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What's in a Tag?

Sexual deviant, attention whore or just plain sociopath? Discover what your Xbox Live name says about you

Words: Charlie Barratt, GamesRadar US

Category: Leetspeak (13375p34k)

Examples: l31ade, b0ngzi11a, D34dly N1nj4, H34DRU5H, XxSWEETN3SSxX, KLZ g3rMzZ, Wh1TeSn4Ke, R1Pt3h5Y5T3m, xREL3NTL3SSx

"Leet" or "leetspeak" is a coded writing system that originated with computer hackers in the 1980s and has since been adopted as a popular form of communication among online gamers. It includes, but is not limited to, the substitution of numeric digits or special characters for alphabetic letters.

... And just by giving you that definition, we're out of the club. See, the last thing a leetspeaker wants is for the layperson - aka the n00b, aka their Dad - to understand what the hell they're talking about. They've elected themselves into elite, exclusive and altogether imaginary society where only the truly hardcore can mingle.

Ironically, all it usually takes to decipher this secret language is a slight squint of the eyes and a vague tilt of the head. Even more ironically, the gamers who use leetspeak are often the youngest and, therefore, the least experienced.

Dr. Frederiksen: "Exclusion is the foundation of this category. We know something you don't. By setting yourself apart as a member of an exclusive group that has specialized knowledge you can feel different and special. It is sort of the gamer's equivalent of the 'secret handshake.'"


 
80 Comments
Order Comments: Newest First | Oldest First
lynx987  - 1 year 2 months ago 
mines cky18200..........what does that mean
abovedefault  - 1 year 2 months ago 
good article. Not completely right on the leetspeak one though. Ever heard of fatal1ty?
PopeRocket  - 1 year 1 month ago 
^I agree. A lot of people use 'leetspeak' to get names that are not available when spelled correctly.

Now.. I will give 1 Internets to whoever can figure out where my tag comes from.
MyGameName  - 1 year 1 month ago 
although it's not a LIVE gamertag but a PSN tag, what does mine fall into?
Sizzler  - 1 year 1 month ago 
Pope, yours is from the Pope's hat? I don't know.

Lynx, yours is the Pop Culture refrence, because you used CKY, or the band "Camp Kill Yourself" (Better known as CKY)

And, WH47 D0 Y0U M34N 13375P34K!?

Also, mine is GOING to be Sizzler. And I don't see the refrence there. It stemmed from "SIZZLERSPERSONALPIKACHU" which I put for my Nsider username because I was going to Sizzlers that day, and I had to do something Nintendo related. I was also craving a personal pizza. I'm actually disgusted with what the name actually MEANS though, because, who would do such a cruel thing to suck a cute little electricity mouse?

So would it be Pop Culture?

But the name is just Sizzler. That could also fit under Sexual. Or, if you were thinking of melted flesh resulting from a flamethrower, that could fit into the Violence one. My first name is the CAPS category.

So which one? I need help.
KatyaSchlacter  - 11 months 21 days ago 
Mine is HouseMDfan, pretty simple really.
Smiffy99  - 11 months 5 days ago 
Mine's Zzombie99. The second z was a typo, but i went with it.
Montag  - 11 months 5 days ago 
Mine means I can read.. you know proper books with words
Lrd_Chikn  - 11 months 4 days ago 
What can LrdChikn mean
gutlessVADER  - 11 months 4 days ago 
I wonder if gutlessVADER would be pop culture or caps- or both?
zer0_talent  - 11 months 4 days ago 
i guess mine just shows i have a low self-esteem hahahah
starwarskid1193  - 11 months 4 days ago 
Mine is Zorba the Hutt where does that put me?
CoD_22  - 11 months 4 days ago 
could you be all of them at once, like S3XYK1TT3NK1LL3RLUVSMETALLICA?
CoD_22  - 11 months 4 days ago 
could you be all of them at once, like S3XYK1TT3NK1LL3RLUVSM3T4LLIC4?
CoD_22  - 11 months 4 days ago 
oops
Tasty_Pasta  - 11 months 4 days ago 
What the hell category does Tasty_Pasta fit into?
Mola123  - 11 months 4 days ago 
what about Mola123?
jkrap27  - 11 months 3 days ago 
a well-crafted, thought provoking piece. well done.
TheWebSwinger  - 11 months 2 days ago 
Hahah the guy in the last picture is Chris Antista. And he's sucking in his tummy!
TrIp13G  - 11 months 2 days ago 
I would've taken TripleG, but it was taken. God dammit, I'm in the 1337 category.
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