Internet slang

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This article discusses general features of Internet slang. For detailed usages, see List of Internet slang.

Internet slang is slang which Internet users have coined and promulgated. Such terms typically originated with the purpose of saving keystrokes: many use the same abbreviations in text messages. The terms often appear in lower case, with capitals often reserved for emphasis: The pronoun "I", for example, often appears simply as "i".

To avoid misapprehension and clarify the author's intent, netizens may use emoticons. Emoticons (or smilies) such as :) may be used both genuinely and sarcastically; for example the :P emoticon, can express either genuine amusement and a sense of fun, or a negative sarcastic comment on something. Deciphering and understanding what was written per se versus the author's intent is part of the Internet's attraction and enjoyment. Like most jargon, Internet slang aggrandizes author and reader, causing them to appear as having specialized knowledge of an already complex medium.

Internet slang perhaps has a higher learning curve than face-to-face slang, as face-to-face slang can often be deciphered from the context of the facial expressions, body language, and tone of voice.

1 Origins
2 Common examples
3 Usage notes
4 See also
5 External links

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Origins

The vocabulary of Internet slang (or chatspeak or netspeak) draws from many different sources — typically environments that placed value on brevity of communication. Some terms, such as FUBAR have roots as far back as World War II.[1] Other terms come from more recent forms of communication, such as TTY and IRC.

Chat acronyms originally developed on pre-Internet bulletin board systems. A handful (for example, ASAP, PO'ed) far pre-date computers. The three-letter acronym remains one of the most popular types of abbreviation in computing and telecom terminology and slang. Similar systems have since come into use with users of text-messaging wireless telephones.

With the rise of instant messaging services (ICQ, AOL, and MSN, among others) the vocabulary has expanded dramatically.

Aside from instant messaging programs another realm full of online languages exists: the Internet gaming world. One of the most popular forms of video game slang has become known as H4x0r (Haxor, meaning hacker) or as 13375p34k (in leetspeak). For parents today, learning the online language can play an important role in maintaining the online safety of children. An article produced by Microsoft may help parents begin to understand some of the things their kids say in-game. (Many of the more knowledgeable "online gamers" consider this article unhelpful, especially for Microsoft's attempts to interpret 1337 speak.)

Note that many more serious internet users regard leetspeak as a trademark of people who don't know what they're doing. In these circles, leetspeak is almost always used sarcastically if at all. Such people may also label the use of leetspeak, excessive use of abbreviations, and incorrect spelling and grammar as simply rude, and a sign of laziness. In addition, sometimes chatspeak or leet can be so illegible that it becomes an annoyance for those who wish to read it.

Sometimes users make up Internet abbreviations on the spot, therefore many of them can seem confusing, obscure, whimsical, or even nonsensical. This type of on-the-spot abbreviating leads to such things as: OTP (on the phone) or the less common, OPTD (outside petting the dog). Another feature common to Internet communication involves the truncation and morphing of words to forms that users can type more readily. Examples of this include:

addy — "Address" (plural: "addys")
pic — "Picture" ("pics", "pix" or "piccies" for plural)
proggy — "Computer program"
prolly — "Probably" (also "probs")
sig — "Signature" (also "siggy")
asl? — "Age/Sex/Location?" (also "a/s/l?"; a phrase often used in internet chat rooms)

The form "teh" offers a special case of this transformation. This originated as a corruption of "the", and often pops up spontaneously when typing fast. So common has it become, in fact, that it has made the jump to deliberate usage. Typically it occurs in situations where the writer presents as self-consciously enthusiastic, mimicking the less-grammatical Internet newbie: "That movie was teh suck!!", "The fight scene with all the Agent Smiths was TEH AWESOME", etc. It occurs most commonly in "teh suck/orz", "teh lame," and "teh cool". Jeff K. of Something Awful popularized this sarcastic usage.

Similarly, netizens may use the word "liek" or "leik" as sarcastic misspellings of the word "like", as in "I LIEK PIE". It often implies an insult to one's intelligence and/or typing ability. "Liek" is also often used as a geeky way of typing the preposition like, for example in the phrase "...and I was liek...".

Internet abbreviations evolve and change continually. Online games provide a good place to observe language variation in use. Often, people uninterested in computer programming do not understand the more classically "nerdy" phrases like "2B||!2B" (which means "to be, or not to be"), thus such usages become useless or appear only in minority forums.

From the days of FIDO mail when many computers ran DOS we find <G> meaning "Grin", <BG> "Big Grin", <VBG> "Very Big Grin", and of course <VBSEG> "Very Big Shit-Eating Grin". Lower-case variants (<g> and so on) are also used.

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Common examples

Template:Main

Common disclaimer phrases (sometimes called "parentheticals") also often contract into acronyms — they tend to occur at certain points in a sentence, which can facilitate decoding. By far the most common of these are "lol", "lmao", "rofl", "omg", "brb" and "wtf". This is a fraction of the full list, but some of these disclaimers include:
- AFK: away from keyboard
- ASAP: as soon as possible
- BBIAB: be back in a bit (usually longer than brb, maybe you're going to eat lunch)
- BBL: be back later
- BBS: be back soon
- BRB: be right back
- BTW: by the way
- Bump: used in forums to bring a post to the top of the forum list (A common backronym for "bring up my post")
- CYA: See you later
- FGIF: f***ing Google it first
- FFS: For F***'s Sake
- FO: F*** off
- FTL: for the lose (Used to dislike something)
- FTW: ef (f***) the world
- FTW: for the win (Used to express enthusaism or approval)
- FU: F*** U (Using the shortened version of You)
- FYI: for your information
- G2G or GTG: got to go/good to go
- GFY: Go f*** yourself
- GN: Good night
- GTFO: get the f*** out
- HTH: Happy to help
- IANAL: I am not a lawyer
- IDK: I don't know
- IIRC: if I recall correctly
- IMO: in my opinion
- IMHO: in my humble/honest opinion. (Derived from IMO or vice-versa)
- IRL: in real life
- JK: Just kidding
- JW: Just wondering
- KIT: Keep in Touch
- KK: okay
- LFG: looking for group (used mostly in MMORPG)
- LFT: looking for team (used mostly in MMORPG)
- LMAO: laughing my ass off (can also be combined with a W which creates Laughing My Ass Off While...)
- LMFAO: laughing my f***ing ass off
- LOL: laugh out loud
- L2P: learn to play
- LULAS: love you like a sister
- NP: no problem
- NVM: nevermind
- NSFW: Not safe for work
- OMFG: oh my f***ing god
- OMG: oh my god (OMFG derived from this.)
- OMGWTFBBQ: combines the terms OMG, WTF, and BBQ. (Can also be used as a mockery of newbies who express surprise at commonly known facts, or in self deprecation.)
- OMW: on my way (usually used in ORPG)
- OH NOES: oh no
- OP: Original Post/Original Poster (referring to the first post in a thread)
- P2P: Pay to play, Player to Player, Peer to Peer
- PEBKAC: Problem Exists Between Keyboard And Chair
- PO'd: pissed off
- QFT: Quoted For Truth
- RE: Returned or back
- ROFL: rolling over(on) floor laughing
- ROFLMAO: rolling on floor laughing my ass off
- ROTFL: rolling on the floor laughing
- RTFA: Read the F***ing Article (Commonly used on Slashdot or Digg)
- RTFM: Read The F***ing Manual
- SFW: Safe for work
- SU: Shut Up
- STFU: Shut The F*** Up
- TBA: To Be Added, or To Be Announced
- TBH: To Be Honest
- TBQFH: To Be Quite F***ing Honest
- TFA: the f***ing article (often used in a discussion related to a linked article, i.e. "if you'd bothered to read TFA"; RTFA derived from this)
- TTYL: talk to you later
- TTYS: talk to you soon
- TY: thank you
- TYVM: thank you very much
- THX: thanks
- YW: you're welcome
- W/E(W\E)(W.E): whatever
- WTF: what the f***
- WTH: what the heck or what the hell
- WTB: want to buy (NOT mostly used in WoW, can be found in other MANY MMORPG as well)
- WTS: want to sell (NOT mostly used in WoW, can be found in other MANY MMORPG as well)
- WTV: Watching tv
- ZOMG: variant of OMG, taken from a typo of hitting the 'z' next to the left shift (typically when very excited)

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Usage notes

The word newbie occurs almost exclusively to refer to all sorts of new users of an Internet forum or starters in a particular field of activity. It does not function as a pejorative term per se, but can do so when combined with RTFM, etc.

"n00b" has much more derogatory implications than "newbie". It is generally associated with someone who uses chatspeak to such an extreme that it is barely legible (i.e. U CN TLAK AL U WNAT BUT U STIL SUK LOLOLOLOL). To translate: "You can talk all you want, but you still suck. [the user finds this statement very funny]."

"nub" has also been derived from the word newbie and has negative implications as n00b does.

The word "Lagtastic" is used to say that a particular game server is very laggy.
The word "Lagdaddy" is used to say that a particular male person's internet connection is very laggy.
The word "Lagmomma" is used to say that a particular female person's internet connection is very laggy.
Although Internet slang has a close relationship with leetspeak, only online gamers and the hacker community traditionally use leet (now primarily used as sarcasm or mockery), while much larger groups of Internet users commonly use Internet slang.
The symbols < and >, ::(words):: or * * often enclose a user's facial expression, action, or other feeling that is difficult to express via other online methods. These are also known as emotes, stemming from emotion which is where the word emoticon has its origins as well. For instance: <smile>, *smile*, <jumping up and down>, *jumping up and down*, <very very sad right now> or *very very sad right now* are all acceptable usages. Double colons are occasionally seen on each side of such expressions (::excited::); this usage may originate from an action syntax common to simming.
The symbols <...> and </...> are often used to denote the author's feelings at the time of writing an enclosed sentence or paragraph and are known as "emotags". For instance, "<sarcasm>I just love how wonderfully the new nerf to our characters has gone</sarcasm>" This notation derives from HTML. Variants exist, such as [/...] (a syntax variant found on Internet forums called BBcode)
A "/" prefix is used by expressing an action. This is derived from IRC, having commands starting with /.
- IRC Command : /join #some-chatroom
- IRC Command : /me hates your guts
- Internet Slang : /angry "i hate this lagtastic comp"