summarily shot, after being beaten, and then they should be dismembered, by a cheese grater.
People in Everquest started to annoy me too with the j00. I think thats where the woot came from too. I was walking in the oasis or something...and just a woot outta nowhere, hooray, loot. I would think it was chosen since it rhymes with loot...."Woot, loot!" or something
The only elite word that should ever be changed into an actual word is woot, since it's exclaimation like wow, or cool. Wootage would also be exceptable, as it describes a state of awe.
So UltimaGecko feels, so UltimaGecko feels it should be done.
Listening to: Open Up, by Dispatch
...So it is wriiten, so it shall be done...at least I think so.
it just does not happen, its more of a sarcastic "|-|3'/ /\/3\/\/|313" thing.
edit: idiotspeak, however, is an entirely different matter. 13 yr old girls and retarded conformists around the planet use this online a lot. one guy who used to be semi-intellectual, or at least smart enough to scoff at all the other retards, has recently [about less than a year ago] decided he wants to be 'cool'. hes become a groupie, and on the internet speaks in 'idiotspeak' and is an idiot. i dont think he quite understands how transparent he is.
The real thing is are you actually 'evolving' the language? It is true that the computer age is having a massive effect on the way we are speaking and writing. The internet is probably the main thing for this but more aspects of internet culture are flowing into normal media. It won't be very long until it is well known by everyone.
This is typical of English in general, but should we really allow it? Well probably. If people understand you there really isn't anything to worry about in casual conversation, but when you write like that in exams in the like you should probably be butchered.
Eh, anyone who ever wrote an exam answer like that to me would get an F.
It does that automatically in the game too. If you say newbie it says "inexperienced soldier." If you say "He camps!" it says "He uses tactics." Or if you say "He is a camper!" it will say "He is a tactician!" Gotta luv it <!--emo&:D--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/biggrin.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='biggrin.gif'><!--endemo-->
"w00t" stems back further. As i've been lead to believe it's an exclamation of happiness, etc, when gaining "root" on a server, from old hacking circles way-back-when. Feel free to correct me if i'm wrong.
To be honest, i, myself, have been guilty of saying internet acronyms out loud. Exclaiming "lol" and "bee-are-bee" when appropriate. This is due to the abnormal amount of time i spend on the internet. <!--emo&:)--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/smile.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='smile.gif'><!--endemo-->
But i know right from wrong. I know how to speak and write in clear English. Maybe not perfect grammar, but good enough to make what i say coherant. This decay in grammar and spelling isn't because of the schooling system. I know the syllabus hasn't changed that drastically since i left school (4 years ago) and i am literate. These kids need it beaten into them that "SMS speak" and ""elite" speak" are in no way acceptable forms of spelling or grammar and need to speak in proper English.
Err, second look at it and I know exactly where the numbers came from!!! Calculators!! Back in the day when I was in 6th grade we spelled words with numbers on calculators!! Either you punched in numbers and there was a word or you flipped it over after entering a few digits. That's where l337 came from!!! The mystery is solved!! The people who birthed l337 are those little geeks in school who continually spelled out 'Boobs' on their calculators with the numbers '80085'
Nubcaek. 14.4 old school elite, represent <!--emo&:)--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/smile.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='smile.gif'><!--endemo-->
I've still got an old analogue modem around somewhere too.
To sum it up, I don't mind seeing "elite" talk every once in a while, especially when it serves a humorous purpose. But I certainly won't go eating whole novels written in that...
A true player, no matter what the sport or game, devotes himself to the playing not the gloating. L337 was developed for gloating and that is why so many despise it. Does a person really get to the point where he can not sit for fifthteen minutes putting together one l337 sentence? If he can then I pity him, some times I try this and it takes me even longer because I find the idea so absurd. But one should know thy enemy, and know him well because at the end of the story he'll turn out to be your brother or father. And lo behold having a disfunctional family is not a good thing. <b><i>::snickers under his breath::</b></i>
Please note that I used the word 'language' as to make an observation, of how these people 'see' the "elite" speak... <!--emo&:)--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/smile.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='smile.gif'><!--endemo-->
Just because you've still not got your first kill in NS yet. <!--emo&:)--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/smile.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='smile.gif'><!--endemo-->