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Internet slang is slang that has been developed and used by users of the Internet. Many of these terms originated for saving keystrokes and are often written in lower case. Internet slang is, by its nature, difficult to interpret, especially in chatrooms or on instant messaging, because much of it is quickly input, and many forget their audience doesn't see their body language. For instance; an "LOL" may be taken as genuine laughter or sarcasm, or as "whatever, stay away from me." So, for the sake of accurate and easily understandable communication, it is best to be as explicit as possible and make an effort to get your point across. Emoticons such as :) can also be used to clarify emotional intent in internet messages. Conversely, they can add to the confusion, for example the :-P emoticon which can indicate both (positive) joking and (negative) sarcasm. Many emoticons are simply used in excess.

Also, chat acronyms or chaq (pronounced "chalk") were initially developed by users of pre-Internet bulletin board systems, and have since been adopted by users of text-messaging wireless telephones. A handful (e.g. ASAP, PO'ed) far pre-date computers. The three-letter acronym (TLA) is the most popular type of abbreviation in computing and telecom terminology and slang.

A useful addition to these lists would be to make a citation of the earliest usage, where references are available.

Abbreviations and acronyms

Characters

Internet abbreviations are evolving and changing all the time. Online games are a good place to observe language like this being used. Often, the more classically "nerdy" phrases like "2B||!2B" aren't understood by people uninterested in computer programming, thus they become useless or are only used on minority forums.

^ ^ or ^__^ or ^^ — an emoticon signifying happiness. It was more likely to be used by anime fans. "Chuckle marks"
>^.^< — cat face or a face that has crinkled up with laughter.
_|_ — an offensive emoticon signifying the middle finger
<^> — another form of the middle finger
<3 — "love"; ASCII art for a heart, the less than symbol and the three resemble a heart tilted on its side.
</3 — "hate"; ASCII art for a broken heart, similar to <3.
== — agreement; from the C equality operator; means "me too" or "what he said"
@ — "at"
* (asterisk) – applied around a word or phrase to indicate emphasis or italics. Singly, in chat, in front of a word or phrase at the beginning of a line means a correction to one's own previous typo.

Numbers

10-4 — "Ok, Acknowledgement", as in the US Police radio codes.
224 — "today, tomorrow, forever"
2B — "to be"
2B||!2B — "to be or not to be"; from the C programming language logic operation 'OR'("||") and 'NOT'("!").
2TM — "to the max"
4 — "for"
4ever, 4eva — "forever"
69 — Usually found in AIM screen names, means mutual oral sex.
807 — "BOT"; a person who demonstrates an extreme lack of knowledge or common sense. Plural: 8075
88, 881 or 886 — "bye bye" (Chinese pronunciation)
9494 — "that's it", "that's right", "you see?" (Chinese pronunciation)

A

ACK — "acknowledged"; used frequently in discussion boards, tech-speak
AFAIC — "as far as I'm concerned", or "as far as I care", or "as far as I can..."
AFAICS — "as far as I can see"
AFAICT — "as far as I can tell"
AFAIK — "as far as I know"
AFAIR — "as far as I recall", or "as far as I remember"
AFC — "away from computer"
AFK — "away from keyboard"
AICMFP — "and I claim my five pounds"
AIUI — "as I understand it"
AKA — "also known as", predates the internet.
AOHell — "AOL", "America Online".
ASAP — "as soon as possible"
ASL — "age, sex, location"; used to request general info about a fellow user. Also used as an introductory phrase, usually when that info is expected up-front.
ATM — "at the moment"
ATOP — "at time of posting..."

B

B2B — "business to business"; ecommerce used by businesses to interact with other businesses.
B4 — "before"
B4N — "bye for now"
BB — "bye bye"
BBIAB — "be back in a bit"
BBL — "be back later"
BBQ — "be back quick", eventually corrupted to "Bar-B-Que" -- see "OMGWTFBBQ".
BBS — "be back soon", or "bulletin board system/service"
BC, B/C — "because"
Bewt — "Boot" Often used as "Lewt fast n' Bewt ass."
BF — "boyfriend"
BFD — "big fucking deal"
BFF — "best friend forever"
BFG/BFG9000 — "Big Fragging/Fucking Gun (9000) (found in id Software games like DOOM)"
BFN — "bye for now"
BJ — blowjob
BL — "bad luck"
Blog — short for "weblog" from "web log". Often used as a verb, as in "I was blogging today".
blogger — "web logger": someone who writes or posts articles or messages on a blog.
BOFH — "bastard operator from hell"
BRB — "be right back"
BS — "bullshit or backstab (the second meaning commonly used on battle.net)"
BSOD — "Blue screen of death"
BTTT — "back to the top"
BTW — "by the way"
BURMA — "Be Undressed Ready My Angel"
BW — "bandwidth"
B/T — "between"
BYOC — "bring your own computer". Often used in connection with computer gaming events. May also be used for Build Your Own Computer. For example, Quakecon is a BYOC Lan Party in North America.

C

CID — "consider it done"
cluebie — a clueless newbie (but sometimes apparently confusingly used to mean "a newbie with a clue, but not close to a guru")
CMIIW — "correct me if I'm wrong"
CU — "see you"; used as a goodbye, commonly together with l8r (later), as in cul8r. See "cya".
CS — "Counter-Strike"; Widely played First Person Shooter game
CSL — "can't stop laughing"
CUWUL — "Catch Up With U Later"
CWOT — "complete waste of time";
cya — "see you"; used as a goodbye (see "cu"). Also, "check(ing) your ass", or "cover your ass", as in taking some precautionary measure just for safety's sake, or to avoid blame in a risky (but necessary) action (predates internet).
CVQ — "chuckling very quietly"; as an alternative to "LOL"
C&V — "chapter & verse"; used in newsgroups.
C|N>K — "coffee through nose into keyboard"; a Unix-ism meaning, involving the Unix command line pipe (|) and redirect (>) characters.

D

DBG — "don't be gay"
DB4L — "drinking buddy 4 (for) life"
DC'd, D/C — "disconnected"
dernoe — "(I) don't know"
DGT — "don't go there"
DH — "dear husband". Used by housewives posting on Internet forums.
DH — "dickhead"
DILLIGAF — "Do I look like I give a fuck?"
DL, D/L — "download"; receiving data from a remote host. Usually functions as a noun or verb. Can sometimes mean "down-low", as taken from real-life usage.
DLF — "dropping like flies"; said when many participants have left a chat room suddenly
DMY — "don't mess yourself"; from an episode of The Simpsons.
DON — "Denial-of-Normal"; Originally used on Slashdot
DOTC — Dancing on the ceiling.
DoS — "Denial-of-Service"; a malicious attack on a computer system.
DT — "Double Team"; used in GunBound, a game developed by Softnyx.
dun — "don't"; commonly used by Singaporeans.
dunno — "(I) don't know"
DYK — "did you know(?)"
DW, D/W — "don't worry"

E

E — enlightenment
EG — "evil grin", normally written *EG* or <EG> to separate it from the surrounding text.
EIL — "explode into laughter"
ELNS — Norwegian expression that means "eller noe sånt", which translates to "or something like that"
EOM — "end of message"
EQ — "Everquest", a popular MMORPG
ESAD — "eat shit and die"
ETLA — "extended three letter acronym"

F

F4G, F4GG0T — "fag/faggot"
FAQ — Frequently Asked Question, or a list of frequently asked questions with answers. Never seems to be written in small letters.
FE — "fatal error"
FFS — "for fuck's sake!" (sometimes replaced with FS- "fuck's sake")
flames — see "flamer".
flamer — one engaged in flaming. Also ominously close to the term lamer.
FLOABT — "for lack of a better term"
FGI — "fucking google it"; used in response to a common question
FO — "fuck off!"
FOAD — "fuck off and die!"
FOAF — "friend of a friend"; the dubious attribution given to urban legends
Foamhead — People who worship a flash cartoon by "illwillpress".
FP — "first post"; Originally used on Slashdot
frag — To kill or tear to pieces. Its origin comes the Vietnam War or earlier, from "fragmentation bombs". It had a particular application to "fragging" 2nd lieutenants or hated officers, especially in the jungle.
FSOD — "Frozen Screen Of Death"; a Phantasy Star Online thing.
FTF or F2F — "face to face"; referring to a meeting in the real world, not online. In role-playing terms, it is the offline predecessor to MMORPGs and MUDs.
FTLOG — "for the love of god!"
FTP — "File Transfer Protocol"
FTTB — "for the time being"
FU — "fuck you" (predates internet)
FUD — "fear, uncertainty and doubt"; purposeful spread of misinformation.
FWIW — "For what it's worth"
FXP — "File eXchange Protocol"
FYAD — "Fuck You And DIE!" (from SomethingAwful.com)
FYI — "for your information" (predates internet)

G

G — "grin", normally written *G* or <G> to separate it from the surrounding text
G2G, GTG — "got to go", also "good to go"; popularized in MMORPGs and MUDs.
G4Y, GFY — "good for you", or "go fuck yourself"; the use of this acronym is ambiguous and not recommended. G4Y can also mean "GAY".
GAGF — "go and get fucked"
GAL — "get a life"
gamez — illegally obtained games (c.f. warez).
GCAD — "Get Cancer And Die"
GF — "girl friend"
GFI — "good fucking idea"
GG — "good going" or "good game"; used sincerely in competitive and cooperative online games, or used sarcastically when someone has done something foolish. Also "genuine girl", used on chat sites to indicate that the user is female, rather than simply pretending to be.
GJ — "good job", often sarcastic
GL — "good luck"
GMTA — "great minds think alike"
GR8 — "great", sometimes spelled gre8t even though it doesn't make the word any shorter.
Grats — Short abreviation of "congratulations". Used in MMORPGs when a new rank or level is gained.
GTFO — "get the fuck out"
GTG — "got to go"
GTH — "go to hell"
guru — an expert in some technical topic, such as C programming or Unix system administration
GW — "good work", often used sarcastically.

H

H8 — "hate", or 'H1' to 'H9' to indicate how much a person hates something.
HAI — A purposeful misspelling of "hi"; Japanese for "yes"
HAND — "have a nice day"
HAXOR, H4X0R; "hacker" (really meaning "cracker" as in a code cracker or system cracker)
HB — "hurry back"
HBD — "Happy Birthday"
HF — "have fun"
hijack — to start an offtopic discussion, ex. "hijack a thread" on a message board.
HNG — "horny net geek"
H/O — "hold on"
HTH — "hope this (or that) helps"
HTF — "how the fuck"; derivative of WTF.

I

IANAL — "I am not a lawyer"; usually used before a non-lawyer gives legal advice, as a humorous disclaimer.
IANARS — "I am not a rocket scientist"
IC — "I see", also "in character" in MMORPG or MUD settings.
ICYDK / ICYDN / ICUDK — "in case you didn't know"
IDK — "I don't know"
ID10T — "idiot"; generally pronounced eye-dee-ten-tee, its meaning is not obvious until viewed in written form. Example: "We've got an ID10T error!"
idjit, ijit — "idiot"
IIRC — "if I recall correctly"
IIUC — "if I understand correctly"
IM — "instant message", can be used as a noun ("Send an IM") or a verb ("I'll IM him"). Past tense is "IM'd" or "IMed".
IMO — "in my opinion"
IMHO — "in my humble opinion", or "in my honest opinion"
IMHE — "In my humble experience"
IMNSHO — "in my not so humble opinion"
INMP — "it's not my problem"
INTPFPOTM — "I nominate this post for post of the month"; incredibly obscure.
IOH — "I'm outta here"
IOW — "in other words"
IRC — "Internet Relay Chat"
IRL — "in real life"; often used in online games to refer to life outside of the game, see RL.
IRT — "in reply to"
ISTR — "I seem to remember/recall"
ITT— "In This Thread"; first used on forum.canucks.com in White Noise.
IYDMMA — "if you don't mind me asking"
IYKWIM — "if you know what I mean"

J

JJ — "just joking"
JK, J/K — "just kidding"
JOOC — "just out of curiosity"
j00 — Leet speak for "you". The zeros stand for letters O.
j00r — Leet speak for "you're" or "your".

K

K — "OK/Okay"
kewl, kool — alternate form of "cool".
KNF — "kernel normal form"; kernel source file style guide [1]
KISS — "keep it simple stupid"

L

L8 — "late"
L8R — "later"; as in "see you later", often used together with CU, as in CUL8R.
LD — "link dead"; used in online games when a user has been disconnected, but their persona or character remains in the game.
LEET, L33T, 1337, 31337 — "elite", also another kind of slang where numbers and symbols replace similar-looking characters.
Lewt — "Loot" Often used as "Lewt fast n' Bewt ass."
LIGAFF — "like I give a flying fuck"
LIGAS — "like I give a shit"
LMAO — "laughing my ass off"
LMFAO — "laughing my fucking ass off"
LOL — "laughing out loud", or "lots of laughs"; as a reply to something amusing. Also "lots of love" (not as common). LOL is also said to be derived from the Dutch word 'lol' which is translated as 'fun' in English.
lollerskates — pun on the word "rollerskates"; similar usage to LOL.
Loxxen — an altered form of LOL, with virtually the same meaning, but slightly enhanced.
LTNS — "long time no see"
lurker — one who reads an email list or a message board but does not participate in the discussion.
luser — "lame user" -> "loser", often derogatory for all users.
LYL — "love ya lots"

M

M473z — "mates" pronounced may-tez, a term referring to a good friend, closer than a m8
M8 — "mate"; as in "buddy" or "pal"
MFC — "merge from current"
Mod — "Moderator" or "Modification"
MOTD — "Message of the Day"
MYOB — "mind your own business"

N

N/A — "not applicable"
NBD — "no big deal"
NFBSK — "Not for British school kids", originally from message boards at snopes.com, used sometimes in place of NSFW.
newb — "short for newbie; meaning someone who is new, usually at a game."
NG — "newsgroup"
NG — "no good"
NI — "no idea"
N1994, N199312 — Leet speak for "nigga/nigger"
NM or N/M — "never mind" or "not/nothing much". Also "No Message", used on message boards to indicate that all the text is in the post's title, and that it need not be opened itself.
noob — shorthand/leet spelling of "newbie". Also spelled 'n00b', with two zeroes rather than two O's (see leet) or 'newb'. In some internet circles, the term 'noob' or 'n00b' has a negative connotation, generally not associated with 'newb' or 'newbie', where being a n00b carries a connotation of ignorance and laziness. A n00b may be too lazy or stupid to RTFM or otherwise attempt to find out about a subject oneself, even if the information is within easy reach, and instead chooses to bother others. A newbie, on the other hand, is simply someone new to a subject, with no particularly negative connotation.
noob, n00b — "often confused with newbie; original meaning is someone who, regardless of being in a community a long time, refuses to learn (in conjunction with games), refuses to follow/learn the rules, acts idiotically, or generally is a nuisance."
n0083127z; "nooberts" a mutation of n00b, often used to describe someone who is not only being stupid, but is also less highly esteemed or less powerful than you
NOYB — "none of your business"
NP — "no problem"
NPA — "not paying attention"
NS — "nice shot"; used sincerely in competitive and cooperative online games such as GunBound. Also, "No Shit"; sometimes used as "NSS" for "No Shit, Sherlock"
NSFW — "not safe for work"; indicates that a link should be avoided due to pornography or other content unsuitable for the workplace. Used at Fark and some message boards. See also SFW.
NT — "no text"; used on Internet forums or Usenet to indicate that a post has no content. Also, "nice try"; used by gamers.
NVM — "never mind"
NWS — "not work safe"; see NSFW.

O

O — "oh"
OBTW — "oh, by the way"
oh noes!!!!111111 — oh no, wow, omfg; extra exclamations and ones are necessary; usually humorous.
oh noes, my megahurtz have been stolended!111!!!!1111 (and other forms) — same as oh noes!!!!111111
OIC — "oh, I see"
OMG — Exclamation, "oh my God/goodness!"
OMGWTFBBQ — "Oh my God, what the fuck, bar-be-que."; used in a humorous manner in reference to those who abuse Internet slang. Originally "Oh my God, what the fuck, be back quick", often used when a fellow chat buddy announces something of particular interest has just appeared on television
OMFG — Exclamation, "oh my fucking God/goodness!"
OMFL — Exclamation, "oh my fucking lag!"
OOC — "out-of-character"; usually in MMORPG or MUD settings when a player isn't acting out his/her part. It was also used in fanfiction to indicate likewise. Also, "out of curiosity".
OP — Original Poster
OT — "off topic"
OTOH — "on the other hand"
OTW — "on the way"
OXO — "Norwegian/Danish shortening of the word "også", which translates to "too" or "also""
own, 0wn, owned — (see also "pwn") to defeat someone (used commonly when playing Counter-Strike) or to humiliate someone tactically in a debate; something that is extremely cool (ex. BMWs totally own).

P

P2P — "Peer-to(2)-Peer". Also "pay-to-play" for games with subscription fees like Everquest, RuneScape or Dark Age of Camelot.
PCBD — "Page Cannot Be Displayed"; Internet Explorer error when a link or URL is invalid or the web server times out.
PEBKAC — "Problem Exists Between Keyboard and Chair", referring to in human error. See PICNIC and ID10T.
PFO — "please fuck off"
PITA — "pain in the ass"
PICNIC — "Problem In Chair, Not In Computer", referring to in human error. See PEBKAC and ID10T.
Piconjo — A shared account on www.newgrounds.com. Large numbers of people submit explicit animations of NG animators, in an attempt to "pwn" them. Piconjo speaks in fluient 1337, and claims to have "pen0r power".
PLS, PLZ — "please"
PM — "private message"
PMG — can sometimes be seen instead of "omg", which means "oh my God"
PMSL — pissing myself laughing. synonymous with lmao
PO, PO'd — "piss off", or "pissed off"
POS — "parents over shoulder"; warning, by kids, that parents may be watching. Also, "piece of shit".
POV — "point of view"
pro; pr0 — "professional"; meaning someone is really good, usually at a game.
pron, pr0n — "porn"; used to avoid automated filters on certain words.
pron — a change of spelling coming from the warez scene meaning "porn" (pornography). Internet search engine trigger word, commonly mispelled on porn and non-porn sites to avoid search engine classification as an "adult site".
pr0n — same as pron
PvP — Player versus player
pwn, pwned (also p0wn or p0wned or pwnt) — deliberate typo of the word "own" (which see). To "pwn something" means to have complete control over it, and to be "pwned by something" means to be dominated by it.

Q

qool, qoolz — "cool"; in the American sense.
qwn, qwnt, qwned — deliberate typo of "pwn" (which see), which is a deliberate typo of "own".

R

R — "are"
r0x0rz (also rox0rs and other forms) — leet speak for "rocks".
R8 — "right", "rate"
RD — "Red Dwarf"
RE — rematch; often used in online games
RL — "real life"; often used in online games to refer to life outside of the game, see IRL.
ROFL, ROTFL — "rolling on the floor laughing"; as a reply to something extremely amusing, see http://www.rofl.alturl.com
ROFLMAO, ROTFLMAO — "rolling on the floor laughing my ass off"; as a reply to something extremely amusing. (www.rofl.alturl.com)
roffle — alternate version of "ROFL"
roffle out loud — a form of "ROFL" or "LOL", intended to mock those who use many acronyms in speech.
ROR — "raughing out roud", an Japanese (Engrish) variant LOL.
ROTFLMHO — "rolling on the floor laughing my head off"; as an reply to something funny, alternative to ROTFLMAO.
RTFA — "read the fucking article"; applies mostly to Slashdot threads, for users who make comments on a story without having read it first.
RTFM — "read the fucking manual" or "read the fine manual"; the frequent reply to a request for basic help from newbies who have not attempted to find the answer for themselves.
RTFP — "read the fucking post"; derived from RTFA and also used on Slashdot.
RTFS — "read the fucking/fine source", frequently used when documentation is lacking or completely absent.
RU — "are you"

S

S — "smile", usually written *S* or <S> to separate it from the surrounding text.
sif — "as if"
sifn't — "as if not", used in reply to "sif".
SCNR — "sorry, could not resist."
SH — "shit happens"
SMD — "Suck my dick"
SMDVQ — "Suck my dick very quick"
SO — "significant other"; a termed encapsulating a girlfriend, boyfriend, or spouse.
SFW — "safe for work"; material (pictures, webpages) that is safe for the office. Used at Fark. See also NSFW. Alternate meaning (which may not be appropriate in the office): "so fucking what?"
Smeg — Meaning the same as "fuck" or "bugger" (popularized by Red Dwarf, a British TV sitcom).
sroucks — means even when something rocks, it sucks (or something in between), or vice versa. Often used in a sarcastic way, as to let others be in doubt if it's praising or just the opposite.
SSIA — "subject says it all"; used in newsgroup postings and the like.
STFU — "shut the fuck up"
STFW — "search the fucking web"
SUAGOOML — "Shut Up and Get Out of My Life"
sup? — "what's up?"
sux — "sucks".
sux0rs — leet speak for "sucks", "suckers".
suxxor — "sucker"
SWAK — "Sealed With A Kiss"

T

TA — "thanks again"; also Australian slang for thanks, pronounced taa, predating internet.
TBH — "to be honest"
thanx, thnx, thnz, thx, thz — "thanks"; this can be combined into 'kthx' (OK, thanks), 'plzkthx' (Please, OK, thanks), and 'kthxbye' (OK, thanks, goodbye).
TFA — "the fucking article"; a shorter form of "RTFA," mostly used on Slashdot
THX — "thanks"
TIA — "thanks in advance"
TLA — "Three letter Acronym" as in TLA is a TLA for TLA
TMAI — "tell me about it"
TMR@IA — "The monkeys are at it again"; usually used to blame the staff of online gaming communities for any screw ups in-game.
TMI — "too much information"
ToS — "Terms of Service"
TPTB — "the powers that be"
troll — a person who deliberately stirs up trouble.
TTFN — "ta ta for now" (bye)
TTYL — "talk to you later"
TTYS — "talk to you soon"
TY — "thank you"
toadie — Someone from the site www.newgrounds.com that worships a overrated flash artist called LegendaryFrog

U

u — "you"
UA — User Agreement
UL, U/L — "upload"; sending data to a remote host.
ur — "you're" or "your"
URYYFM — "you are too wise (two Y's) for me"
USUX — "you sux"

V

VFM — "value for money"
VoIP — "Voice over Internet Protocol", or phone conversations over broadband connections.
VWEG — "very wicked evil grin"

W

w00t, woot — leet speak exclamation of excitement or happiness or applauditory whistle; Used after gaining root control of a computer, can be short for "woohoo" or "We Owned the Other Team"
w312d — "word" (a generally positive interjection)
W8 — "wait"
WAI — "what an idiot"; also, Japanese for "Yay" as influenced by the anime culture
WADR — with all due respect.
waffles — pun on "ROTFLMAO"; used similarly.
warez — illegally obtained software.
wat — "what"
WB — "welcome back"
WBAGNFARB — Would Be A Good Name For A [Rock] Band. Inspired by columnist Dave Barry and used broadly by his fans.
WD — "well done"
WDUWTA — "what do you wanna talk about?"
WEG — "wicked evil grin"
WG — "wicked grin"
wiki — A WikiWiki. Wikipedia is a wiki (you are here).
WOMBAT — "Waste of Mind, Brain and Time"
wot — "what", predates internet
WRT — with respect to, with regard to
WTF — "what the fuck?"; Also "who the fuck?", "why the fuck?", etc. given the context.
WTFPWND — see pwn
WTG — "way to go!"
WTH — "what the heck?", or "what the hell?"
wut — "what"
W/ — "with", predates internet
W/E — "whatever"
W/O — "without", predates internet
WYSIWYG (pron. "wizzywig") — "What you see is what you get". In the print industry, it means that printed output will look identical to its screen representation. More recently used to refer to the style of making webpages that arose through the use of HTML-generators such as MS Frontpage, Dreamweaver, etc. and implies that the output is usually crude and does not transfer well across all settings.

X

X>* — definition of something [X] is better than everything [*]. Often [X] is a user's handle and [*] is an organization or another user. Sometimes crackers will use this as a boast and an insult when defacing a web site, meaning that they are better than the organization and/or the web sites administrators.
XD — An ascii face resembling someone laughing when turned vertically.
-xx0r — a suffix that makes you sound cool

Y

YAF — "You're a fag!" (homophobic attempt at insult)
YHBT — "you have been trolled"
YHL — "you have lost"
YMMV — "your mileage may vary"
YNK — "you never know"
YOMANK — "you owe me a new keyboard" (after a joke causes explosive expulsion of beverage from one's mouth)
YW — "you're welcome"

Z

0day — software or media that is illegally obtained before or on the day of the official release.
ZOMG — Bastardization of 'OMG', meaning 'Oh My God'. Pronounced 'Zoe My God'.

Effects on the Wider Language

Internet abbreviations are sometimes made up on the spot, therefore many of them can be confusing, obscure, whimsical, or even nonsensical. This type of on-the-spot abbreviating leads to such things as: OTP (on the phone), PO (pissed off), or the less common, OPTD (outside petting the dog). Another thing common to Internet communication is the truncation and morphing of words to forms that are easier to type. These may one day creep into common usage and end up in the dictionary. Some examples of this are:

addy — "address" ("addys" is the plural)
dun — "don't"
ima — "i'm going to", "I'm a gonna" (predates internet).
pic — "picture" ("pics", "pix" or "piccies" for plural)
prog, proggy — "computer program"
prolly — "probably"
puter — "computer" (already has made the leap to common spoken usage)

A special case of this 'teh'. This is the corruption of 'the', and often pops up spontaneously when typing fast. So common is it, in fact, that it has made the jump to purposeful usage. Typically it is used in situations where one is being 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. The three most common usages are "teh suck," "teh lame," and "teh shit," although "teh shit" has the same meaning as cool or "teh cool." This sarcastic usage originates with JeffK.

Similarly, the word "liek" is used as a sarcastic misspelling of like, as in "I LIEK PIE". It is often used as an insult to one's intelligence and/or typing ability.

The word newbie is almost exclusively used for all sorts of new users of an Internet forum or starters in a particular field of activity. It is not a pejorative term per se, but can be when combined with RTFM, etc.

"own" has become a mainstream word for "to completely dominate". It probably predates the internet in some ways.

External links

A comprehensive dictionary of Net slang and associated Net lore is Eric S. Raymond's The Jargon File, found at http://www.catb.org/~esr/jargon/.
FOLDOC - Free On-line Dictionary of Computing
BIBLIA - Ben's Incredible Big List of Initialisms and Acronyms
http://www.urbandictionary.com/ (Warning Possibly offensive and sexual words on this site)
NetLingo.com The Internet Dictionary
Newgrounds www.newgrounds.com"AOL speak" translator