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Got one response from the talk page about my edits saying "Thanks for sharing the work you are planning to do. I don't have any particular opinions about what you are suggesting- I look forward to seeing how you improve the article! - Dyork (talk) 01:05, 20 April 2021 (UTC)"

Internet slang

Internet slang (also called Internet shorthand, cyber-slang, netspeak, digispeak or chatspeak) is a non-standard or unofficial form of language used by people on the Internet to communicate to one another.^[1] An example of Internet slang is "LOL" meaning "laugh out loud". Since Internet slang is constantly changing, it is difficult to provide a standardized definition. However, it can be understood to be any type of slang that Internet users have popularized, and in many cases, have coined. Such terms often originate with the purpose of saving keystrokes or to compensate for small character limits. Many people use the same abbreviations in texting and instant messaging, and social networking websites. Acronyms, keyboard symbols, and abbreviations are common types of Internet slang. New dialects of slang, such as leet or Lolspeak, develop as ingroup internet memes rather than time savers. Many people use internet slang not only on the Internet but also face-to-face.

Creation and evolution[edit]

Origins[edit]

Internet slang originated in the early days of the Internet with some terms predating the Internet. The earliest forms of internet slang assumed people's knowledge of programing and commands in a specific language. ^[2] Internet slang is used in chat rooms, social networking services, online games, video games and throughout the online community. Since 1979, users of communications networks like Usenet created their own shorthand.

Motivations[edit]

The primary motivation for using a slang unique to the Internet is to ease communication. However, while Internet slang shortcuts save time for the writer, they take two times as long for the reader to understand, according to a study by the University of Tasmania. On the other hand, similar to the use of slang in traditional face-to-face speech or written language, slang on the Internet is often a way of indicating group membership.

Internet slang provides a channel which facilitates and constrains the ability to communicate in ways that are fundamentally different from those found in other semiotic situations. Many of the expectations and practices we associate with spoken and written language are no longer applicable. The Internet itself is ideal for new slang to emerge because of the richness of the medium and the availability of information. Slang is also thus motivated for the "creation and sustenance of online communities". These communities, in turn, play a role in solidarity or identification. They also play a role in an exclusive or common cause.

David Crystal distinguishes among five areas of the Internet where slang is used- The Web itself, email, asynchronous chat (for example, mailing lists), synchronous chat (for example, Internet Relay Chat), and virtual worlds. The electronic character of the channel has a fundamental influence on the language of the medium. Options for communication are constrained by the nature of the hardware needed in order to gain Internet access. Thus, productive linguistic capacity (the type of information that can be sent) is determined by the preassigned characters on a keyboard, and receptive linguistic capacity (the type of information that can be seen) is determined by the size and configuration of the screen. Additionally, both the sender and receiver are constrained linguistically by the linking of properties such as internet software, computer hardware, and networking hardware. Electronic discourse refers to writing the type of inform language used on media platforms that is written the way that it sounds.^[3]

Types of slang[edit]

Internet slang does not constitute a homogeneous language variety. Rather, it differs according to the user and type of Internet situation. However, within the language of Internet slang, there is still an element of prescriptivism, as seen in style guides, for example Wired Style, which are specifically aimed at usage on the Internet. Even so, few users consciously heed these prescriptive recommendations on CMC, but rather adapt their styles based on what they encounter online. Although it is difficult to produce a clear definition of Internet slang, the following types of slang may be observed. This list is not exhaustive.

Class	Description
Letter homophones	Included within this group are abbreviations and acronyms. An abbreviation is a shortening of a word, for example "CU" or "CYA" for "see you (see ya)". An acronym, on the other hand, is a subset of abbreviations and are formed from the initial components of a word. Examples of common acronyms include "LOL" for "laugh out loud", "BTW" for "by the way" and "TFW" for "that feeling when". There are also combinations of both, like "CUL8R" for "see you later".
Heterographs	Using one word in place of another, different but similarly-sounding, word. Alternatively, a deliberate misspelling. For example, using "sauce" instead of "source" when asking for the source of an image or other posted material online.
Punctuation, capitalizations, and other symbols	Such features are commonly used for emphasis. Periods or exclamation marks may be used repeatedly for emphasis, such as "........" or "!!!!!!!!!!". Question marks and exclamation marks are often used together in strings such as "?!?!?!?!" when one is angry while asking a question. Grammatical punctuation rules are also relaxed on the Internet. "E-mail" may simply be expressed as "email", and apostrophes can be dropped so that "John's book" becomes "johns book". Examples of capitalizations include "STOP IT", which can convey a stronger emotion of annoyance as opposed to "stop it". Bold, underline and italics are also used to indicate stress. Using a tilde ~ can be a symbol of sarcasm, like “~That was so funny ~”. ^[4] The period can also be used in a way to symbolize seriousness, or anger like “Ok.”
Onomatopoeic or stylized spellings	Onomatopoeic spellings have also become popularized on the Internet. One well-known example is "hahaha" to indicate laughter. Onomatopoeic spellings are very language specific. For instance, in Spanish, laughter is spelled as "jajaja" instead because J is pronounced like H in Spanish. In Thai it's 55555 because 5 in Thai is said Ha. In Korean, it is "kekeke".
Keyboard-generated emoticons and smileys	Emoticons are generally found in web forums, instant messengers, and online games. They are culture-specific and certain emoticons are only found in some languages but not in others. For example, the Japanese equivalent of emoticons, kaomoji (literally "face marks"), focus on the eyes instead of the mouth as in Western emoticons. They are also meant to be read right-side up, as in ^_^ as opposed to sideways, :3. More recently than face emoticons, other emoticon symbols such as <3 (which is a sideways heart) have emerged. Compared to emoticons used in Western cultures such as the United States, kaomoji play a very distinct social role in online discourse.
Emojis	Emojis are relatively new to internet slang^[5], and are much like emoticons in the way that they convey messages in a visual way. However, while emoticons create an image using characters from the keyboard, emojis are a whole new level of communication and slang that portray messages in small cartoons. With culture comes different meaning for different emojis. For example, in 2016, Emojipedia and Prismoji took 571 peach emojis tweets and associated them with six different meanings varying from the fruit, feeling peachy, or sexual connotations. ^[6]
Direct requests	These are found in chat engines such as Internet Relay Chat or online games, where personal identities may be concealed. As such, questions such as "A/S/L?" which stands for "age, sex, location?" are commonly posed.
Leet	Leetspeak, or 1337, is an alternative alphabet for the English language which uses various combinations of ASCII characters to replace Latinate letters. For example, Wikipedia may be expressed as "\/\/1\|<1p3[)14". It originated from computer hacking, but its use has been extended to online gaming as well. Leet is often used today to set up effective security password for different accounts.^[7]
Novel syntactic features	Unusual syntactic structures such as "I Can Has Cheezburger?" and "You are doing me a frighten" have been encouraged and spread by highly successful memes. Pluralization of "the internets" is another example, which has become common since it was used by George W. Bush during a televised event.^[8]
Flaming	Flaming refers to the use of rude or profane language in interactions between Internet users. It can be caused by any subject of polarizing nature. For example, there is an ongoing debate among users of Windows and classic Mac OS/macOS as to which is "superior". Historically, the act of flaming has been described as an intrinsic quality of emails due to an absence of visual and auditory cues in computer-mediated communication (CMC).
Padonkaffsky jargon	Olbanian language is a Russian cant language developed by padonki of Runet. The language entered mainstream culture and it has been suggested that Olbanian should be taught in schools. Similar systems exist for other languages with non-Roman scripts such as Hebrew and Arabic.
Neologism	Neologisms is the initialism of words to shorten, while still understanding the full meaning of the message. This type of slang requires one to use the brain to interpret the meaning. One example is WYSIWYG (what you see is what you get). ^[9]

Today[edit]

Although Internet slang began as a means of "opposition" to mainstream language, its popularity with today's globalized digitally literate population has shifted it into a part of everyday language, where it also leaves a profound impact.

Frequently used slang also have become conventionalized into memetic "unit[s] of cultural information". These memes, in turn, are further spread through their use on the Internet, prominently through websites. The Internet as an "information superhighway" is also catalyzed through slang. The evolution of slang has also created a 'slang union' as part of a unique, specialized subculture. However, such impacts are limited and require further discussion, especially from the non-English world. This is because Internet slang is prevalent in languages more actively used on the Internet, like English, which is the Internet's lingua franca.

Around the world[edit]

In Japanese, the term moe has come into common use among slang users to mean something "preciously cute" and appealing.

Aside from the more frequent abbreviations, acronyms, and emoticons, Internet slang also uses archaic words or the lesser-known meanings of mainstream terms. Regular words can also be altered into something with a similar pronunciation but altogether different meaning, or attributed new meanings altogether. Phonetic transcriptions are the transformation of words to how it sounds in a certain language, and are used as internet slang.^[10] In places where logographic languages are used, such as China, a visual Internet slang exists. This gives characters dual meanings, one that is direct and one that is implied.

Chinese seal carving work. The character is a combination of three characters, which is done by Chinese netizen. This is a satire of Chinese Internet censorship. See Grass Mud Horse.

The Internet has helped people from all over the world to become connected to one another, enabling "global" relationships to be formed. As such, it is important for the various types of slang used online to be recognizable for everyone. It is also important to do so because of how other languages are quickly catching up with English on the Internet, following the increase in Internet usage in predominantly non-English speaking countries. In fact, as of January 2020, only approximately 25.9% of the online population is made up of English speakers.^[11]

Different cultures tend to have different motivations behind their choice of slang, on top of the difference in language used. For example, in China, because of the tough Internet regulations imposed, users tend to use certain slang to talk about issues deemed as sensitive to the government. These include using symbols to separate the characters of a word to avoid detection from manual or automated text pattern scanning and consequential censorship. An outstanding example is the use of the term river crab to denote censorship. River crab (hexie) is pronounced the same as "harmony"—the official term used to justify political discipline and censorship. As such Chinese netizens reappropriate the official terms in a sarcastic way.

Abbreviations are popular across different cultures, including countries like Japan, China, France, Portugal, etc., and are used according to the particular language the Internet users speak. Significantly, this same style of slang creation is also found in non-alphabetical languages as, for example, a form of "e gao" or alternative political discourse.

The difference in language often results in miscommunication, as seen in an onomatopoeic example, "555", which sounds like "crying" in Chinese, and "laughing" in Thai. A similar example is between the English "haha" and the Spanish "jaja", where both are onomatopoeic expressions of laughter, but the difference in language also meant a different consonant for the same sound to be produced. For more examples of how other languages express "laughing out loud", see also: LOL

In terms of culture, in Chinese, the numerically based onomatopoeia "770880" (simplified Chinese: 亲亲你抱抱你; traditional Chinese: 親親你抱抱你; pinyin: qīn qīn nǐ bào bào nǐ), which means to 'kiss and hug you', is used. This is comparable to "XOXO", which many Internet users use. In French, "pk" or "pq" is used in the place of pourquoi, which means 'why'. This is an example of a combination of onomatopoeia and shortening of the original word for convenience when writing online.

In conclusion, every different country has their own language background and cultural differences and hence, they tend to have their own rules and motivations for their own Internet slang. However, at present, there is still a lack of studies done by researchers on some differences between the countries.

On the whole, the popular use of Internet slang has resulted in a unique online and offline community as well as a couple sub-categories of "special internet slang which is different from other slang spread on the whole internet... similar to jargon... usually decided by the sharing community". It has also led to virtual communities marked by the specific slang they use and led to a more homogenized yet diverse online culture.

Internet Slang used in Advertisement

Internet slang is considered a form of advertisement. ^[12] Through two empirical studies, it was proven that Internet Slang could help promote or capture the crowd's attention through advertisement, but did not increase the sales of the product.^[12] However, using internet slang in advertisement may attract a certain demographic, and might not be the best to use depending on the product or good.^[12] Furthermore, an overuse of internet slang also negatively effects the brand due to quality of the advertisement, but still using an appropriate amount would be sufficient in providing more attention to the ad. ^[12] According to the experiment, internet slang helped capture the attention of the consumers of necessity items. ^[12] However, the demographic of luxury goods differ, and using internet slang would potentially have the brand loose credibility due to the appropriateness of internet slang.^[12]

References[edit]

^ Zappavigna, Michele (2012). Discourse of Twitter and Social Media : How We Use Language to Create Affiliation on the Web. eBook. p. 127. ISBN 9781441138712.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
^ McCulloch, Gretchen (2019). Because Internet: Understanding the Rules of Language. New York: Riverhead Books. pp. 88–95. ISBN 9780735210950.
^ Muniandy, Alageswary. "Electronic-discourse (E-discourse): Spoken, Written or a New Hybrid?" (PDF). Prospect. 17.
^ Kimball Leslie, Jess (June 5, 2017). "The Internet Tilde Perfectly Conveys Something We Don't Have the Words to Explain". Science of Us – via Vox Media, LLC.
^ Kralj Novak, Smailovic, Sluban, Mozetic, Petra, Jasmina, Borut, Igor. "Sentiment of emojis". PLoS ONE. 10 – via Gale Academic OneFile.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
^ Azhar, Hamden (2016). "How We Really Use The Peach".{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
^ Li, Zeng, Wanda, Jianping (January 2021). "Leet Usage and Its Effect on Password Security".{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) CS1 maint: url-status (link)
^ Menning, Chris (2000). "Internets". Know Your Memes.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
^ Jarc, James (2018). The SAGE Encyclopedia of the Internet. SAGE Publication Inc. pp. 572–575. ISBN 9781473926615.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
^ Wells, J.C. "Phonetic transcriptions and analysis".{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
^ Johnson, Joseph (Jan 27, 2021). "Most common languages used on the internet as of January 2020, by share of internet users". Statista.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f Liu, Gui, Zuo, Dai, Shixiong, Dan-Yang, Yafei, Yu (7 June 2019). "Good Slang or Bad Slang? Embedding Internet Slang in Persuasive Advertising".{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) CS1 maint: url-status (link)

External links[edit]

	Look up Wiktionary:Other dictionaries on the Web in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

	Wikimedia Commons has media related to Internet slang.

Dictionaries of slang and abbreviations:
- All Acronyms
- FOLDOC, computing
- InternetSlang.com
- SlangInternet.com
- Internet Slangs
- Slang Dictionary
- SlangLang.net

Your work should be here moving forward Adrishaw (talk) 15:29, 24 February 2021 (UTC)

[1] Zappavigna, Michele (2012). Discourse of Twitter and Social Media : How We Use Language to Create Affiliation on the Web. eBook. p. 127. ISBN 9781441138712.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)

[2] McCulloch, Gretchen (2019). Because Internet: Understanding the Rules of Language. New York: Riverhead Books. pp. 88–95. ISBN 9780735210950.

[3] Muniandy, Alageswary. "Electronic-discourse (E-discourse): Spoken, Written or a New Hybrid?" (PDF). Prospect. 17.

[4] Kimball Leslie, Jess (June 5, 2017). "The Internet Tilde Perfectly Conveys Something We Don't Have the Words to Explain". Science of Us – via Vox Media, LLC.

[5] Kralj Novak, Smailovic, Sluban, Mozetic, Petra, Jasmina, Borut, Igor. "Sentiment of emojis". PLoS ONE. 10 – via Gale Academic OneFile.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)

[6] Azhar, Hamden (2016). "How We Really Use The Peach".{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)

[7] Li, Zeng, Wanda, Jianping (January 2021). "Leet Usage and Its Effect on Password Security".{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) CS1 maint: url-status (link)

[8] Menning, Chris (2000). "Internets". Know Your Memes.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)

[9] Jarc, James (2018). The SAGE Encyclopedia of the Internet. SAGE Publication Inc. pp. 572–575. ISBN 9781473926615.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)

[10] Wells, J.C. "Phonetic transcriptions and analysis".{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)

[11] Johnson, Joseph (Jan 27, 2021). "Most common languages used on the internet as of January 2020, by share of internet users". Statista.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)

[:0-12] ^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f Liu, Gui, Zuo, Dai, Shixiong, Dan-Yang, Yafei, Yu (7 June 2019). "Good Slang or Bad Slang? Embedding Internet Slang in Persuasive Advertising".{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) CS1 maint: url-status (link)

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