1337

Intro

1. Learn Vocabulary - Learn some new vocabulary before you start the lesson.

• n00b
• tough
• throw in
• typo

• digit
• nerds
• sign
• into

• code
• pwn

2. Read and Prepare - Read the introduction and prepare to hear the audio.

Hai, how r u? Wat? U can7 read th1s? LOL!

If you can read the line above, you are 1337. “1337” is pronounced “leet” and it refers to the word “elite.” The unusual spelling comes from the fact that the digits in the number “1337” resemble the letters that spell “leet,” and those who can understand this sort of writing (which is common on the Internet) are supposedly “elite” computer users.

Or complete nerds.

Dialog

1. Listen and Read - Listen to the audio and read the dialog at the same time.

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2. Study - Read the dialog again to see how the vocab words are used.

Mason

Jason

Mason:  I got an email from a friend of mine the other day.

Jason:  Yeah.

Mason:  And every time he signs it, he says “w00t” at the end.

Jason:  With the zeros?

Mason:  Yeah yeah.

Jason:  It’s 1337!

Mason:  Dude, it’s totally 1337. I…How did you…What got you into that?

Jason:  I might have a hobby of pwning n00bs from time to time. I’ll log on to some games maybe and when you’re chatting it makes you seem tough in a video game if you just throw in some letters that are actually numbers.

Mason:  And that’s so funny because I heard the myth is that the whole way of speech basically came about from doing typos because you’re playing a game and you can’t see what you’re doing.

Jason:  Totally. “The” is “teh” just because of a typo and stuff like that.

Mason:  Yeah. But it’s so weird and it’s so totally impractical.

Jason:  It’s a code now. But it is totally impractical. It takes forever to type it out.

Mason:  The first time I ever saw it, I was like, “What’s going on?”

Jason:  I can’t decide if you’re cooler for knowing 1337 or if you’re less cool.

Mason:  At this point, I think that the tipping point has passed and we’re cool.

Quizzes

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Lesson MP3

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