Misplaced Pages

Internet slang: Difference between revisions

Article snapshot taken from Wikipedia with creative commons attribution-sharealike license. Give it a read and then ask your questions in the chat. We can research this topic together.
Browse history interactively← Previous editNext edit →Content deleted Content addedVisualWikitext
Revision as of 02:03, 9 January 2003 editPatrick (talk | contribs)Edit filter managers, Administrators68,523 editsNo edit summary← Previous edit Revision as of 14:37, 10 January 2003 edit undoQaz (talk | contribs)3,204 editsm + addy, prolly, pixNext edit →
Line 52: Line 52:
*flamer --- one who 'flames'; To rant on about some relatively uninteresting subject or with a patently ridiculous attitude or with hostility towards a particular person or group of people. "Flame" is used as a verb ("Don't flame me for this"), a flame is a single flaming message. Also is likely to relate to the term ]. *flamer --- one who 'flames'; To rant on about some relatively uninteresting subject or with a patently ridiculous attitude or with hostility towards a particular person or group of people. "Flame" is used as a verb ("Don't flame me for this"), a flame is a single flaming message. Also is likely to relate to the term ].


The peculiar thing about internet abbreviations is that many people make them up on the fly, therefore these abbreviations can often be confusing, and impossible to completly cover without being impossibly meticulate. This type of on-the-spot abbreviating leads to doldrums of such things as; OTP (on the phone), PO (pissed off), or the the more common, OPTD (outside petting the dog). Internet writing is, by its nature, difficult to interpret, especially in chatrooms or on instant messaging, because much of it is quickly input, and many assume, falsely, their audience knows their body language. For instance; a LOL may be taken as genuine laughter or sarcasm, or as "whatever, stay away from me." So, for the sake of accurate and easily understandable communication, it is best to be as explicit as possible and make an effort to get your point across. ] such as :) can also be used to clarify emotional intent in internet messages. The peculiar thing about internet abbreviations is that many people make them up on the fly, therefore these abbreviations can often be confusing, and impossible to completly cover without being impossibly meticulate. This type of on-the-spot abbreviating leads to doldrums of such things as; OTP (on the phone), PO (pissed off), or the the more common, OPTD (outside petting the dog). Another thing common to internet communication is the truncation and morphing of words to more typing-friendly forms. These may one day creep into common usage and end up in the dictionary. Some examples of this are:
* prolly for probably
* addy for address (addys is the plural)
* pix for picture (pix is the singuar and plural form)
Internet writing is, by its nature, difficult to interpret, especially in chatrooms or on instant messaging, because much of it is quickly input, and many assume, falsely, their audience knows their body language. For instance; a LOL may be taken as genuine laughter or sarcasm, or as "whatever, stay away from me." So, for the sake of accurate and easily understandable communication, it is best to be as explicit as possible and make an effort to get your point across. ] such as :) can also be used to clarify emotional intent in internet messages.


A comprehensive dictionary of Net slang and associated Net lore is ]'s ''The Jargon File'', found at http://www.tuxedo.org/~esr/jargon/. A comprehensive dictionary of Net slang and associated Net lore is ]'s ''The Jargon File'', found at http://www.tuxedo.org/~esr/jargon/.

Revision as of 14:37, 10 January 2003

Internet users have developed many slang terms over the years. Most of these are not actually acronyms as they cannot be pronounced, but that is what they are called nonetheless. Many of these terms originated for saving keystrokes and are often written in lower case:

  • AFAIC --- as far as I'm concerned.
  • AFAIK --- as far as I know.
  • AFK --- away from keyboard. We assume you'll brb.
  • BRB --- be right back (usually used in chats and on an instant messenger service).
  • BBL --- be back later
  • BTW --- by the way.
  • FAQ --- Frequently Asked Question
  • FYI --- for your information.
  • GFY --- "good for you" or "go fuck yourself". The use of this acronym is ambigious and not recommended.
  • HAND --- have a nice day.
  • HTH --- hope this helps.
  • IANAL --- I am not a lawyer. Usually used before a non-lawyer gives legal advice, as a humorous disclaimer.
  • IANARS --- "I am not a rocket scientist"
  • IC --- I see. Also, "in character" in MUDs and role-playing games.
  • IIRC --- if I recall correctly.
  • IMHO --- in my humble opinion / in my honest opinion.
  • IMO --- "in my opinion"
  • IMNSHO --- in my not-so-humble opinion.
  • IRC --- Internet Relay Client
  • IYDMMA --- "if you don't mind me asking", for ex., "IYDMMA, are you a virgin?"
  • JJ or JK --- Just joking, just kidding
  • LMAO --- laughing my ass off
  • LOL --- laughing out loud, or lots of laughs (a reply to something amusing)
  • MYOB --- mind your own business
  • NM --- never mind
  • OIC --- oh, I see
  • OMG --- Exclamation, "Oh my God!!"
  • OMFG --- Exclamation, "Oh my fucking God!!"
  • OOC --- out-of-character. Used on MUDs and other role-playing games.
  • PITA --- pain in the ass.
  • RL --- real life, also IRL - in real life. Used in MUD settings.
  • ROTFL or ROFL --- rolling on the floor laughing (a reply to something extremely amusing).
  • ROTFLMAO or ROFLMAO --- rolling on the floor laughing my ass off.
  • RTFM --- read the fucking manual (often sanitized to "read the fine manual"). The frequent reply to a request for basic help from newbies who have not attempted to find the answer for themselves.
  • STFU --- shut the fuck up.
  • TTYL --- "talk to you later"
  • WTF --- What the fuck?
  • YMMV --- your mileage may vary (you may see different results), see wiktionary.

Others express concepts peculiar to the Net:

  • newbie --- a new user. Not a pejorative term (but see RTFM, preceding).
  • noob --- a new user.
  • cluebie --- a newbie with a clue, but not close to a guru.
  • guru --- an expert in some technical topic, such as as C programming or Unix system administration
  • FAQ --- frequently asked question, or a list of frequently asked questions with answers. Never seems to be written in small letters.
  • troll --- a person who deliberately stirs up trouble (see article).
  • lurker --- one who reads an email list or a message board but does not participate in the discussion.
  • flamer --- one who 'flames'; To rant on about some relatively uninteresting subject or with a patently ridiculous attitude or with hostility towards a particular person or group of people. "Flame" is used as a verb ("Don't flame me for this"), a flame is a single flaming message. Also is likely to relate to the term lamer.

The peculiar thing about internet abbreviations is that many people make them up on the fly, therefore these abbreviations can often be confusing, and impossible to completly cover without being impossibly meticulate. This type of on-the-spot abbreviating leads to doldrums of such things as; OTP (on the phone), PO (pissed off), or the the more common, OPTD (outside petting the dog). Another thing common to internet communication is the truncation and morphing of words to more typing-friendly forms. These may one day creep into common usage and end up in the dictionary. Some examples of this are:

  • prolly for probably
  • addy for address (addys is the plural)
  • pix for picture (pix is the singuar and plural form)

Internet writing is, by its nature, difficult to interpret, especially in chatrooms or on instant messaging, because much of it is quickly input, and many assume, falsely, their audience knows their body language. For instance; a LOL may be taken as genuine laughter or sarcasm, or as "whatever, stay away from me." So, for the sake of accurate and easily understandable communication, it is best to be as explicit as possible and make an effort to get your point across. Smilies such as :) can also be used to clarify emotional intent in internet messages.

A comprehensive dictionary of Net slang and associated Net lore is Eric S. Raymond's The Jargon File, found at http://www.tuxedo.org/~esr/jargon/.