Know Online Lingo

GTG. POS. (Got to Go. Parent Over Shoulder.)

When it comes to communicating in chat rooms, via text messaging and social networking sites, our kids have a language all their own. Here’s a guide to decipher some of their code:

AAK

Alive And Kicking

AAR

At Any Rate

AAS

Alive And Smiling

ADN

Any Day Now

AFAIK

As Far As I Know

AFK

Away From the Keyboard

AFN

that's All For Now

AOTA

All Of The Above

a/s/l or asl

Age/Sex/Location - (used to ask a chatter their personal information)

AV

Avatar - Graphical representation (a picture) often used in chat rooms to depict a person that is in the room and chatting.

b4

Before

BAK

Back At Keyboard (I'm back)

BBL

Be Back Later

BBS

Be Back Soon

BCNU

I'll Be Seeing You.

b/f

Boyfriend (also shown as bf, B/F, or BF)

BEG

Big Evil Grin

BFN

Bye For Now

BMA

Bite My A** (became popular with the Simpson's cartoon show)

boot

To get kicked out of a chat room, or have to restart the computer because you couldn't talk in the chat room anymore.

BR

Best Regards

BRB

Be Right Back

BRH

Be Right Here

BSEG

Big S**t Eatin Grin

BTA

But Then Again....

BTW

By The Way

btw

BeTWeen you and me ...

chat room

A web page where people gather using software that allows them to talk to one another in real time.

CRS

Can't Remember S**t

CU

See You - also posted as cya

CUS

Can't Understand S**t (stuff)

CNP

Continued in Next Post (seen more on message boards than chat)

CP

Chat Post

CUL8R

See You Later

CUOL

See You On Line

CYA

See Ya

dd, ds, dh

Darling or Dear: Dear Son, Dear Daughter, or Dear Husband.  Usually exchanged in family chats.

DDSOS

Different Day, Same Old S**t

DEGT

Don't Even Go There (I don't want to talk about it)

DIKU

Do I Know You?

DIS

Did I Say

D/L, DL, d/l, dl

Downloading, or Download it.

EG

Evil Grin

EM

E-Mail

EMA

E-mail Address (example: ?ema or ema? = what is your email address)

EOT

End Of Thread (meaning end of discussion)

ez or EZ

easy (one of the really old ones)

F2F

Face To Face

FAQ

Frequently Asked Question

FISH

First In Still Here (someone who is on line TOO much)

FITB

Fill In The Blanks

flame

to insult someone.  Used when a person asks a stupid question, or says something rude to irritate the users of a chat room or message board.

FOCL

Falling Off Chair - Laughing

forum

What todays message boards are called.  Often using php as defining language to quickly write 'real time' messages and replies to a web site (or page)

FTS

F*** This S***

fu

f*** you (If you can't figure this one out, you shouldn't be on line)

FUBAR

"Fouled" Up Beyond All Repair / Recognition

FUD

Fear, Uncertainty, and Doubt

FWIW

For What It's Worth

FYI

For Your Information

GA

Go Ahead

GAL

Get A Life

gest

Gesture ... a small multimedia file played over the internet, usually expressing an emotion or comment.

g/f

Girlfriend (also shown as gf, G/F, or GF)

GFN

Gone For Now

GGOH

Gotta Get Outta Here

GMTA

Great Minds Think Alike

GR

Gotta Run

GR&D

Grinning, Running, and Ducking.

GTR

Got To Run

GTRM

Going To Read Mail (leaving chat room to check email)

H&K

Hugs and Kisses

hack

person who breaks into software, or disrupts a chat room.

HAGD

Have A Good Day

HAGO

Have A Good One

Halsoft

Name of a company that purchased the brand of Chat that Excite offered, now a pay as you go service.

HB

Hurry Back

Hosts

Refers to the people that are running the chat room, they usually have the ability to kick a person off due to rude behavior.

HTH

Hope That Helps

huggles

Hugs

IAC

In Any Case

IB

I'm Back

IC

I See

IDN

I Don't kNow

IDK

I Don't Know

IDTS

I Don't Think So

IANAL

I'm Am Not A Lawyer (expect an uninformed opinion)

IC

I See

ICQ

I Seek You.  A computer program used to communicate instantly over the Internet.

ILU or ILY

I Love You

IM

Instant Message

IMHO

In My Humble Opinion (or In My Honest Opinion)

IMO

In My Opinion

IOH

I'm Out of Here

IOW

In Other Words

IRL

In Real Life

IYO

In Your Opinion

JAS

Just A Second

JIC

Just In Case

JK

Just Kidding

JMO

Just My Opinion

JW

Just Wondering

k, K, or kk

O. K.

KIT

Keep In Touch

L8R

Later (an early one, kind of outdated with current 'young geeks')

LMAO

Laughing My A**Off

LFFAO

Laughing My F***(freaking) A** Off

LOL

Laughing Out Loud

LTNS

Long Time No See

LTS

Laughing To ones Self

LY

I Love Ya.

LYL

Love You Lots

Message Board.

A web page where people write comments, and those comments are than added to that web-page for others to view.  Used to carry on conversation, request information, and relay messages.

MUG

Refers to a new user of that chat program, goes back to Excite VP days when the AV (or icon) that represented someone new was a picture of a coffee mug.

NE1

Anyone

newbie

refers to a person who is new to an area or technology.  Also seen as nube, nooby, nubie, nb, etc.

NFW

No Feasible (or F***ing) Way

NIMBY

Not In My Back Yard

nm, or NM

Never Mind

NP, np

No Problem

NRN

1. No Response Necessary
2. Not Right Now

NT

No Thanks

OBTW

Oh, By The Way.

OIC

Oh, I See

OF

Old Fart, someone who has been around for a while.

OJ or OK

Only Joking or Only Kidding

OL

the Old Lady

OM

the Old Man

OMG

Oh My Gosh (although it's usually used with the Lords name in place of "gosh")

OT

Off Topic

oth or OTH

Off The Hook: Something is really popular, or hot.  Very exciting.

otr or OTR

Off The Rack: Saying that something is outside the ordinary.

OTE

Over The Edge (beyond common sense or beyond good taste)

OTOH

On The Other Hand ...

OTOMH

Off the Top of My Head ...

OTW

On The Way ... I've sent a file to you, it's "On the way"

P911

My parents are in the room.  P=Parents, and 911=emergency, in other words either drop the subject, or watch the language.

PANS

Pretty Awesome New Stuff (often referring to computer technology)

PCMCIA

Personal Computer Memory Cards International Association

PCMCIA

People Can't Master Computer Industry Acronyms (slang)

PEBCAK

Problem Exists Between Chair And Keyboard

peeps

People. example: "There sure are a lot of peeps in this room" - meaning a lot of people are in the chat room.

peep this

Hey, listen to this, I've got some interesting news.

PITA

Pain In The A**

PLZ

Please

PMJI

Pardon Me for Jumping In (when you enter into a new conversation)

poof

when someone leaves a chat room, often seen as *poof* as in boy he *poofed* in a hurry.

POTS

Plain Old Telephone Service

POS

Parents are looking Over my Shoulder.

POTS

Parents Over The Shoulder - (My parents are watching, I can't really talk)

PPL

People

QT

Cutie

RFC

Request For Comments (used more in newsgroups, a page or pages that supply technical information)

rl or RL

Real Life (as opposed to being online)

r m or RM

Ready Made: pre-existing

ROFL

Rolling On Floor, Laughing

ROTF

Rolling On The Floor (laughing is implied)

ROTFLMAO

Rolling On The Floor Laughing My A** Off

ROTFLMFAO

Rolling On The Floor Laughing F(***ing) My A** Off

RSN

Real Soon Now

r/t

Real Time (also: RT, or rt)

RTFM

Read The "Flippin" Manual (response to beginner question on net, chat, newsgroups, etc.)

RU

aRe yoU?

SEG

S**t Eating Grin

SH

Same Here

SMS

Short Message Service (more cell phones and pagers than chat rooms and the Internet)

SN

Screen Name.  The name or moniker selected by person in an IM or chat program.  ex: My "SN" in vp was "-lone.wolf"

SNAFU

Situation Normal, All "Fouled" Up

SO

Significant Other

SOL

S**t Out Of Luck

SOS

Same Old S**t (stuff)

SOTA

State Of The Art (latest technology)

SPST

Same Place, Same Time

SSDD

Same S**t, Different Day

STR8

Straight (can refer to sex, or DSTR8 as in Damn Straight)

STW

Search The Web

SY

Sincerely Yours

SYL

See You Later

TAFN

That's All For Now

TC

Take Care

TFH

Thread From Hell (a topic or discussion that won't stop - esp. newsgroups)

TGIF

Thank Goodness It's Friday

THX

Thanks!

TIA

Thanks In Advance

TM

Text Message (often refers to communications with text over cell phones)

TMI

Too Much Info. (information)

TNT

'Til Next Time

TPS

That's Pretty Stupid

TPTB

The Powers That Be (can sometimes refer to the people that are running the chat room or server)

TRDMF

Tears Running Down My Face: Can be with either laughter, or due to saddness.

TS

Tough S**t

TSFY

Tough S**t For You

TTFN

Ta-Ta For Now

TTTT

These Things Take Time

TTYL

Talk To You Later

TY

Thank You

TYT

Take Your Time

TYVM

Thank You Very Much

VPPH

Virtual Places Page Host

US

You Suck

usa or USA

Until Sides Ache:  Usually used with one of the laughter acronyms such as "lolusa" Laughing Out Loud Until my Sides Ache.  I've also heard that some folks substitute ush for "Until Sides Hurt".  rotflolush = rolling on the floor, laughing out loud, until my sides hurt.

UV

Unpleasant Visual

UW

yoU're Welcome

UY

Up Yours

vp or VP

Virtual Places: A brand of chat offered by Excite in the late 90s and early 2000.

WB

Welcome Back (you say this when someone returns to a chat room)

WC

WelCome

WEG

Wicked Evil Grin

WEU

What's Eating You?

WFM

Works For Me

WIIFM

What's In It For Me?

WTG

Way To Go

WTF

What The F**K

WT?

What The ...? or Who the ...?

WTGP?

Want To Go Private? (move to a private chat room)

WWJD

What Would Jesus Do?

YAA

Yet Another Acronym

YBS

You'll Be Sorry

YL

Young Lady

YM

Young Man

YMMV

Your Mileage May Vary

YR

Yea, Right.  (sarcastic)

*ys*

You Stinker

YVW

You're Very Welcome

YW

You're Welcome

Emoticons: (symbols used to display feeling)
Note: For these little things called "emoticons"  Often the idea is to turn your head sideways, and it makes a picture on a lot of the smiley faces.  ;-) for example where the ; (semi-colon) are the eyes, the - is the nose, and the ) is the mouth. Also, you see some people use the hyphen (-) to show the nose, while others will show the same expression without the nose.  Example:  ;-)   and   ;)   signify the same thing.


*s*, *S*, <s>, = smile

*g*, <g> = grin

xoxo = hugs and kisses

huggggggsssss = hugs

*w*, <w> = wink

*g*, = giggles

*k*, *K* = kiss

;-)~~~~~~~~ = giving someone the raspberries. 

(((((person))))) = giving them a virtual hug.

\~/ = glass with a drink. (usually booze)

^5 = high five

?^ = What's Up?

\_/? = a cup of tea

[_]>  + Cup of coffee

@@@ = Cookies

@--/-- = a rose

:-) .. smile

;-) ... wink

<:-| ... curious

:~) ... cute

:-( ... sad

8-) ... wears glasses

:-} ... embarrassed

:-/ ... perplexed, confused

:,-( ..or ;`-( .... to cry

:-< ... pouting

>:-( ... angry

0:-) ... angel

:-| ... bored or no opinion

:-> ... grin/mischievous

| -) ... dreaming

:-O ... shouting, or shocked

:-o ... talking, or surprised

>:-|| ... mad / angry

:-D ... big grin or laugh

=:-O ... scared

:-x ... keeping mouth shut

:o) ... smiles (w/nose)

:-))))))) ... lots of smiles

;-P ... sticking tongue out
:P  ... sticking tongue out

# 8 - ) ... nerd, or or person with glasses and crew cut.

&-( ... crying

!:-) .. I have an idea

;-{ ) ... person with a mustache

;-)~ ... sexy tongue - or drunk

;~) ... being cute

c["] ... coffee mug

[_]> ... another cup or mug

:-> ... grin/mischievous

<:-| ... curious

|-| ... sound asleep

:-x .. I'm keeping my mouth shut

 

 


CWK Network, Inc. © 2010