Shorthand

[steve]

So I have been posting for a couple of days now and I can make out most of what is said on here (about 97%). However, there are a lot of you who use lingo or internet chat acronyms that I just don’t get. An example is ‘imo’; I have no idea what that means.

 

If someone could send me a list of this stuff so that I can understand what is said that would be great. I am young, I don’t know why I don’t know this stuff.

[AletheiaRivers]

IMO - In my opinion

IMHO - In my humble opinion

IMNSHO - In my not so humble opinion

LOL - Laughing out loud

LMAO - Laughing my a** off

BRB - Be right back

WYSIWYG- What you see is what you get

TY - Thank you

OK - OK

 

That's all that I can think of. Anyone else remember any?

[des]

Sure:

 

BTW-- by the way

 

FWIW -- for what its worth

 

AFAIK-- as far as I know

 

IIRC-- if I recall correctly (this one bothers me, too much like IRC, which was an old

bulletin board pre internet thing-- shows you how old i am :-)).

 

TTYL- talk (type) to you later

 

HTH-- hope this helps

 

ROTFL-- rolling on the floor laughing

and ROTFLMAO--rolling on the floor laughing my a** off.

 

FAQ- frequently asked questions

 

 

I've noticed a fashion sort of in these and that, for ex., ROTFL is not as common these days as LOL. I think it's considered not so netiquette of one to use more than 1-2 in a sentence.

(Ever see a sentence like: "BTW, IMO, FWIW I think that these are overused, LOL!" YIKES)

Also I notice in younger forums (where the average age is under 20), there is a preponderance of netspeak. This is stuff like "i am rite about this and u r rong" (Lack of capitals and poor grammar is a key aspect of it). Drives me nuts.

 

HTH,

 

--des

Edited August 7, 2005 by des

[steve]

I am printing these and hanging them over my computer. In a few days, maybe, even I will be able to use some.

 

Thank you guys (des and AletheiaRivers) so much.

[AletheiaRivers]

YW

[steve]

Okay Aletheia, you did it again! What does 'YW' mean?

[FredP]

Okay Aletheia, you did it again!  What does 'YW' mean?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

C'mon, give yourself a couple minutes, you can figure it out.

[flowperson]

Okay Aletheia, you did it again!  What does 'YW' mean?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

C'mon, give yourself a couple minutes, you can figure it out.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

 

The widespread usage of initials and acronyms in our netspeak culture probably is a reflection of the origins of the forerunner of the internet, ARPANET. This was research performed in the late 60's and early 70's at several major US reseach universities, and by a few defense contractors in the Eastern US, to design a national hardware and software infrastructure so that critical computing centers could talk with each other through their machines. This was all funded out of the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA). See how things get rolling with our money? Or what you might say is, WYDSIWYG.

[AletheiaRivers]

Okay Aletheia, you did it again!  What does 'YW' mean?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

Hehehehehe.

 

Your Welcome!

[FredP]

The widespread usage of initials and acronyms in our netspeak culture probably is a reflection of the origins of the forerunner of the internet, ARPANET.

I think it's more a reflection of the fact that it originated in chat rooms, where discussions (if you can call most of them that) fly by so fast, that you practically have to speak in acronyms to stay afloat. Now with mobile text messaging, you have to fit your half of the conversation into a cell phone LCD window. Socrates and Plato would be aghast!

[flowperson]

The widespread usage of initials and acronyms in our netspeak culture probably is a reflection of the origins of the forerunner of the internet, ARPANET.

I think it's more a reflection of the fact that it originated in chat rooms, where discussions (if you can call most of them that) fly by so fast, that you practically have to speak in acronyms to stay afloat. Now with mobile text messaging, you have to fit your half of the conversation into a cell phone LCD window. Socrates and Plato would be aghast!

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Ah yes, old Sock and Plate would be aghast. But, as most humans have communicated over the past 60,000 years or so ( that's when most people who study such stuff agree spoken communication likely began in S. Africa) the pace of speech and transfers of meaning have not changed appreciably ( except for some chipmunks I've heard around Chriatmas time).

But with the advent of business and law driven interactions, the need to cram more and more information into smaller and smaller packages of communication to be recorded and sent between individuals and institutions, has caused the information explosion and revolution that we are all now a part of, whether we wish to be or not. The need for shorthand secretaries and court stenographers were but two of the natural outcomes of this dynamic

I fully agree with your version as to the need for such acronyms in chat room interactions. The bigger picture, which is often obscure to us, also suggests that the early infrastructure of the internet (ARPANET) set the stage for these adjustments to eventually be made in electronic information transfers among us.

Thanks for your thoughtful response. How's your sleep deficit coming?

[FredP]

This was research performed in the late 60's and early 70's at several major US reseach universities, and by a few defense contractors in the Eastern US, to design a national hardware and software infrastructure so that critical computing centers could talk with each other through their machines.

What's remarkable isn't just that the national hardware/software infrastructure allowed critical computing centers to communicate with each other, but that it allowed them to do so without the need for a centralized routing system. If a major portion of the network went down because of an attack or something, the rest of the network had a pretty good chance of still being operational. That's what makes it such a great design. It really is the most ingenious computer technology yet I think. Actually I'd say there hasn't been a real computer technology innovation since about 1970. Everything since then has just been a realization and refinement of those basic ideas.

 

Thanks for your thoughtful response. How's your sleep deficit coming?

Not too bad really. I'd say all around he's a pretty happy kid. He did need a little daddy time at 3:00 to get to sleep though.