What is H4×0r?
H4×0r — also called Haxor, leet speak, and 1337 sp34k, among other variations — is a slang word which is used to represent a kind of letter replacement code frequently used on the internet.
In this code, letters are replaced by numbers and other special characters in order to make the characters look more or less like the host language (usually English). This was originally done to throw off non-techies and try to hold secret conversations without actually having to learn another language. In order to further the confusion people purposefully or idiomatically mis-spell words, often inheriting idioms from net speak. Unfortunately, like with net speak, most of the time the spelling skills in question are poor anyway.
The non-standardized nature of the replacement means that inevitably, to be understandable to other users of H4×0r, the replacement code had to look enough like English that anyone could figure it out given time and a touch of practice. This seriously diluted it’s value to the point that no serious techies use it any more.
While the language was originally named after the Hacker / Cracker community by those who used it and called themselves hackers, this language has fallen out of favor, and is most often found in the use of those who want to be, or pretend to be hackers, especially script kiddies. As with just about anything involving script kiddies, it is considered quite annoying by most on the internet.
Below is quick guide on possible substitutions to use in converting from H4×0r to English. This guide is not all inclusive, and simply represents some of my exposure to the h4×0r crowd. However if you feel that I have missed an essential example or translation, feel free to leave a comment, and I will add it to the list through my “M4d 1337 editing 5k1llz!”
Please, whatever you do, do not translate from English to H4×0r except in a mocking manner.
Characters
As some of these characters are interchangeable based on the dialect, I will put the H4xor character set on the left, and the English letter on the right, separated by semi-colons. Sometimes multiple characters are used in H4×0r to represent a single character in English. Where that is done I will not separate the mashed together characters with the semi-colon.
| H4×0r | English |
|---|---|
| 0 | O |
| 1; | | L; I |
| 3 | E |
| 4, @ | A |
| 5; $; Z | S; Z (sometimes a Z is just a Z) |
| 6 | G |
| 7 | T |
| \/\/ | W |
| /\/\ | M |
| |) | D |
| |< | K |
| >< | X |
Phrases
There are also some idiomatic words and phrases used in Leet Speek. Some of the more notable ones are below, with a translation and sometimes an explanation.