What is a "K3Wl"?

[quicksilver]

Many that are new to this forum have heard the word mentioned in context and developed their own prescriptive diffinition of the word. It has been often used as both noun and verb, & has various spellings. What would a be a positive working meaning be for those who, like pornography, know it when they see it but have no real understanding of it's foundation?
I for one, have remembered it from the "K3Wl Baum D0uD" travasty of posts on various sources (i.e. alt.eng. explosives, etc). But if there were to be an actual working diffinition of the word what would it be?

{yes, this is written in jest, but things get so damn serious here I just thought some might take a stab at actually defining this very common term}

[Jacks Complete]

"K3Wl" is a 1337
(L33t
leet
'lite
elite)
speak way of saying "Cool", and it is from both of these evolutions that we can see the origin of the derogatory term.

The usage of "Cool" to describe someone or something has arisen over years of usage, until it now means next to nothing, but is still a vaguely positive word. Context and tonality means everything. Of course, many people are not cool, and so try hard to be, and, ironically, become far less cool than before.

This desperate attempt (or repeated attempts) to come across as cool, perhaps by pretending to be expert or professional in a field of interest, is what we now know as "K3Wl". It is a mocking term, one of derision.

It is best seen in a thread where seasoned experts are discussing a subtle aspect of a technique, having already outlined the technique in full at least twice, and have now moved on to the finesse, the touches that "make" an expert stand out from those who know a little. The Kewl will infiltrate the discussion, and then post something to try to show he, too is an expert. Mostly, this is by posting something from earlier in the same thread which has been done to death, except with a few changes that make it highly dangerous, highly stupid or will prevent anything from happening. He (and it is generally a He) will do this to try to instantly be seen as expert in that topic. Of course, engaging directly with experts means that the kewl is generally discovered and mocked in short order.

Another favorite trick is to post someone else's post and claim it for themselves - theft of pictures and faked images are a favourite. This, especially in the top of the "profession" is also often spotted rapidly, not least because the copied work is often one of the other thread posters' work.

And so, they are not "cool" but "K3Wl".

Will that do for a definition? ;-)

[quicksilver]

Yes, that was comprehensive and well done; I enjoyed the elemental background and foundation of "elite" speak. I was made awair of same back in the very early 1990's BBS "Warez" scene wherein a participant would trade software with others via a BBS. Often overseas (no matter where you were from), these boards were seen as the highest pinacle of Elite activity. The "Warez" were traded from some retail software store starting point but it was made to seem that the "source" was as intensive as a damn intelligence agency. The participants were of various backgrounds but the preponderance were very young. If fact their very youth was their only collective trait. Some though, were very immature emotionally and would attempt to create high drama from the "release" of some new software.......

I ░▒▓Remember▓▒░ those ridiculous ASCII keys.

So those little bastards are still aournd? This must have been a real fashion; ingrained as it was. I actually read some of the posts on Totse today.....Sweet Jesus!.....I don't understand why someone would foot the bill for the money to continue that board.....There are posts there that are actual copies of posts HERE under another person's name. Not a Nom de guerre' of the original but someone taking credit for the work of another! Very "un-cool" as it were.....

[Mr.Azo]

I just came across this movie, and thought I had to share it. It's a video of a "K3Wl" in action:

http://www.flurl.com/featured/Fun_with_home_made_bomb_22567.html