Lx FTW

"Linguistics for the win!" (inspired by a blog comment)

A Special In-Depth Analysis by David McRaney - L337 Katz0rz (Via LL)

An analysis of lolcats through "leetspeak" and visual macros. Rich, insightful, funny. McRaney sure got 1337-cred to spare.

Too many quote-worthy excerpts. Do read the whole thing. The blog entry itself might require prior knowledge of English-speaking Internet popular culture to be fully understood. But even those who may not share these references could get something out of McRaney's post. The process of identity negotiation through assessing ingroup membership through obscure references is well-understood (and sociological enough). The lolcat examples used are rather representative. And issues surrounding language use in English-speaking online groups are described clearly.

IOW, McRaney's a pifanee-inducing h4x0rz.

w00t!