Chat/IRC/BBS - abbreviations and acronyms For the funny little faces made with keyboard characters, see emoticon. Usage note: Chat abbreviations that describe emotions are typically typed within less-than and greater-than symbols (for example, for "big grin"). Chat abbreviations that represent shorthand for sentences or phrases, such as "BBL" for "Be back later" are not usually typed within these symbols. Since some of these phrases happen to denote emotions, this usage rule can easily be violated. Abbreviation Meaning ADN Any day now AFAIK As far as I know AFK Away from keyboard ARE Acronym-rich environment 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 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) 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 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 IHA I hate acronyms IIRC If I recall/remember/recollect correctly ILU or ILY I love you IM Immediate 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 IOW In other words IPN I'm posting naked IRL In real life (that is, when not chatting) IYSWIM If you see what I mean JBOD Just a bunch of disks (like RAID, etc.) JIC Just in case JK Just kidding KWIM? Know what I mean? L8R Later LD Later, dude LDR Long-distance relationship LLTA Lots and lots of thunderous applause LOL Laughing out loud LRF Little Rubber Feet (the little pads on the bottom of displays and other equipment) LTM Laugh to myself 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 NFG No f*****g good NFW No feasible way or no f*****g way 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) 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) SEG S***-eating grin SNAFU Situation normal, all f***ed up SO Significant other 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 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 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. Emoticon (also known as a "smiley") On the Internet in e-mail, chatting, and posted messages, an emoticon (sometimes referred to as a "smiley") is a short sequence of keyboard letters and symbols, usually emulating a facial expression, expressing a feeling that supplements the message. Most of these emoticons use several symbols to create a small face with an expression such as a smile, wink, or turned-down mouth. One of our contributors says that to read these you can either tilt your head or turn the monitor on its side. :-) Smile ;-) Smile with a wink :<}) User with mustache, smiling :-|| Mad :-( Sad :' -( Crying :~ Also crying :-)) Really happy :-D Big grin :-* A kiss :-P~ A lick :-o Wow! or I'm surprised :-| Grim :-P Sticking out your tongue :-\ User happens to be Popeye :-/ Perplexed =:O Frightened (hair standing on end) =8O Bug-eyed with fright :-} Embarassed smile :-)<>>>>> Basic Smiley with a necktie ;-^) Tongue in cheek %*@:-( Hung over :-~~~ Drooling >:) Perplexed look .) Keeping an eye out for you 8:-) Glasses on forehead 8:] Normal smiling face of a gorilla 0:-) Angel [:-|] Robot (:V) Duck 3:-o Cow :-[ Vampire (_8-(|) Homer Simpson C|:-= Charlie Chaplin =|:-)= Abe Lincoln *<:-) Santa Claus -:-) User sports a mohawk and admires Mr. T (:)-) Scuba diver :-'| User has a cold :-{} User with heavy lipstick :-)8 User is well dressed >:-< Mad *#:-) Scotsman wearing his Scottish tam %-^ User is another Picasso #-) User partied all night <:I Dunce :-| "Have an ordinary day!" Smiley :}{: Kisses (stolen from June bug) oooo(0) (0)oooo Toes (-_-) Secret smile #.-o "Oh, nooooooo Mr. Bill!!!" The Japanese have worked out another set of emoticons that fits the nuances of Japanese culture. Finally, as a bonus, we share our "nose over fence" (or "Kilroy was here!") with you. To use it, just do a copy and paste, make any minor space adjustments, and add a

 tag before it and a

after it. \```/ (o o) ------------------oOO--(_)--OOo------------------