*** is an Internet slang neologism most frequently used as an English article, based on a common typographical error of the. *** has subsequently developed grammatical usages distinct from the.[1] It is not common in spoken or written English outside technical or leetspeak circles, but when spoken, it is pronounced /tɛ/ or /tə/.[2]
*** is one of the words in the auto-correct lists of spellcheckers in word processing applications such as Microsoft Word, OpenOffice.org Writer, Pages, and Corel WordPerfect. T and E are typed by the left hand on adjacent fingers in Qwerty, while the H is typed by the right, and in rapid typing, the T and E are often typed by the left hand in a drumming motion before the right can get the H in between the two. Overcompensating with the right hand can result in the misspelling hte, which is also found in auto-correct lists.
[edit] Usage
Along with pwn, *** is a standard feature of leetspeak.[3] Originating from the common typo, it has become conventionalized in a variety of contexts. It is often used ironically,[4] and can be used to mock someone's lack of techie knowledge or skills, as an insult, or to reinforce a group's elitism.[2] It is frequently used to denote mock ignorance of over-used and over-determined concepts (e.g., "long live *** Patriarchy").[5]
As slang, grammatical usage of the word *** is somewhat fluid. Besides being an alternate spelling of the, *** also has grammatical properties not generally applied to the; in general, it is used somewhat like an intensified the. The spelling derived from a typographical mistake seen as the symptom of excitement, much the same as the interjection of the numeral one between exclamation marks. It can be used with proper names, as in "*** John;" compare the usage of the definite article in Greek: ο Ιωαννης (o Ioannes), literally "The John". A similar usage comes from colloquial German, where the definite article is used as a specifier to modify the noun: "Der Johann", again literally, "The John", could be used to identify John, and not Phil, as the subject performing a certain action. In Latin, the similar word ille and its declensions, which was at first an intensified article usually translated as "that", is the source of the derivations of the simple word for the and the personal pronouns (he, etc.) in the languages derived from Latin.
Furthermore, *** can be used in front of a verb in a novel form of gerund, and it has the ability to turn nearly any word into an intensified noun, which can take the place of a superlative. The best-known example of this is the word suck. Thus, the phrase "this sucks" can be converted into "this is *** suck" ("*** suck" being equivalent to the superlative "the suckiest", or simply just "sucky"); the word pwn can be similarly converted (*** pwn or *** pwnage). The latter phrase is primarily used by the computer gaming community, and often intended humorously.
In English, the can be used as an intensifier for the superlative form of adjectives; compare "that is best" and "that is the best." *** has a similar use as an intensifier for unmodified adjectives, generally marking a sarcastic tone. For example, "that is *** lame" translates as "that is the lamest." This is similar to the use of the definite article el in Spanish. For example, "Soy el mejor" (I am the best) and "I am *** good." This contrasts with the use of the in English to construct mass nouns (substantives) from adjectives, as in "blessed are the meek", where the meek denotes a class of people who are meek. On the other hand, "blessed are *** humble" would refer to an intensified group or individual who is "the most humble".
[edit] As a legitimate name
Because of the popular slang usage of *** in certain circles, particularly among software developers, it has been adopted as the formal name (or part thereof) of software projects. For example, in the realm of web-based applications, *** is a minimalist blog engine written using Google App Engine. *** Engine is a prototype 3D game engine—TEH in this case is a recursive acronym for "*** Extremely Hardcore".
