There are two varieties of 73h l337. They are used based on the respect carried towards the person whom you are talking to.

l337 Light is used when you're talking to friends, acquaintances, and family because it is merely casual talk.

Hardcore l337 is when you are talking to a person of higher importance or someone you respect and/or admire greatly. Unlike l337 light, which is an alphanumeric language, hardcore l337 utilizes various other symbols.

Online Language. Because the standardised version has been lost or ignored or never invented, many dialects have appeared. While there is grammatical and spelling differences, it is almost identical to English to the point of being a mere substitution alphabet, and is rarely used in other languages.

-Note: The only "Common" themes are that 4=A, 6=G, 7=T, 5=S, 3=E and 0=O. The letter F does not exist in most L337. While l= "exists", you'll look like an idiot using it instead of pl-l (or any other letter for H).

L337, commonly thought of as simply a variation of the english language used in various 'old school' hacker rings, is also a following, similar to Buddhism, but only on the surface. To be L337 is to follow the principals of being a nerd, geek or other group of technologically enlightened. Certain circles will tell you that being L337 requires a person to be able to assemble a computer system while naked. Others believe L337 is something of a scene. A higher echelon of nerd hirearchy. Even further, l337 has also been documented as something of an unwritten religious movement and cult following incorporating computers and various types of media. The favored medium being online video games. Where as Kung-Fu is a martial art origionating from eastern religions, online games are the martial art extending from being L337 where followers can display their prowess. Playing video games online does not neccisarily make you L337.

1. To be very good and cool at something
2. To be the master
3. A language using symbols and numbers

It's a language, mostly used online, that replaces most letters with numbers or symbols. Helpful when you don't want other people to know what you are thinking about.

The code revealed
A=4
B=8
C=(
E=3
F=pl-l
G=9
H=l-l
I-1
K=l<
M=/\/\
N=/\/
0=0
S=5
T=7
V=\/
W=\/\/
Y='/

Its unhumanly possible to understand at your first try. i still chose Binary over L337 at any time

A language corrupted by modern users who think alpha-numeric abbrieviations for everything is considered "cute" or "cool."

It is a beautiful language if used correctly and by the correct people. In the wrong hands it quickly becomes annoying and dirty.

Language mistakenly thought to be started by hackers, however it was started by crackers who populated newsgroups and broke into computers for malicious purposes. Now commonly used among people with IQ less than 10 because they are compensating for the fact they that know almost nothing about computers. Sidenote- Hackers still use l337 occasionally as a way of making fun of the less intelligent.

Just a goofy way of saying Elite... Mostly used now as a joke more than anything.