Chat and instant messaging has spawned a short-hand language to help communicate
via the keyboard.
| Abbreviation |
Meaning |
| ADN |
Any
day now |
| AFAIK |
As far
as I know |
| AFK |
Away
from keyboard |
| ARE |
Acronym-rich
environment |
| A/S/L? |
Age/sex/location? |
| B4N |
Bye
for now |
| BAK |
Back
at the keyboard |
| BBIAB |
Be back
in a bit |
| BBL |
Be back
later |
| BEG |
Big
evil grin |
| BFD |
Big
f***ing deal |
| BFN |
Bye
for now |
| BG |
Big
grin |
| BIOYIOP |
Blow
it out your I/O port |
| BL |
Belly
laughing |
| BOTEC |
Back-of-the-envelope
calculation |
| BRB |
Be right
back |
| BTA |
But
then again... |
| BTW |
By the
way |
| BWL |
Burst With Laughter |
| BWTHDIK |
But
what the heck do I know...? |
| CU |
See
you |
| CUL |
See
you later |
| CUL8ER |
See
you later |
| CYA |
Cover
your ass |
| CYO |
See
you online |
| DBA |
Doing
business as |
| DFLA |
Disenhanced
four-letter acronym (that is, a TLA) |
| DL |
Dead
link |
| DIKU |
Do I
know you? |
| DITYID |
Did
I tell you I'm distressed? |
| DQMOT |
Don't
quote me on this |
| EG |
Evil
grin |
| EMFBI |
Excuse
me for butting in |
| EOM |
End
of message |
| EOT |
End
of thread (meaning: end of discussion) |
| ETLA |
Extended
three-letter acronym (that is, an FLA) |
| F2F |
Face
to face |
| FAQ |
Frequently-ask
question(s) |
| FISH |
First
in, still here |
| FLA |
Four-letter
acronym |
| FMTYEWTK |
Far
more than you ever wanted to know |
| FOMCL |
Falling
off my chair laughing |
| FUBAR |
F***ed
up beyond all repair or recognition |
| FUD |
Fear,
Uncertainty, and Doubt |
| FWIW |
For
what it's worth |
| FYI |
For
your information |
| G |
Grin |
| G2G |
Got
to go |
| GA |
Go ahead |
| GAL |
Get
a life |
| GD&R |
Grinning,
ducking, and running |
| GIWIST |
Gee,
I wish I'd said that |
| GMTA |
Great
minds think alike |
| GOL |
Giggling
out loud |
| GTRM |
Going
to read mail |
| HTH |
Hope
this helps |
| IAC |
In any
case |
| IANAL |
I am
not a lawyer (but) |
| IC |
I see |
| IDK |
I don't
know |
| IHA |
I hate
acronyms |
| IIRC |
If I
recall/remember/recollect correctly |
| ILU
or ILY |
I love
you |
| IM |
Immediate/Instant
message |
| IMHO |
In my
humble opinion |
| IMing |
Chatting
with someone online usually while doing other things such as playing
trivia or other interactive game |
| IMNSHO |
In my
not so humble opinion |
| IMO |
In my
opinion |
| IOW |
In other
words |
| IPN |
I'm
posting naked |
| IRL |
In real
life |
| IYSWIM |
If you
see what I mean |
| JBOD |
Just
a bunch of disks (like redundant array of independent disks, etc.) |
| JIC |
Just
in case |
| JK |
Just
kidding |
| KOTC |
Kiss
on the cheek |
| KWIM? |
Know
what I mean? |
| L8R |
Later |
| LD |
Later,
dude |
| LDR |
Long-distance
relationship |
| LLTA |
Lots
and lots of thunderous applause |
| LMAO |
Laugh(ing) My Ass Off |
| LMLYG |
Let Me Let You Go |
| LOL |
Laugh(ing)
Out Loud |
| LRF |
Little
Rubber Feet (the little pads on the bottom of displays and other equipment) |
| LTM |
Laugh
to myself |
| LTR |
Long-term
relationship |
| LULAB |
Love
you like a brother |
| LULAS |
Love
you like a sister |
| MorF |
Male
or female |
| MOSS |
Member
of the same sex |
| MOTOS |
Member
of the opposite sex |
| MUSM |
Miss
you so much |
| NM |
Not
much |
| NFG |
No f*****g
good |
| NFW |
No feasible
way or no f*****g way |
| NIFOC |
Naked
in front of computer |
| NP or
N/P |
No problem |
| NRN |
No response
necessary |
| OIC |
Oh,
I see |
| OLL |
Online
love |
| OTF |
Off
the floor |
| OTOH |
On the
other hand |
| OTTOMH |
Off
the top of my head |
| PANS |
Pretty
awesome new stuff (as opposed to "POTS") |
| PCMCIA |
People
can't master computer industry acronyms |
| PDA |
Public
display of affection |
| PEBCAK |
Problem
exists between chair and keyboard |
| PIBKAC |
Problem
is between keyboard and chair |
| PITA |
Pain
in the ass |
| PMFJIB |
Pardon
me for jumping in but... |
| ::POOF:: |
Goodbye
(leaving the room) |
| POS |
Parent
over shoulder (change the topic) |
| POTS |
Plain
old telephone service |
| PU |
That
stinks! |
| RL |
Real
life (that is, when not chatting) |
| ROR |
Raffing
out roud (Engrish for "laughing out loud") |
| ROTFL |
Rolling
on the floor laughing |
| ROTFLMAO |
Rolling
on the floor laughing my a** off |
| ROTFLMAOWPIMP |
Rolling
on the floor laughing my a** off while peeing in my pants |
| ROTFLMBO |
Rolling
on the floor laughing my butt off |
| RPG |
Role-playing
games |
| RSN |
Real
soon now |
| RTFM |
Read
the f***ing manual |
| RYO |
Roll
your own (write your own program; derived from cigarettes rolled yourself
with tobacco and paper) |
| S4L |
Spam
for life (what you may get when you become someone's customer or client) |
| SHCOON |
Shoot
hot coffee out of nose |
| SEG |
S***-eating
grin |
| SF |
Surfer-friendly
(low-graphics Web site) |
| SNAFU |
Situation
normal, all f***ed up |
| SO |
Significant
other |
| SOHF |
Sense
of humor failure |
| SOL |
Smilling
out loud or sh*t out of luck |
| SOMY |
Sick
of me yet? |
| STFW |
Search
the f*****g Web |
| STW |
Search
the Web |
| SWAG |
Stupid
wild-a** guess |
| TAFN |
That's
all for now |
| TANSTAAFL |
There
ain't no such thing as a free lunch |
| TFH |
Thread
from hell (a discussion that just won't die and is often irrelevant
to the purpose of the forum or group) |
| TGIF |
Thank
God it's Friday |
| THX |
Thanks |
| TIA |
Thanks
in advance (used if you post a question and are expecting a helpful
reply) |
| TLA |
Three-letter
acronym |
| TLK2UL8R |
Talk
to you later |
| TMI |
Too
much information |
| TOPCA |
Til
our paths cross again (early Celtic chat term) |
| TPTB |
The
powers that be |
| TTFN |
Ta-Ta
for now |
| TTT |
Thought
that, too (when someone types in what you were about to type) |
| TTYL |
Talk
to you later |
| TU |
Thank
you |
| UAPITA |
You're
a pain in the ass |
| UW |
You're
welcome |
| VBG |
Very
big grin |
| VBSEG |
Very
big s***-eating grin |
| WDALYIC |
Who
died and left you in charge? |
| WFM |
Works
for me |
| WIBNI |
Wouldn't
it be nice if |
| WRT |
With
respect to |
| WT? |
What/who
the ? |
| WTFO |
What
the F***! Over! |
| WTG |
Way
to go! |
| WTGP? |
Want
to go private? |
| WU? |
What's
up? |
| WUF? |
Where
are you from? |
| WYSIWYG |
What
you see is what you get |
| YGBSM |
You
gotta be s***tin' me! |
| YMMV |
Your
mileage may vary. |
| YMIA |
You're
welcome in advance |
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