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Crackers, Phreaks, and Lamers

Though crackers often call themselves `hackers', they aren't (they typically have neither significant programming ability, nor Internet expertise, nor experience with UNIX or other true multi-user systems). Their vocabulary has little overlap with hackerdom's. Nevertheless, this lexicon covers much of it so the reader will be able to understand what goes by on bulletin-board systems.

Here is a brief guide to cracker and warez d00dz usage:

• Misspell frequently. The substitutions

  
       phone => fone
       freak => phreak
  

  are obligatory.

• Always substitute `z's for `s's. (i.e. "codes" -> "codez").
• Type random emphasis characters after a post line (i.e. "Hey Dudes!#!$#$!#!$").
• Use the emphatic `k' prefix ("k-kool", "k-rad", "k-awesome") frequently.
• Abbreviate compulsively ("I got lotsa warez w/ docs").
• Substitute `0' for `o' ("r0dent", "l0zer").
• TYPE ALL IN CAPS LOCK, SO IT LOOKS LIKE YOU'RE YELLING ALL THE TIME.

These traits are similar to those of B1FF, who originated as a parody of naive BBS users. For further discussion of the pirate-board subculture, see lamer, elite, leech, poser, cracker, and especially warez d00dz.

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