New to the online world? Have trouble understanding those little symbols embedded in the e-mail that you receive? Without the ability to communicate using facial expressions or tonal inflections, online people use keyboard symbols to convey what they mean. After a sentence, they place a symbol to convey the tone of their previous expression. These little keyboard symbols are called EMOTICONS (ee-mote´-ee-kons) from the words emotion and icon. Online communication also has lots of Acronyms, groups of three and four capital letters that stand for some longer phrase. We have a lot of them below, so take the time to learn what your friends are really saying, and in what tone they mean it.
EMOTICONS
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:-) |
Smile face (humor intended) |
| |
:[ |
User is a frog (Emma ****, Pennsylvania) |
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:-))) |
Laughing uncontrollably |
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%-) |
Star-struck ...or in love ...or walked into a telephone pole |
| |
*:o) |
User is a clown (Ken Gresh, Pennsylvania) |
| |
:-7 |
Stated with tongue in cheek |
| |
:-! |
User is chewing pencil |
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:-* |
User ate something sour |
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~:-| |
User is steamed (Ken Gresh, Pennsylvania) |
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:-x |
User attending formal dinner |
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:-P |
Sticking Tongue Out (Beth Lathe, Pennsylvania) |
| |
:~) |
User's nose is running |
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:-O |
Uh oh! - Forgive my big mouth |
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:-Q |
(as above with tongue) |
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<:-| |
User is a dunce (Ken Gresh, Pennsylvania) |
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S-) |
User pretends to be rich |
| |
o:-) |
User Thinks he is an angel |
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3:-) |
Cow impersonating a user |
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(:-:) |
User is Siamese twin |
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:-|:-| |
User experiencing deja' vu |
ABBREVIATIONS
Onliners also like to abbreviate things since e-mail tends to be quick and to the point. For this reason, "ABB's" are often placed before a sentence to convey an expression or explain what is about to be written. There are also a few Abbs that appear after a sentence, in the same manner as Emoticons, plus a couple that just stand alone.
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24-7-365 |
24 hours/day - 7 days/week - 365 days/year |
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AAMOF |
As A Matter Of Fact |
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AFAICT |
As Far As I Can Tell |
| |
AFK |
Away From Keyboard (Jim W., Australia) |
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AIMSH |
Am I Missing Something Here |
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AOBTD |
Another One Bites The Dust |
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A/S/L |
Age / Sex / Location |
| |
BIBLE |
Basic Information Before Leaving Earth |
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BTDT |
Been There Done That |
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CYA |
See Ya (J. Fields, Missouri) |
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DDAS |
Don't Do Anything Stupid |
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DITWB |
Dyed In The Wool Brethren |
| |
DMCA |
Digital Millennium Copyright Act |
| |
FAFSA |
Free Application For Student Aid |
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FAI |
Frequently Argued Issue |
| |
FAT |
Frequently Argued Topic |
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FAQS |
Frequently Asked QuestionS |
| |
UFAQS |
Unofficial Frequently Asked QuestionS |
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FFC |
For Future Contemplation |
| |
FMTEYEWTK |
Far More Than Everything You've Ever Wanted To Know |
| |
<G> |
I'm grinning when I say this |
| |
<GRIN> |
I'm "really" grinning when I say this! |
| |
GFE2E |
Grinning From Ear to Ear |
| |
GMTA |
Great Minds Think Alike |
| |
HNIC |
Head Nurse In Charge |
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HIWTH |
Hate It When That Happens |
| |
HTCYOHP |
How To Create Your Own Home Page |
| |
IIRC |
If I Remember Correctly |
| |
IKWUM |
I Know What You Mean |
| |
IMHO |
In My Humble Opinion |
| |
IMNSHO |
In My Not So Humble Opinion |
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JMHO |
Just My Humble Opinion |
| |
ITIOC |
In The Interest Of Consistency |
| |
IYKWIM |
If You Know What I Mean |
| |
JAPH |
Just Another Perl Hacker |
| |
LOTF |
Laughing On The Floor |
| |
MMSFPMIA |
Many, many smile faces: Pardon me in advance (Natalie Böhlcke, Germany) |
| |
MTBF |
Mean Time Between Failures |
| |
MTBOI |
Make The Best Of It |
| |
MSRP |
Manufacturers Suggested Retail Price |
| |
OOTC |
Obligatory On-Topic Content |
| |
PMFBI |
Pardon Me For Butting In |
| |
PMFJI |
Pardon Me For Jumping In |
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PMFSI |
Pardon Me For Saying It |
| |
POD |
Plain Old Documentation |
| |
TGHPOV |
The Generally Held Point of View |
| |
ROFL |
Rolling on Floor Laughing (Beth Lathe, Pennsylvania) |
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ROFLMHO |
Rolling on Floor Laughing My Head Off (Corey Miller, Pennsylvania) |
| |
RTFOM |
Read The Friendly Offline Manual |
| |
RTSM |
Read The Stupid Manual |
| |
SASE |
Self Addressed Stamped Envelope |
| |
SFIO |
Smiling From Inside Out (Heather Phillips, Pennsylvania) |
| |
SIG |
Special Interest Group (Heather Phillips, Pennsylvania) |
| |
SNAFU |
System Normal All Fixed Up |
| |
SPAM |
Sales Promotional AdvertiseMent |
| |
SPILL |
Slow Poke In the Left Lane |
| |
SSP |
Shameless Self-Promotion |
| |
STM |
Sacrae Theologiae Magister (Master of Sacred Theology) |
| |
STTA |
Something To Think About |
| |
STNS |
Small Town No Sheriff (anything goes) |
| |
STWFTC |
Sorting The Wheat From The Chaff |
| |
SWC |
Sorting (the) Wheat (from the) Chaff |
| |
TDJWH |
This Dog Just Won't Hunt |
| |
TMTOWTDI |
There's More Than One Way To Do It |
| |
TTUL |
Talk To yoU Later (W. Fields, Missouri) |
| |
TTWH |
Thought That Would Happen |
| |
WDDITW |
We don't do it that way |
| |
WYJKI |
Wouldn't Ya Just Know It |
| |
WYSIWYG |
What You See Is What You Get (wizzy-wig) |
| |
WYSISTWYG |
What You See Is Similar To What You Get (wissy-tig) |
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YAET |
Yet Another English Translation (of the Bible) |
| |
YBIC |
Your Brother In Christ |
| |
YSIC |
Your Sister In Christ |
| |
YHBT |
You Have Been Trolled |
| |
YIKTIAHHTRL |
Yes, I know this is a huge, hard to read list |
| |
YMMV |
Your Mileage May Vary |
NETIQUETTE ( "interNET" + "etIQUETTE" )
Communication is the desirable exchange of thoughts and ideas between individuals. But when these exchanges become undesirable, communication does not take place because the recipient turns off their desire to understand. These instances may arise from something as negligible as grammar or as acute as vulgarity. In order for reasonable people to expect their views to be desirable, many onliners try to maintain a standard for exchange called Netiquette.
CAPITALS LETTERS
nbsp; MEAN THAT YOU ARE SHOUTING and it really turns some people off
Respect
nbsp; ...other people without judgement or innuendo
Lurk
nbsp; ...before you leap
Think globally
nbsp; ...because people from other nations, cultures, or ethnic backgrounds may not understand your well intended homespun colloquialisms
Keep standards high
nbsp; People will always form opinions about you based on your standards, and it is often extremely difficult to gain the respect of others when they observe you continually exhibiting your own low standards
Give newbies some slack
nbsp; When newbies make obvious errors, remember that you were once a newbie, and would you have wanted to receive a harsh correction for something which you did not understand?
Don't abuse your power
nbsp; Some people in cyberspace try to exert power over others. There are wizards in MUDs (multi-user dungeons), experts in every office, and sysops in every system. Rasing the hood of a car seems to turn everyone into a mechanic. Knowing more than others, or having more power than they do, does not give you the right to take advantage of them
Don't send attachments to list servers
nbsp; Attachments can cause havoc to some transfer systems, and in many cases may actually hang the user when he tries to download e-mail from his local ISP. Members of list servers often subscribe to more than one list, and are by nature, accustomed to scanning large amounts of e-mail without hassles. Some list server providers block attachment for just this reason.
The case of the snoopy foreign correspondent
nbsp; In 1993, Michael Hiltzik, a highly regarded foreign correspondent in the Moscow bureau of the Los Angeles Times, was caught reading his coworkers' email. His colleagues became suspicious when system records showed that someone had logged in to check their email at times when they knew they hadn't been near the computer. So they set up a sting operation. They planted false information in messages from another one of the paper's foreign bureaus. Hiltzik read the notes and later asked colleagues about the false information. Bingo! As a disciplinary measure, he was immediately reassigned to another position at the paper's Los Angeles bureau
nbsp; Moral: Failing to respect other people's privacy is not just bad Netiquette -it could potentially cost you your job
SIGNATURE DOODLES
Some people just like to doodle and create nifty, personalized signatures at the end of their message. Here are a few of the more noteworthy ones that we have encountered.
ANGEL (\ /)
( \ __ / )
( \ ( ) / )
( /<\ )
( / \/ \ )
/ \
( )
FISH
}<{{{o> }<(((o> }<{{{o>
<`))))>< <`))))>< <`))))><
WAVE
ø¤º°`°º¤ø,¸¸,ø¤º°`°º¤ø,¸¸,ø¤º°`°º¤ø,¸¸,ø¤º°`°º¤ø¤º°`°º¤ø,¸¸,ø¤º°`°º¤ø
FOOTPRINTS
Oooo
( )
) /
(_/
oooO
( )
\ (
\_)
MONKEY SMILING (submitted by Shelbby C)
@(^.^)@
KITTEN
>^..^<
BUNNY
()()
(* *)
(U U)
FROG
@..@
(----)
( >__< )
^^ ~~ ^^
KILROY
~ ~
(©¿©)
----ooo0--(_)--0ooo----
,,,
(o o)
----ooO-(_)-Ooo----
\\\|///
\\ ~ ~ //
( @ @ )
--------oOOo-(_)-oOOo------
--------------------Oooo.--
.oooO (<> )
( <>) ) /
\ ( (_/
\_)
--
WEIGHTLIFTER
# #
#=ooO=========Ooo=#
# \\ (o o) // #
\\_/(_)\_//
) (
WEB
\________/
/\______/\
/ /\____/\ \
/ / /\__/\ \ \
_/_/_/_/\/\_\_\_\_
\ \ \ \/\/ / / /
\ \ \/__\/ / /
\ \/____\/ /
\/______\/
/ \
EXERCISE
o \ o / _ o __| \ / |__ o _ \ o / o
/|\ | /\ __\o \o | o/ o/__ /\ | /|\
/ \ / \ | \ /) | ( \ /o\ / ) | (\ / | / \ / \
COFFEE LOVER
___ __ __ ___
/ __\ ___ / _| / _| ___ ___ / __\ _ _ _ __
/ / / _ \ | |_ | |_ / _ \ / _ \ / / | | | || '_ \
/ /___ | (_) || _|| _|| __/| __/ / /___ | |_| || |_) |
\____/ \___/ |_| |_| \___| \___| \____/ \__,_|| .__/
|_|
ART LOVER
____ ___ ___ __
/ / / / / / / / ) _/_ /
/ /---/ / '--, / '--, /--/ __ / /
(___/ (__( ___/ ( ___/ / (__/ (_(__ @
BANNER
_____________________________________________________
________| |________
\ | | /
\ | | /
/ |_____________________________________________________| \
/___________) (__________\
PHILOSOPHER
. .
. =O===
. _ %- - %%%
(_) % < D%%
| ' , ,$$$
-/- %%%% |
|//; ,---' _ |----.
\ )( / )
| \/ \. ' _.|, \
| \ /( / / \_ \
\ / ( | / )
( , ___|/ ,`
( _/ ( | \_
_/\--// ,\\\
_______ _/\\ / | /|_________
|_______/ \\ / _/ \ ,|________|
__|___#/ \ _ \'|##____|___
/______/ _ | / \ |/__________\
| / _/\_/
/_ '_,____\/ )(
|/ \_ / ( \
| /-\_/ Oooo
)(.
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HEART
love love lo ve love love lo
ve love love love love love love love
love love love love l ove love love love love
love love love love love love love love love love
love love love love love l ove love love love lovelov
e love love love love love love love love love love lov
elove love love love love love love love love love love
love love love love love love love love love love love
love love love love love love love love love love lov
e love love love love love love love love love lov
e love love love love love love love love love
love love love love love love love love l
ove love love love love love love love
love love love love love love lov
e love love love love love lov
e love love love love lo
ve love love love lo
ve love love lov
e love love l
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ve l
THANKSGIVING
,+*^^*+___+++_
,*^^^^ )
_+* ^**+_
+^ _ _++*+_+++_, )
_+^^*+_ ( ,+*^ ^ \+_ )
{ ) ( ,( ,_+--+--, ^) ^\
{ (@) } f ,( ,+-^ __*_*_ ^^\_ ^\ )
{:;-/ (_+*-+^^^^^+*+*<_ _++_)_ ) ) /
( / ( ( ,___ ^*+_+* ) < < \
U _/ ) *--< ) ^\-----++__) ) ) )
( ) _(^)^^)) ) )\^^^^^))^*+/ / /
( / (_))_^)) ) ) ))^^^^^))^^^)__/ +^^
( ,/ (^))^)) ) ) ))^^^^^^^))^^) _)
*+__+* (_))^) ) ) ))^^^^^^))^^^^^)____*^
\ \_)^)_)) ))^^^^^^^^^^))^^^^)
(_ ^\__^^^^^^^^^^^^))^^^^^^^)
^\___ ^\__^^^^^^))^^^^^^^^)\\
^^^^^\uuu/^^\uuu/^^^^\^\^\^\^\^\^\^\
___) >____) >___ ^\_\_\_\_\_\_\)
^^^//\\_^^//\\_^ ^(\_\_\_\)
^^^ ^^ ^^^ ^^
MONA LISA
iIYVVVVXVVVVVVVVVYVYVYYVYYYYIIIIYYYIYVVVYYYYYYYYYVVYVVVVXVVVVVYI+.
tYVXXXXXXVXXXXVVVYVVVVVVVVVVVVYVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVXXXXXVXXXXXXXVVYi.
iYXRXRRRXXXXXXXXXXXVVXVXVVVVVVVVXXXVXVVXXXXXXXXXXXXXXRRRRRRRRRXVi.
tVRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRXRXXXXXXXXXXXXXXRRXXXXRRRRXXXXXXXRRRRRRRRRRRRXV+.
tVRRBBBRMBRRRRRRRRRXXRRRRRXt=+;;;;;==iVXRRRRXXXXRRRRRRRRMMBRRRRXi,
tVRRBMBBMMBBBBBMBBRBBBRBX++=++;;;;;;:;;;IRRRRXXRRRBBBBBBMMBBBRRXi,
iVRMMMMMMMMMMMMMMBRBBMMV==iIVYIi=;;;;:::;;XRRRRRRBBMMMMMMMMBBRRXi.
iVRMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMY;IBWWWWMMXYi=;:::::;RBBBMMMMMMMMMMMMMMBBXi,
+VRMMRBMMMMMMMMMMMMMMY+;VMMMMMMMRXIi=;:::::=VVXXXRRRMMMMMMMMBBMXi;
=tYYVVVXRRRXXRBMMMMMV+;=RBBMMMXVXXVYt;::::::ttYYVYVVRMMMMMMBXXVI+=
;=tIYYVYYYYYYVVVMMMBt=;;+==IMi+t==;;i;::::::+iitIIttYRMMMMMRXVVI=;
;=IIIIYYYIIIIttIYItIt;;=VVYXBIVRXVVXI;::::::;+iitttttVMMBRRRVVVI+,
;+++tttIttttiiii+i++==;;RMMMBXXMMMXI+;::::::;+ittttitYVXVYYIYVIi;;
;===iiittiiIitiii++;;;;:IVRVi=iBXVIi;::::::::;==+++++iiittii+++=;;
;;==+iiiiiiiiii+++=;;;;;;VYVI--iVVt+;::::::::;++++++++++iti++++=;;
;;=++iiii+i+++++iii==;;;::tXYIIYIi+=;:::::,::;+++++++++++++++++=;;
;;;+==+ii+++++iiiiit=;;:::::=====;;;::::::::::+++i+++++++++i+++;;;
;;;==+=+iiiiitttIIII+;;;:,::,;;;;:;=;;;::,::::=++++++++==++++++;;;
:;====+tittiiittttti+;;::::,:=Ytiiiiti=;:::::,:;;==ii+ittItii+==;;
;;+iiittIti+ii;;===;;:;::::;+IVXVVVVVVt;;;;;::::;;===;+IIiiti=;;;;
;=++++iIti+ii+=;;;=;:::;;+VXBMMBBBBBBXY=;=;;:::::;=iYVIIttii++;;;;
;;++iiiItttIi+++=;;:::;=iBMMMMMMMMMMMXI==;;,::;;:;;=+itIttIIti+;;;
;=+++++i+tYIIiii;:,::;itXMMMMMMMMMMMBXti==;:;++=;:::::;=+iittti+;;
;;+ii+ii+iitiIi;::::;iXBMMMMMWWWWWMMBXti+ii=;::::,,,,:::=;==+tI+;;
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::::::::;=;;;;;::,,,,,,,,,,,.......,...,,,,,,,,,,,,.,,,,,,,,,,,,,;
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:,,::,,:::;;;;;;=IVVVXXXXVXVt:,,,,,..,..,,,,.,,,,,..,.,,,,,,,,,,,;
::,::,,,:,:::::,::;=iIYVXVVVVIYIi;,,.,.,,,::,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,.
:,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,::;+itIIIIIIi:;;i++=;;;;;;;;;::,,,...,,..,,,,,,,.
:,,,,,,,,,,,,,,=iitVYi++iitt==it;;:;;;;::;;::::,,,......,,,,,,,::.
::,,,,,,,,,,,,,++iiIVIi=;;=;+i;:;+:::,,,,,,,,,,,,,.....,,,,,,,,::,
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:,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,:=:,,,,,,,,,,,,,,......................,.,,.,.,,:
:,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,:,,,,,,,,,,..,........................,..,...,,:
,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,.....................................,......,,,
,,,,,,,,,.,,,,,,,...............................................,,
,,,,,,,,,.,,.....................................................,
UPDATES
Expressions and paradigms are constantly changing because people want to use new and more flavorful language in everyday online communication, especially in our fast paced technological world. If you just picked up another acronym in a newsgroup or list server, please send it to us.
“Let no corrupt communication proceed out of thy mouth,
but that which is good to the use of edifying,
that it may minister grace unto the hearers.”
Ephesians 4:29
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