I know what you mean. I’ve never used leet-speak anything other than ironically either, but there’s something about 1337. It’s like a sort of geek gang sign.

I remember I once saw “1337” written on a wall. I think I took a photo. I’ve no idea who wrote it, still less why; leet-speak and grafitti somehow don’t seem to go together, and it’s always possible it was someone commemorating the start of the Hundred Years’ War, or (actually just about within the realm of possibility, come to think of it) the relief of Stirling Castle, but hey… I thought “leet”, as I’m sure anyone of taste and distinction would, and felt a strange sense of connection with whoever it was.