What is 1337? The Elite Language Explained

Have you ever come across the number 1337 while browsing the internet and wondered: "Actually, what is 1337?" You may have seen this term a hundred times without giving it much thought, but today is the day you get your answer.

In this article, you will find answers to the following questions:

• What is 1337 speak?
• What does 1337 mean?
• How to write in l33t speak?
• What do the terms haxor and noob mean?

Before exploring our l33t article, if you'd like to dive deeper into the world of l33t speak and try it out for yourself, check out our leet-speak translator.

The time has come —  let's take a look at what 1337 is. Simply put, 1337 stands for "leet", which originates from the word "elite" twisted into "eleet" and then further modified to "31337".

The term is derived from "elite speak", literally meaning the language of the elite. Leet-speak (or 1337 5p34k) is a playful form of writing that uses ASCII alphanumeric characters to replace regular letters with similar-looking numbers or symbols to create words and sentences hard to decipher at first glance.

For example, 5 can stand in for S, 7 for T, and for the more elite users, |< can replace K, and |_| can replace U. It's a bit the same mental process that you did when you tried to learn how to spell on a calculator. Over time, this style has evolved to include intentional misspellings, neologisms, and phonetic transcriptions.

Now that you have your answer to your question: "What does 1337 mean?", let's see where the term comes from.

Leet-speak (or 1337 5p34k) first appeared in the late 1980s, emerging from the underground world of bulletin board systems (BBS). These BBSs were underground online forums where hackers and computer enthusiasts gathered to share their knowledge about telephony and computing. Within these tightly knit internet communities, l33t-speak became a kind of secret code used by insiders (the so-called "elite") to prevent outsiders (a.k.a. "lamers", "crackers", or "malicious hackers") from accessing sensitive information about computer hacking and phreaking (telephone hacking).

Moreover, leet-speak also emerged as a clever way to circumvent the text filters applied to BBSs. Many BBS administrators had implemented systems that automatically blocked discussions related to hacking, cracking, and adult content. Simply changing letters to numbers was enough to get past the filter.

Another part of the story behind the origin of leet speak dates back to a group of hackers who published an exploit for Windows 95 using port 31337, in reference to "elite". In fact, one of the first groups to popularize leet-speak was the hacker collective Cult of the Dead Cow (CDC), known for incorporating this style into its early online publications. Over time, what started as a code used by a specific group evolved into a playful form of expression, becoming a defining element of internet culture.

L33t-speak is a multi-level language, which means that there are several ways to encode text using the 1337 alphabet. In fact, most letters of the alphabet have several equivalents, which makes it more difficult for beginners to read. For example, leet-speak can be written as follows:

• L33T 5P34K in basic encoding;
• 1337 5p34k in light encoding;
• £33‡ šρ3@k in medium encoding; or even
• |_ 33¯|¯ _/¯|°3/-\|< in high encoding.

Here is a table of the 1337 alphabet that includes some of the most commonly used substitutions:

Interested in seeing other letter-to-number substitutions? Check out our article: What Letters Look Like Numbers​.

Users of 1337 didn't stop at replacing letters with numbers; they invented words and some grammar elements of their own, completely breaking the rules of English.

For example, the suffix "0rz" can be attached to a word to give it emphasis or make it plural. So instead of saying "rocks" (in the sense of "awesome" or "dominant"), a true 1337 speaker might write "r0xx0rz". Similarly, the suffix "3d" turns a word into the past tense; "rocked" becomes "r0xx0r3d" and "that rocked" turns into "7#47 r0xx0r3d". It has also become almost conventional to modify verbs into nouns by putting "teh" (a mispelling of "the"). Other variations, such as the omission of vowels or mixing up capital letters, are also common.

It's interesting to note that symbols can also hold some subtle meanings. For instance, the dollar sign ($) is often used to replace the letter S instead of the number 5. The dollar sign is used in an ironic or insulting manner, or to spell more familiar words. Think about the vulgar form of the word "bottom" that rhymes with "mass"; well, in leet-speak, it'd look more like "ma$$".

When you pay attention, you realize that many common words on the internet actually trace back to 1337 speak. For example, the term "kewl" for "cool" originated as a phonetic joke, while "teh" or "taht" stems from a common typo. The infamous word "pwned" (usually pronounced "poned") also originated from a typo of the word "owned" due to the O and P keys being next to each other on a keyboard. Initially, early hackers used it to refer to gaining control of another computer. Then, it came to mean total domination, as in "You just got pwned!" It is still used today in video games and online communities.

Another iconic 1337 term is "noob" (written as "n00b" or "n008"), which is short for "newbie". Programmers and hackers began calling people "newbies" around the same time they started "owning" each other's systems. You may encounter variations such as "n00blet" or "n008137".

Then, there is "haxor" (meaning "hacker" or "h4ck3r"), which is one of the classic terms. It originates from hackers and refers to someone with strong technical skills, the kind of person who truly masters the system (in every sense of the term).

These examples are a good illustration of the 1337 meaning. From "skillz" (a cooler version of "skills") to "r0xx0r" and "pwn", leet-speak has always been about standing out and creativity.

Beyond its underground roots, leet-speak also infiltrates pop culture. You can spot it in music, film, and even mainstream branding:

• The BB-52's had a song called "6060-842"(which reads as "GOGO-BAR") back in 1979.
• In Linkin Park's 2002 remix album Reanimation, almost all the track titles are stylized in leet-style writing, such as "P5hng Me A*wy" and "H! Vltg3".
• The French DJ, Laurent Garnier, also released an album called Excess Luggage in 2003, written as "XC355 7UGGVG3".

1337 5p3k has also inspired titles in film and TV. The series Numb3rs and the thriller Se7en both use numbers in place of letters to stand out. The same trend appeared in movie sequels like SCRE4M, T4XI, and TAK3N.

You can find one of the modern tributes to leet-speak in Mr. Robot, a television series that follows a young hacker in New York. Every episode title uses 1337-style naming, such as "d3m0ns.mp4" or "3xp10its.wmv".

Google couldn't resist 1337 either and decided to use this reference in its Vulnerability Reward Program (VRP), also known as "bug bounty", which offers rewards to users who identify and report security vulnerabilities to Google that could compromise user data. The amount of the reward varies between $100 and $31,337. Remove the comma and dollar sign from this maximum amount, and you get "31337".

We hope that after reading our article, you have a better idea of the meaning of 1337. In brief, what was originally a secret code used by hackers and Internet pioneers has become a symbol of Internet culture and creativity. The evolution of 1337 5p3k over the decades reminds us that, even online, languages are constantly evolving and adapting to find new ways to express who we are.