WSJ Goes Back to 1999 to Freak Out About 'l33t 5p34k' - Gizmodo Comments

WSJ Goes Back to 1999 to Freak Out About 'l33t 5p34k'

xtc46 — Sun, 26 Aug 2007 18:36:14 EDT

@DeadWriter: I was able to read through that without any problem at all... now I'm sad.

xtc46

WSJ Goes Back to 1999 to Freak Out About 'l33t 5p34k'

bulletmagnet — Fri, 24 Aug 2007 16:32:36 EDT

What does the Tianjin Foreign Studies University have to do with any of these posts. Is "STFU" just not cool anymore? Is the blogger lysdexic?

bulletmagnet

WSJ Goes Back to 1999 to Freak Out About 'l33t 5p34k'

Pensador — Fri, 24 Aug 2007 12:59:19 EDT

I wonder what would happen if I emailed Chris the link to 4chan...

Pensador

WSJ Goes Back to 1999 to Freak Out About 'l33t 5p34k'

Angus — Fri, 24 Aug 2007 09:47:35 EDT

@AztecDragon: MACGYYVERRRRRRRRR!!!! (i hope thats the reference you were going for)

Angus

WSJ Goes Back to 1999 to Freak Out About 'l33t 5p34k'

fsusmithc2 — Fri, 24 Aug 2007 09:12:37 EDT

lolz... they should take a roflcopter ride and go lollerskating. WoOt!!!11eleven!

fsusmithc2

WSJ Goes Back to 1999 to Freak Out About 'l33t 5p34k'

Philmore — Fri, 24 Aug 2007 08:10:53 EDT

These Saps are all balled up it seems to me.
[local.aaca.org] - They had it back then.

Philmore

WSJ Goes Back to 1999 to Freak Out About 'l33t 5p34k'

WCD_Thor — Fri, 24 Aug 2007 03:36:59 EDT

This was a great little article about how when people get older, they get scared of the youngin's and go all crazy.

WCD_Thor

WSJ Goes Back to 1999 to Freak Out About 'l33t 5p34k'

Oneon1isto — Fri, 24 Aug 2007 00:09:58 EDT

@JustMeJosh: Help you I will.

Jesus had a photoshopped conversation between Yoda and Luke where Yoda drops a TSFU, or "the shut f*** up". Get it? You know, how when Yoda speaks, he flips his words around? Yeah. Jesus started a nice trend here on the Giz. Although in my opinion his best work so far is the AT&T death star.

Oneon1isto

WSJ Goes Back to 1999 to Freak Out About 'l33t 5p34k'

JustMeJosh — Thu, 23 Aug 2007 23:41:53 EDT

*sigh* OK, I'll ask, since not knowing has been bugging me all week and now, conveniently, there's a post relevant to my question: What does TFSU mean?

JustMeJosh

WSJ Goes Back to 1999 to Freak Out About 'l33t 5p34k'

psxndc — Thu, 23 Aug 2007 22:54:28 EDT

@CaseyG: In a row?

psxndc

WSJ Goes Back to 1999 to Freak Out About 'l33t 5p34k'

EyesOpen — Thu, 23 Aug 2007 22:36:54 EDT

Would this story be considered lazy journalism? Who the hell cares?

EyesOpen

WSJ Goes Back to 1999 to Freak Out About 'l33t 5p34k'

object.session — Thu, 23 Aug 2007 22:34:01 EDT

this post helped me think of a great (and cliche) title for a college thesis paper/dateline segment: "l33t Speak: Is the Internet Sending the English Language Down the Tubes?"

get it? *tubes*? . . .

object.session

WSJ Goes Back to 1999 to Freak Out About 'l33t 5p34k'

darundal — Thu, 23 Aug 2007 22:10:09 EDT

This really looks like they copied parts of the article from the wikipedia page for leetspeak.

darundal

WSJ Goes Back to 1999 to Freak Out About 'l33t 5p34k'

cory — Thu, 23 Aug 2007 20:35:38 EDT

I think Adam owes the WSJ an apology for his lazy journalism! Sorry to be a pill, but seriously, it was a fair and newsworthy article. A lot of people out there (especially readers of the WSJ) are just starting to be become aware of these aspects of internet culture. Give 'em a break and TFSU already!

cory

WSJ Goes Back to 1999 to Freak Out About 'l33t 5p34k'

cory — Thu, 23 Aug 2007 20:30:07 EDT

Did any of you actually read the article (Adam included)? All of the concerns in Adam's post are clearly discussed in the article. It's idiotic to get so upset about an article you apparently just scanned.

cory

WSJ Goes Back to 1999 to Freak Out About 'l33t 5p34k'

Tehrab — Thu, 23 Aug 2007 20:25:57 EDT

Just wait 'til this guy discovers the iPhone. His foundation will be rocked!

Tehrab

WSJ Goes Back to 1999 to Freak Out About 'l33t 5p34k'

Stealth43 — Thu, 23 Aug 2007 20:17:31 EDT

Ewowowzerz!!! 7h3s3 r $um 0f 73h b3$7 90$7$ 1v3 $33n 0n h3r3 1n 4 wh113.

pr0pz 2 FOOFIGHTER28, UNCLE_LEO, Windhawk (+7), Lorticon, N JERMJERM!

Stealth43

WSJ Goes Back to 1999 to Freak Out About 'l33t 5p34k'

berribrand — Thu, 23 Aug 2007 20:12:43 EDT

WSJ got pwned!!!!11one!

berribrand

WSJ Goes Back to 1999 to Freak Out About 'l33t 5p34k'

infmom — Thu, 23 Aug 2007 19:36:22 EDT

WERE IN UR NUZPAPR USIN IT 4 KITTYLITTER

infmom

WSJ Goes Back to 1999 to Freak Out About 'l33t 5p34k'

ideaman2020 — Thu, 23 Aug 2007 18:52:05 EDT

7F5U WSJ Id10t5

PS. 01000010 01111001 01110100 01100101 00100000 01101101 01100101 00100001

ideaman2020

WSJ Goes Back to 1999 to Freak Out About 'l33t 5p34k'

smarttart62 — Thu, 23 Aug 2007 18:38:44 EDT

Quote: "It's ultimately about creating a secret language that can differentiate them from others, like parents"

If it was a secret language then it wouldn't be readable, now would it douchebag?

Idiots... WSJ would bow down to my awesomeness if i was lame enough to be an editor there.

smarttart62

WSJ Goes Back to 1999 to Freak Out About 'l33t 5p34k'

SirNirian — Thu, 23 Aug 2007 17:48:59 EDT

TFSU is my new fave slang term oh yeah one more thing.u r 75h 5ux0r 4nd w3 l337 sp34k3rs5 w1ll j01n 70g37h3r 2 734 b46 73h n00b5 w007!

SirNirian

WSJ Goes Back to 1999 to Freak Out About 'l33t 5p34k'

CODIFEROUS — Thu, 23 Aug 2007 17:46:41 EDT

eh that didn't work out at all...

CODIFEROUS

WSJ Goes Back to 1999 to Freak Out About 'l33t 5p34k'

nthdork — Thu, 23 Aug 2007 17:45:57 EDT

wtfbbq?!

th3 5ky 1s f@ll1ng!!!1
th3 5ky 1s f@ll1ng!!!1

nthdork

WSJ Goes Back to 1999 to Freak Out About 'l33t 5p34k'

CODIFEROUS — Thu, 23 Aug 2007 17:45:13 EDT

Here's a recent story from my local NBC affiliate:
javascript:popUp('/slideshow/mylife/13415032/detail.html','width=1024,height=750,top=0,left=0,scrollbars');

CODIFEROUS

WSJ Goes Back to 1999 to Freak Out About 'l33t 5p34k'

CaseyG — Thu, 23 Aug 2007 17:38:20 EDT

I'm 37, I'm not old!

CaseyG

WSJ Goes Back to 1999 to Freak Out About 'l33t 5p34k'

axiomatic — Thu, 23 Aug 2007 17:28:16 EDT

Old people are funny.

(oh crap I'm 38!)

axiomatic

WSJ Goes Back to 1999 to Freak Out About 'l33t 5p34k'

sporkguy — Thu, 23 Aug 2007 17:23:51 EDT

TFSU!

sporkguy

WSJ Goes Back to 1999 to Freak Out About 'l33t 5p34k'

robbo — Thu, 23 Aug 2007 17:20:55 EDT

Words fail me.

oh, wait ... here's one:

wankers

robbo

WSJ Goes Back to 1999 to Freak Out About 'l33t 5p34k'

jermjerm — Thu, 23 Aug 2007 17:20:17 EDT

I'm in your dictionary, destroying your language

jermjerm

WSJ Goes Back to 1999 to Freak Out About 'l33t 5p34k'

PCLoadLetter — Thu, 23 Aug 2007 17:14:29 EDT

stallownd

PCLoadLetter

WSJ Goes Back to 1999 to Freak Out About 'l33t 5p34k'

dextrone — Thu, 23 Aug 2007 17:11:52 EDT

|>0|>|>`/(0(|<

dextrone

WSJ Goes Back to 1999 to Freak Out About 'l33t 5p34k'

SonOfSlam — Thu, 23 Aug 2007 17:02:16 EDT

@catbutt: and I'm not getting worked up about your post. Let's not have opinions on anything, ever!

SonOfSlam

WSJ Goes Back to 1999 to Freak Out About 'l33t 5p34k'

catbutt — Thu, 23 Aug 2007 16:42:41 EDT

Is it possible you are being a bit of an alarmist idiot yourself? So it's dumb to get worked up over internet slang. It's also dumb to get worked up over articles on internet slang. I'm doing my best not to get worked up about an article on an article on internet slang.

catbutt

WSJ Goes Back to 1999 to Freak Out About 'l33t 5p34k'

Lorticon — Thu, 23 Aug 2007 16:42:32 EDT

Well shiver me timbers, a rat's ass I do not give.

Lorticon

WSJ Goes Back to 1999 to Freak Out About 'l33t 5p34k'

TheWoodpecker — Thu, 23 Aug 2007 16:40:38 EDT

own3d

TheWoodpecker

WSJ Goes Back to 1999 to Freak Out About 'l33t 5p34k'

scrawledinwax — Thu, 23 Aug 2007 16:39:59 EDT

Adam, you rock. That is all.

scrawledinwax

WSJ Goes Back to 1999 to Freak Out About 'l33t 5p34k'

nachobel — Thu, 23 Aug 2007 16:39:13 EDT

this is sad/hilarious

nachobel

WSJ Goes Back to 1999 to Freak Out About 'l33t 5p34k'

bez_online — Thu, 23 Aug 2007 16:35:27 EDT

You tell 'em 404M! Maybe comic book decoder rings should be banned, and we should all just learn to get along and speak Esperanto!

bez_online

WSJ Goes Back to 1999 to Freak Out About 'l33t 5p34k'

Windhawk — Thu, 23 Aug 2007 16:33:49 EDT

Slang is a language that rolls up its sleeves, spits on its hands and goes to work.

-Carl Sandburg (1878 - 1967), New York Times Feb. 13, 1959

...and...

Language is not an abstract construction of the learned, or of dictionary makers, but is something arising out of the work, needs, ties, joys, affections, tastes, of long generations of humanity, and has its bases broad and low, close to the ground.

-Noah Webster

Windhawk

WSJ Goes Back to 1999 to Freak Out About 'l33t 5p34k'

mushu — Thu, 23 Aug 2007 16:33:32 EDT

W3RD!

mushu

WSJ Goes Back to 1999 to Freak Out About 'l33t 5p34k'

pitpawten — Thu, 23 Aug 2007 16:33:21 EDT

Rupert Murdoch clearly has his finger directly on the pulse of todays culture.

Expect more great reporting on pertinent issues from the WSJ in the future, as the quotes grow even larger around "respected" newspaper.

pitpawten

WSJ Goes Back to 1999 to Freak Out About 'l33t 5p34k'

Spyrojoe — Thu, 23 Aug 2007 16:31:42 EDT

WSJ=fail.

Spyrojoe

WSJ Goes Back to 1999 to Freak Out About 'l33t 5p34k'

Pepper — Thu, 23 Aug 2007 16:30:01 EDT

WSJ are a bunch of ideas....what a waste of a story

Pepper

WSJ Goes Back to 1999 to Freak Out About 'l33t 5p34k'

MarkB — Thu, 23 Aug 2007 16:29:16 EDT

WSJ is teh suxxors.

MarkB

WSJ Goes Back to 1999 to Freak Out About 'l33t 5p34k'

ghmlco — Thu, 23 Aug 2007 16:28:06 EDT

Hey! I LIKE the Wendy's menu. It's happening!

ghmlco

WSJ Goes Back to 1999 to Freak Out About 'l33t 5p34k'

DeadWriter — Thu, 23 Aug 2007 16:26:04 EDT

7h15 w45 c00| b4ck wh3n 1 h4d 4 300 b4ud 4c0u571c c0up|3r m0d3m. 1n my 34r|y 733n5 1 h4d 40 M365 0f 570r463 5p4c3 4nd w45 571|| qu173 7h3 4|ph4 n3rd. N0w 1 4m f47, b4|d1n6, 4nd 4m 4 n4r3-d0-w3||.

1f 7h3 W4|| 57r337 J0urn4| h4d ju57 d0n3 4 |177|3 m0r3 r3534rch 7h3y w0u|d h4v3 f0und 7h47 4|| 34r|y 3|173 u53r5 4r3 n0w b4|d1n6, f47, 4nd n07 4 7hr347 70 4nyb0dy.

Pardon me:

This was cool back when I had a 300 baud acoustic coupler modem. In my early teens I had 40 Megs of storage space and was still quite the alpha nerd. Now I am fat, balding, and am a nare-do-well.

If the Wall Street Journal had just done a little more research they would have found that all early Elite users are now balding, fat, and not a threat to anybody.

DeadWriter

WSJ Goes Back to 1999 to Freak Out About 'l33t 5p34k'

newgalactic — Thu, 23 Aug 2007 16:25:44 EDT

So...
...what does "l33t 5p34k" really mean?

signed-
Out of the loop guy

newgalactic

WSJ Goes Back to 1999 to Freak Out About 'l33t 5p34k'

ghmlco — Thu, 23 Aug 2007 16:25:19 EDT

Hey! I LIKE the Wendy's menu. It's w00t!

ghmlco

WSJ Goes Back to 1999 to Freak Out About 'l33t 5p34k'

Zagato7 — Thu, 23 Aug 2007 16:24:25 EDT

Ur article SUX.

Zagato7

WSJ Goes Back to 1999 to Freak Out About 'l33t 5p34k'

Geisrud — Thu, 23 Aug 2007 16:22:39 EDT

They're all a bunch of truck-jumping hyperactive AED sucking disc tossers.

Geisrud

WSJ Goes Back to 1999 to Freak Out About 'l33t 5p34k'

Khamel — Thu, 23 Aug 2007 16:20:12 EDT

i saw this when i came into the office today. i swear i thought someone was cleaning out the files and left an old copy of break room table. the journal needs to focus on telling me which companies to invest in and why taxes are evil.

Khamel

WSJ Goes Back to 1999 to Freak Out About 'l33t 5p34k'

MasterYong — Thu, 23 Aug 2007 16:19:30 EDT

Here here!!! (or is it hear, hear... idk)

MasterYong

WSJ Goes Back to 1999 to Freak Out About 'l33t 5p34k'

med — Thu, 23 Aug 2007 16:17:24 EDT

med

WSJ Goes Back to 1999 to Freak Out About 'l33t 5p34k'

Luke — Thu, 23 Aug 2007 16:17:04 EDT

Seriously, where's my Quarter Pound Texas Double? Best 99 cents you could spend.

Luke

WSJ Goes Back to 1999 to Freak Out About 'l33t 5p34k'

EQC — Thu, 23 Aug 2007 16:16:03 EDT

this post was the bee's knees, the cats pajamas, and all that other good stuff. woot.

EQC

WSJ Goes Back to 1999 to Freak Out About 'l33t 5p34k'

waltercrm — Thu, 23 Aug 2007 16:13:25 EDT

The writer's email address is at the end of the article. I'm sure he's going to regret that.

waltercrm

WSJ Goes Back to 1999 to Freak Out About 'l33t 5p34k'

luckypictures — Thu, 23 Aug 2007 16:12:29 EDT

Apparently us internet types speak entirely in "l33t 5p34k" in our daily lives.

Why didn't anyone tell me?

luckypictures

WSJ Goes Back to 1999 to Freak Out About 'l33t 5p34k'

skeeve — Thu, 23 Aug 2007 16:11:54 EDT

OMFGWTFBBQ 7h3s3 s7up1d phr34k5 7h1nk 7h3y kn02 n3w5???

skeeve

WSJ Goes Back to 1999 to Freak Out About 'l33t 5p34k'

Bandito — Thu, 23 Aug 2007 16:11:15 EDT

Why is it that the front page shows 4 comments for this but when I click the post there's nothing here?

Bandito

WSJ Goes Back to 1999 to Freak Out About 'l33t 5p34k'

tarochan — Thu, 23 Aug 2007 16:09:03 EDT

:-)

tarochan

WSJ Goes Back to 1999 to Freak Out About 'l33t 5p34k'

rfmd486 — Thu, 23 Aug 2007 16:07:23 EDT

Word??

rfmd486

WSJ Goes Back to 1999 to Freak Out About 'l33t 5p34k'

Joewithay — Thu, 23 Aug 2007 16:06:31 EDT

OMG WJS TFSU

Joewithay

WSJ Goes Back to 1999 to Freak Out About 'l33t 5p34k'

alin0steglinski — Thu, 23 Aug 2007 16:05:14 EDT

damn WSJ!! and to think i use that paper for investment opinions... *cancels subscription*

alin0steglinski

WSJ Goes Back to 1999 to Freak Out About 'l33t 5p34k'

Atrahasis — Thu, 23 Aug 2007 15:52:32 EDT

American slang has been a core component of youth culture since at least 1870. Every generation has its own set of words that build a sense of commonality. To rail against youth slang is tantamount to saying "there are kids, and they are talking!".

Way to stay current, WSJ.

Atrahasis

WSJ Goes Back to 1999 to Freak Out About 'l33t 5p34k'

lightshow — Thu, 23 Aug 2007 15:52:08 EDT

@foofighter28: I never thought I would actually see someone use that term and have it actually make sense in the context of the topic (all their customer base). Clever.

In other news, the establishment continued to deny, marginalize, or eliminate anything and everything which they found confusing or frightening. The government is advising people to stay in their homes and stay tuned to Fox News for more information on their progress (clumsily) rooting out all that is innovative and good in this world.

lightshow

WSJ Goes Back to 1999 to Freak Out About 'l33t 5p34k'

Uncle_Leo — Thu, 23 Aug 2007 15:50:36 EDT

I has ur language and i changes it!

Uncle_Leo

WSJ Goes Back to 1999 to Freak Out About 'l33t 5p34k'

kromekoran — Thu, 23 Aug 2007 15:49:51 EDT

qft.

kromekoran

WSJ Goes Back to 1999 to Freak Out About 'l33t 5p34k'

jibbly — Thu, 23 Aug 2007 15:47:31 EDT

One acronym:

TFSU.

(is this getting old yet?)

jibbly

WSJ Goes Back to 1999 to Freak Out About 'l33t 5p34k'

Mayor McRib — Thu, 23 Aug 2007 15:45:25 EDT

werd!

Mayor McRib

WSJ Goes Back to 1999 to Freak Out About 'l33t 5p34k'

foofighter28 — Thu, 23 Aug 2007 15:42:16 EDT

they dont know but all their base are belong to us so they're are fuxored

foofighter28

WSJ Goes Back to 1999 to Freak Out About 'l33t 5p34k'

AztecDragon — Thu, 23 Aug 2007 15:37:53 EDT

I bet Murdoch is behind this!!!

AztecDragon