A lot of people come here looking for the answer to the question, "What is 1337?". 1337 simply means "elite" - being the best. The word came into being through the metamorphosis of the word "elite" via replacement of letters with similar-shaped numbers, and purposeful misspelling: "eilte" -> "leet" -> "1337". A whole dialect known as "leet speak" ("1337 5p34K") has grown around this process. Due to the heavy use of symbols it is incredibly slow to write, but the practiced reader can read it at approaching the speed of normal text.
