LOL???

Acr nymsDecrypting The Mobi le Vocabulary

Acronyms are very common in nowadays mobile, informal and fast paced communication.

Their increasing popularity stems in large part from their practicality and often fun/positive background.

However, there is also a merit in the “social” connection they somehow trigger: exchanging messages with acronyms grants membership to a (still) special club.

Acronyms should also be credited for enabling a relaxed approach to the English language to many non English speaking people, who feel less intimidated by coded/shorter sentences.

They’re very helpful as they allow for a speedy typing (and reading) experience.

To the point that they are growing into sort of a whole new language of their own. Not everyone is following the path and keeping up with the expansion of this new hybrid vocabulary.

But perhaps the main issue is memorizing them. As an acronym itself states: PCMCIA (People Can’t Memorize Computer Industry Acronyms).

There lies the seed for “isolation” among groups of people otherwise sharing the same language.

Coded vocabularies (English and other languages) will continue to grow and therefore the best thing media can do is to share as much information as possible about them.

Captured in the following slides are some of the most common and used acronyms today.

Unfortunately

the number

of acronyms

seems to be

constantly

increasing.

B4N By for now

BFN

BBFN Bye bye for now

By for now

BAK Back at keyboard (I’m back)BBIAB Be back in a bit

BRB Be right back

BBL Be back later

BF Boyfriend

BFF Best friends, forever!

BIF Before I forget

BAFAIK As far as I know

AFK

AISI As I see it

Away from the keyboard

(gone for a few minutes)

AMAIR As much as I recall

ASAP As soon as possible

A

ASL Age, sex, location

ATSL Along the same line

AWHFY Are we having fun yet?

AYOR At your own risk

AYPI And you point is?

AHFY Always here for you

BIO Going on bio break (washrooms)

Believe it or notBION

BISLY But I still love you

BOT Back on topic

BTOBD Be there or be dead

B

BTW By the way

BWL Bursting with laughter

BYKT But you knew that

BYOB Bring your own bottle

B4 Before

BUP Backup plan

CMIIW Correct me if I’m wrong

CU

CU2MR See you tomorrow

See you

CUL See you later

CUL8R See you later

CWYL Chat with you later

CYA See ‘Ya

CYA Cover your a*s

C

CSL Can’t stop laughing

CTO Check this out

C4N Ciao for now

DH Dear husband

Damned if I knowDIIK

DIKU Do I know you?

DILLIGAD Do I look like I give a

damn?

DIY Do it yourself

D

DK Don’t know

DTRT Do the right thing

DUCT Did you see that?

DYK Did you know?

DU Darn you

F2F/FTF Face to face

FCFS

FISH First in, still here

First come, first served

FITB Fill in the blank

FMV Fair Market Value

FOAD F*** off and die

FOAF Friend of a friend

FS For Sale

FTASB Faster than a speeding bulletFTL Faster than light

F

G Grin, giggle

G2G

GA Go ahead

Got to go

GAL Get a life

GBY God bless you

GF Girlfriend

GFN Gone for now

GG Good game

GIWIST Gee, I wish I’d said that

GMAB Give me a break

GFUBB Fouled up beyond belief

Fear, uncertainty and

doubtFUD

FURTB Full up ready to burst

FWIW For what it’s worth

FYA For your amusement

F

FYI For your information

H&K Hugs and kisses

HBD

H8 Hate

Happy Birthday!

HOPE Have only positive expectations

HWU Hey, what’s up?

HMU Hit me up (contact me to follow up)H&M Hit and miss

HRU How are you?

HC How cool

HUMM Hope you miss me

HGMTA Great minds think alike

Get on with itGOWI

GR8 Great

G2TU Got to tell you

GTFO Get the f*** out

G

GTG Got to go

GTSY Great to see you

GUFN Grounded until further

notice

GBH&K Great big hug and kisses

JAM Just a minute

JAS

JFI Just for information

Just a second

JIC Just in case

JK Just kidding

JLMK Just let me know

JMHO Just my humble opinion

JMO Just my opinion

JSYK Just so you know

JTLYK Just to let you know

J

IAC In any case

In any eventIAE

IAW In accordance with

IBTD I beg to differ

IC I see

I

IDK I don’t know

IMHO In my humble opinion

IDC I don’t care

IAIL I am in love

ILMM

IA I agree

I love you man

L Laugh

LA

LBVS Laughing but very seriously

Laughing a lot

LLS Laughing like shit

LMAO Laughing my a** off

LMHO Laughing my head off

LOL Laughing out loud

LSHMBH Laughing so hard my belly hurts

LTHTT Laughing too hard to type

LTS Laughing to self

LK OK

Keepin’ it realKIR

KISS Keep it simple, stupid

KIT Keep in touch

KK OK (online gamers)

K

KMA Kiss my a**

KWIM Know what I mean?

KYFC Keep your fingers

crossed

KMFC Keepin’ my fingers

crossed

MCM Mancrush Monday

MEGO

MIA Missing in action

My eyes glaze over

MLIA My life is average

MOF Matter of fact

MOSS Member of same sex

MOTAS Member of the appropriate sex

MOTD Message of the day

MOTOS Member of the opposite sex

MOTSS Member of the same sex

ML8 Late

LaterL8R

LABATYD Life’s a bitch and then

you die

LIG Life is good

LJBF Let’s just be friends

L

LK Like

LLTALots and lots of

thunderous applause

LMK Let me know

LTNS Long time no see

LTNT Long time no type

LY Love you

NAVY Never again volunteer yourselfNB

NBD Not big deal

Not bad

NW No way

NFW No freaking way

NHOH Never heard of him/her

NIMBY Not in my backyard

NLT No later than

NM Not much

NOL Not gonna lie

NMT Mistell (mistaken chat

message, please

disregard)

More to followMTF

MTFBWY May the force be with

you

MYOB Mind your own business

M

HWU?MYOB

O RLY Oh, really?

OATUS

OAUS On an unrelated subject

On a totally unrelated subject

OB Obligatory

OBTW Oh, by the way

OBV Obviously

OH Overheard

OIC Oh, I see

OLTL One life to live

OMG Oh my God!

ONOMB None of my business

None of your businessNOYB

NP No problem/you’re

welcome

NQA No questions asked

N

NSFW Not safe for work /

workplace viewing

NTIM Not that it matters

NTW Not to worry

NTYMI Now that you mention it

NVM Never mind

OMGD Oh my gosh, duh

Oh no, not againONNA

ONNTA Oh no, not this again

ONYD Oh no, you didn’t

O

OOOver and out (end of

communication)

OOAK One of a kind

OOTC Obligatory on-topic

comment

OPOriginal poster (who started

the discussion thread)

OTF On the floor (laughing)

OTFL On the floor laughing

OTL Out to lunch

OTOH

OTOOH On the other other hand

On the other hand

OTS On the scene

OTT Over the top

OTTH On the third hand

OTTOMH Off the top of my head

OWM On my way

O

PBUH Peace be upon him

People can’t memorize

computer industry acronymsPCMCIA

PD Public domain

PDS Please don’t shout

P

PIMPPeeing in my pants

(laughing)

PIO Pass it on

PITA Pain in the a**

PLJ Peace, love and joy

PLZ Please

PMBI Pardon my butting in

PMF Pardon my French

PMJI

PMIGBOM Put mind in gear before opening mouth

Pardon my jumping in

PMSL Pissing myself laughing

PNCAH Please no cursing allowed here

POS Piece of shit

POTB Pat on the back

PROPS Proper respect

P

POTD Photo of the day

PPL People

PTMM Please tell me more

R U THERE? Are you there?

Read and enjoyed, but no

commentRAEBNC

RHIP Rank has its privileges

RL Real life

R

RLCO Real life conference

RLY Really

ROFL Rolling on floor laughing

ROFLAS Rolling on floor laughing

and screaming

ROFLOL Rolling on floor laughing

out lout

ROX Rocks

http://www.google.it/url?sa=i&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=images&cd=&ved=0CAcQjRw&url=http%3A%2F%2Fbittersweetsoap.typepad.com%2Fbittersweet%2F2010%2F08%2Fr%25C3%25A9pondez-sil-vous-pla%25C3%25AEt-meaning-please-respond.html&ei=srUXVfykHYziO8q5gYAE&bvm=bv.89381419,d.ZWU&psig=AFQjCNHE2-dqNqwyyUxaBJeVgXfCYVKDyA&ust=1427703389180314

RSN Real soon now

RSVP

RTBM Read the bloody manual

Répondez s’il vous plaît

RTFAQ Read the Frequently Asked Questions

RTFF Read the freaking FAQ

RTM Read the manual

RYS Read your screen

R

RSVP

S Smile

Safe for work / for

workplace viewingSFW

SCNR Sorry, couldn’t resist

SEC Wait a second

S

SFF So freaking funny

SFSG So far, so good

SGTM Sounds good to me

SLM See last email

SMH Shacking my head

SNAFU Situation normal, all

fouled up

SO Significant other

SOAB

SOS Same old stuff / Help!

Son of a bitch

SOS Someone special

SOW Speaking of which

SPST Same place same time

STFU Shut the f*** up

S

SWIM See what I mean?

TINWIS This is not what I said

TNTL

TOBG This oughta be good

Trying not to laugh

TOY Thinking of you

TRDMC Tears running down my cheeck

TSR Totally stupid rules

STFU Shut the f*** up

T

TTBOMK To the best of my knowledge

TTFN Ta ta for now

TTYL Talk to you later

TFTHAOT Thanks for the help

ahead of time

ThanksTHX

TIA Thanks in advance

TNX Thanks

T

TNXE6 Thanks a million

TX Thanks

TY Thank you

TYVM Thank you very much

TAFN That’s all for now

TC Take care

Thank God is FridayTGIF

UOK Are you OK?

Up to youU2U

UL Unlucky

URTB You are the best

U-Y

WB Welcome back

WDYMBTWhat do you mean by that?

WDYT What do you think?

WOA Work of art

WOTAM Waste of time and money

WRT With regards to

WT Without thinking

WTB Want to buy

What the f***WTF

WTG Way to go

WTH What the hell

U-Y

WTV Whatever

XOXO Hugs and kisses

YGLT You’re gonna love this

YGTI You get the idea?

YIU Yes, I understand

YOLO You only live once

YW You’re welcome