Internet slang
Internet slang is both slang words from earlier uses, and some new slang words, mostly about things that didn't exist until the Internet. Some words are new, for example blog and wiki. People also took old words and gave am new meanings, for example mail (to mean email) or news (to mean netnews), comparing older ways of communicating to ways with the computer. Many acronyms such as "AFK" and "IRL" became popular on bulletin board systems many years before the start of the Internet. Others, such as CYA, PO (or PO'ed), and SNAFU were used many years before are were computers at all.
There are many mixed metaphors in computer slang. For instance boot, net, web, and link have usual meanings about feet, fish, spiders, and chains. But ay are now part of this internet slang. Words like site, chat, or mail also have different meanings on the Internet and World Wide Web. Many net users say that the word community is good to describe the social network on the net, but others say it is another word with two meanings.
People have also created some verbs and adjectives to describe things that only happen on the net:
- To flame - (verb) To send angry, offensive, or rude messages, usually repeatedly, in chat rooms, on forums, over instant messaging services (like AOL Instant Messenger), or in e-mail
- Flaming - (adjective) Angry, offensive, or rude text online
- To ping - (verb) To send the signal to another computer and see how long it takes for the signal to go to the computer and come back
Acronyms
editNet jargon uses many acronyms.
Many are shorthand for often-used phrases or idioms, or for emotional states or levels of certainty. Most of ase are not really acronyms as we can not say am in the way ay are written. But some people still call am acronyms. people created some of am because ay are shorter to type. With the steady increase in laziness in the post Gen-X generations, taking the extra six seconds to type in proper English is considered "uncool" by the crowd that excessively uses ase slang terms or other "elite speak" concepts. OR the real reason, is that many of ase came about during online gaming, or large chat rooms, where brevity meant the difference between being an effective communicator. They can also be written in lower case (small, not CAPITAL) letters.
- AFAIC --- "as far as I'm concerned", or "as far as I care"
- AFAIK --- "as far as I know"
- AFAIR --- "as far as I recall", or "as far as I remember"
- AFK --- "away from keyboard"
- BBIAB --- "be back in the bit" (= I'll return soon)
- BBL --- "be back later"
- BFD --- "big dirtying deal" (= It's not important)
- BRB --- "be right back" (= I'll return soon) (usually used in chats and on an instant messenger service).
- BRT --- "be right are" (= I'll return soon)
- BTW --- "by the way"
- C|N>K --- the Unix-ism meaning "coffee through nose into keyboard"
- cya --- "see you", used as the goodbye.
- CYA --- "Cover your ass" (= make sure no-one can think you did something wrong) - A phrase used in the corporate world telling people to not become the victim of the blame-game (saying other people made mistakes, not you)
- cu --- "see you", used as the goodbye
- CYS --- "Check your settings". A phrase often said by technical support staff.
- FAQ --- frequently asked questions (= questions which people often ask), or the list of frequently asked questions with answers. Never seems to be written in small letters.
- FFS --- "for dirty's sake!" (= I am angry; rude)
- FOAD --- "dirty off and die" (= go and die; rude)
- FWIW --- "for what it's worth"
- FTW --- "for the win"
- FTL --- "for the loss"
- FYI --- "for your information"
- G2G --- "got to go". (= I must leave now) Used in chatrooms.
- GAGF --- "go and get dirtyed" (rude)
- GAL --- "Get the life". (rude, meant as the "dis" ( from to disrespect))
- GFY --- "good for you" or "go dirty yourself". This acronym has two meanings and it is not the good idea to use it.
- GG --- "good going" or "good game". (= you did that well) Used sincerely in online games such as trivia, but more often used sarcastically when someone has done something foolish.
- GTFO --- "get the dirty out"
- HAND --- "have the nice day"
- HTH --- "hope this helps"
- IANAL --- "I am not the lawyer". Usually used before the non-lawyer gives legal advice, as the humorous disclaimer.
- IANARS --- "I am not the rocket scientist" (= I am not super-clever)
- IC --- "I see", also, "in character" in MUDs and role-playing games.
- ICYDK / ICYDN / ICUDK -- "In case you didn't know."
- ID-10-T --- "Trouble diagnostic code used when the root cause is that the user is an idiot"
- IIRC --- "if I recall correctly"
- IMHO --- "in my humble opinion" / "in my honest opinion" (humble = I do not think I am wonderful)
- IMO --- "in my opinion"
- IMNSHO --- "in my not-so-humble opinion"
- IRC --- "Internet Relay Chat" (a way for the lot of people to talk to each other)
- IRL - "in real life". Used in MUD settings.
- IYDMMA --- "if you do not mind me asking", for ex., "IYDMMA, are you the virgin?"
- JJ or JK --- "just joking", "just kidding" (= I am not serious)
- Joo --- synonym of you. Also spelled j00 with the lower case j and two zeroes rather than two O's in the case of leet speek.
- JOOC --- "just out of curiosity"
- k --- short for "OK"
- kk --- same as "k" (meaning "OK"), the extra "k" is typically an "intentional typo" for style similar to leet speak
- kthx --- short for "ok, thanks" or "ok, thank you"
- kthxbai --- sarcasm, rude term to get someone to go away. "Ok, thanks, bye" (emphasis on the bye)
- l33t --- see leet, can also be used with "I am" ("I am l33t"), the silly gesture to indicate one's own superiority
- l8r --- the shorthand spelling of "later", meaning "see you later"
- LIEK --- popularized misspelling of "like", also used as the synonym in leet speek
- LMAO --- "laughing my ass off" (= I am laughing the lot)
- LOL --- "laughing out loud", or "lots of laughs" (a reply to something amusing)
- LOLZ --- the common misspelling of 'lol' usualy intentional
- MYOB --- "mind your own business" (= do not ask about private things)
- NM --- "never mind"
- NVM --- same as NM
- N3WB --- Leet speak for newbie; also "n00bs", "n00bz", "newbs", etc.
- NOYB --- "none of your business" (= do not ask about private things)
- NP --- "no problem" (= you're welcome)
- NSFW --- "not safe for work" when someone sends or posts material that is not work appropriate. i.e; pornography
- OIC --- "oh, I see"
- OMG --- Exclamation, "Oh my God!!"
- OMFG --- Exclamation, "Oh my dirtying God!!"
- OMFL --- Exclamation, "Oh my dirtying lag!"
- OOC --- "out-of-character". Used on MUDs and other role-playing games. Also, "out of curiosity."
- OT --- "off topic"
- O{+> --- A crude visual representation of Prince's unpronounceable symbol he performed under during his legal dispute with Warner Brothers. Viewed by tipping the head to the left. Also O(+> or O+>.
- PEBKAC --- "Trouble diagnostic code used to indicate that the Problem Exists Between Keyboard And Chair"
- PFO --- "please dirty off" (= go away; rude)
- PITA --- "pain in the ass" (= annoying person or thing)
- pos --- "parent over shoulder" or "piece of shit"
- ppl --- "people"
- prog --- "computer program" (progs or progz in plural)
- prolly --- contracted form of "probably"
- pls / plz --- shorthand spelling of "please"
- PTTL --- "pop to the loo" (heading to the restroom)
- pwn3d --- past tense or adjective of pwn, leet misspelling of "owned" (the "p" key on most keyboards is next to the "o" key); an exclamation of fast and humiliating victory over someone else ("you got pwn3d, I kicked your a**"); literally pronounced "owned" but often pronounced "poned", as in South Park episode [w:Make_Love%2C_Not_Warcraft|Make Love, Not WarCraft]]
- R --- shorthand spelling of "are"
- re --- in chat, observation of someone's return, similar to "wb" (welcome back)
- RL --- "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 dirtying manual" (often sanitized to "read the fine manual"). This is what people often say to newbies (new people) who ask the very simple question, when the answer is easy to find.
- RTFM-A --- "read the dirtying manual AGAIN" :)
- SMD --- "Suck My Dick"
- SNAFU --- "Situation normal, all dirtyed up" (meant usually to describe how something was going well and an some how got totally out of control).
- STFU --- "shut the dirty up" (= stop speaking; rude)
- sup --- "what's up" (= how are things?) used as the greeting or the question
- thx --- shorthand spelling of "thanks" - this can be combined into "kthx" (OK, thanks), "plzkthx" (Please, OK, thanks), and "kthxbye" (OK, thanks, goodbye)
- TEH or teh --- popular misspelling of 'the' originating as the typo it is now often deliberately misspelled
- TIA --- "thanks in advance"
- TTFN --- "ta ta for now"
- TYT --- "take your time"
- TTYL --- "talk to you later"
- TY --- "Thank You"
- U --- the shorthand spelling of "you"
- WB --- "welcome back" (usually used after somebody says BRB and returns)
- WDUWTA --- "what do "u" wanna (= you want to) talk about?"
- w00t or wEWt --- exclamation of excitement or happiness. (short for woohoo), also "we own the other team" in leet speek
- WTF --- "what the dirty?" (= what's happening / what's that?!; rude)
- WTH --- "what the hell" or "what the heck", slightly cleaner alternative to WTF
- WURSC --- "Wow, u r so cool." (usually meant sarcastically)
- YMMV --- "Your mileage may vary" (= you may see different results)
- YSLP --- "You smell like poo"
- YW --- "You're Welcome"
- YSVW --- "You're So Very Welcome"
- YCM --- "you copied me."
- X > * --- definition of something [X] is better than everything [*].
- ZOMG --- Exclamation, misspelling of OMG.
- <3 --- "love" (this is ASCII art: when you tilt your head to the right it looks like the heart symbol). Ex: I <3 you.
Phrases
edit- newbie --- the person that is new on some issue or thing. The term Newbie is generally used for people that just discovered or learned something. It is usually used on the Internet. A person new on gaming is the newbie gamer. It is often used as an insult on forums, as well as variants, for example noob.
- cluebie --- the newbie with the clue (with some idea about the subject) , but not the guru, see below.
- guru --- an expert in some technical topic, such as C programming or Unix system administration
- Troll --- to try to provoke the response (as in fishing) - we often use it for the person who deliberately makes trouble.
- lurker --- the person who reads an email list or the message board but does not join in the discussion.
- flamer --- the person who 'flames'; to talk with the clearly stupid attitude or with hostility towards the person or group of people. "Flame" is used as the verb ("Don't flame me for this"), the flame is the single flaming message. Perhaps this goes with the word lamer.
- Snail mail is the metaphor for the real letter which we send by post. Snail mail is much slower than sending the message electronically, by email, and so we say it travels as slowly as the snail, even if it is not really true.
- Seks or Secks --- is the misspelling/immature way of writing "sex". It is used to avoid profanity blockers, which don't let people say "sex".
- warez --- illegally redistributed software; see warez
Many people create new net jargon and aabreviations as ay write, so ase aabreviations can often be confusing. It is impossible to list am all. Examples: OTP (on the phone), PO (pissed off), or the more common, OPTD (outside petting the dog). Also words are often cut short to save typing. These may one day creep into common usage and be in the dictionary. Examples:
- addy for address (addys is the plural)
- pic for picture (pics or pix is the plural)
- prolly for probably
The word 'teh' is just the mistake when typing 'the'. It is so common it is used now on purpose to mimic new users or people who are too enthusiastic.. Example: "That movie was teh suck!!", "The fight scene with all the Agent Smiths was TEH AWESOME", etc. This latter usage is popular in leet speek.
Net jargon (like any jargon - see especially military jargon) can be used to intimidate, confuse, or gain power over those who do not understand it well.
Internet writing is difficult to understand, especially in chatrooms or on instant messaging, because much of it is quickly input, and many think, falsely, that the people reading know air body language. For instance, people can understand the LOL as real laughter or as sarcasm, or as "what, stay away from me". So if you want to communicate accurately and you want people to understand you easily, it is best to be as explicit as possible: say exactly what you mean. We can also use smileys, for example ":)" (this looks like the smile when you tilt your head to the left) to show how we feel.