Acronyms > L337

Acronym n. a word formed from the initial letters of other words
example: RADAR (RAdio Detection And Ranging)

Acronyms gave the english language a way to say something faster than before without losing meaning. (Useful in morse code, etc.) Some acronyms became universal, some did not. (i.e. SOS) But when there are so many acronyms, some become repeats and make it harder to differentiate, making them less useful.

The rising generation has developed a new system of writing similar to acronyms, although less direct. Email started it, and instant messaging and texting has also given the english language some silliness as well.

In a hand-written note or letter, you can doodle or draw extra symbols. But with the limits of the standard keyboard, more had to be done. So here come "smilies" to add a touch of personality, and to go beyond the capabilities of the font families.  ;-)  8-)

And the internet also brought us a different alphabet called leet or leetspeek. Using numbers in combination with letters to spell. It used to be used in chatrooms and online bulletin boards to trick the filters from blocking forbidden topics such as hacking. But now leet is more mainstream, and is more often used to censor words or mock newbies in online multiplayer games.