Quote:
Originally posted by average_guy
I know its meaning, I even look up the dictionary to make sure, its rich,, gifted, and intelligent, and I don't see why its funny.
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It's lame 'hacker'-speak that people started doing online quite a while ago. Think of it as geek ebonics. Some people actually think they're cool when they talk (or type rather) like that. There's all kinds of variations: c00l, kewl, k00l, k3wl, d00d, d00dz, etc.
When I used to use BBSes (before the Internet was big; circa 1990), 'elite' status was used to refer to users who had special access to the hidden warez portion of the BBS. When I started using the Internet, I found 'elite' had been mangled to leet, then became l33t, and was used more as a put-down toward people who were new and didn't know much (in IRC at least). It's mainly used now in a jokingly and/or sarcastic sense.