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Main article: Internet slang

This is a list of both complete and abbreviated Internet slang. Some of the abbreviations listed are not confined to the Internet, but are used in shorthand as well. Many come from specialized types of shorthand, such as military activities, scientific work, or medical terminology. It has been suggested that MMORPG slang be merged into this article or section. ... It has been suggested that MMORPG slang be merged into this article or section. ...

0-9

• 1337 (written in ASCII) - From the word Leet, derived from the word elite^[1]
• 2 - too, or to^[2]
• 4 - For^[2]

There are 95 printable ASCII characters, numbered 32 to 126. ... Leet or Leetspeak (often written in Leet as 1337 or 13375p34k, or the most common name 13375p33|<) is a writing system used primarily on the Internet, particularly in online games such as Counter-Strike, Half-Life, Half-Life 2, Team Fortress, and Habbo Hotel. ...

A

• AFAICR/S/T - As far as I can recall / remember / see / tell^[2]
• AFAIK - As far as I know^[3]
• AFK - Away from keyboard^[3]
• ANFSCD - And Now For Something Completely Different. Used to change the subject of conversation.^[4]
• ASAP - As soon as possible^[5]
• ASL - Age / sex / location^[6]
• ATEOTD - At The End of the Day^[4]
• ATM - At the moment^[3]
• AWOL - Absent Without (Official) Leave^[2]
• AYBABTU (also abbreviated as AYB) - All your base are belong to us (from the video game Zero Wing)^[2]

Age/sex/location (commonly A/S/L, asl, ASL, or ASL?) is an article of Internet slang used in instant messaging programs and in Internet chatrooms. ... The phrase is a piece of subtitled dialogue from the introduction to Zero Wing. ... Zero Wing is a 1989 Japanese shoot em up arcade game developed by Toaplan. ...

B

• B2B - Business to Business^[3]
• BBIAB - Be back in a bit^[6]
• BBL/S - Be back later / shortly / soon^[6]
• BCNU - Be seein' you^[3]
• Blog - Also known as web log or an online journal^[2]
• BOFH - Bastard operator from hell^[3]
• Bot - Any type of automated software in chatrooms and web-cataloging software^[7]
• BRB - Be right back^[3]
• BSOD - Blue Screen of Death^[3]
• BTDT - Been there done that^[6]
• BTW - By the way^[7]
• Bump - Increment (For example, C's ++ operator.)^[3] or a backronym for "Bring Up My Post"^[2]

To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... Logo The Bastard Operator From Hell (BOFH), a fictional character created by Simon Travaglia, is a rogue system administrator who takes out his anger on lusers (his colleagues, bosses and anyone who gets in his way). ... A chat room is an online forum where people can chat online (talk by broadcasting messages to people on the same forum in real time). ... A public payphone that has failed and is displaying the Blue Screen of Death. ...

C

• Crawl - To retrieve a web page along with the hyperlinks that reference it^[7]
• Crapplet - A poorly written computer application^[8]
• CU - See you (later)^[3]
• CYA - See ya OR Cover Your Ass^[2]
• Cyber (prefix) - A term used to connect the subsequent word loosely to the world of computers or the Internet or sex over a computer^[7]
• Cyberspace - Virtual reality, the Internet, the World Wide Web, and other kinds of computer systems. Science fiction author William Gibson popularized the term in his novel Neuromancer. Gibson used the word to describe a virtual world of computer networks that his cyberpunk heroes 'jacked into'^[7]

A crapplet is a portmanteau of the words crap and applet, referring to a computing applet that is either poorly written and/or implemented such as Java web applets. ... Application has the following meanings: In general, an application is using something general to some more conrete. ... Science fiction is a form of speculative fiction principally dealing with the impact of imagined science and technology, or both, upon society and persons as individuals. ... William Ford Gibson (born March 17, 1948, Conway, South Carolina) is an American-born science fiction author resident in Canada since 1968. ... Neuromancer by William Gibson is the most famous early cyberpunk novel and won the so-called science-fiction triple crown (the Nebula Award, the Philip K. Dick Memorial Award, and the Hugo Award) after being published in 1984. ...

D

• DFTT - Don't feed the trolls^[4]
• DGAF - Don't Give A Fuck
• DIAF - Die in a fire^[4]
• DILLIGAF/D/S - Does it look like I give a flip / fuck / damn / shit^[4]
• DND - Do not disturb^[2]
• DOA - Dead on arrival. Refers to hardware that is broken on delivery.^[9]

In Internet terminology, a troll is a person who enters an established community such as an online discussion forum and intentionally tries to cause disruption, often in the form of posting messages that are inflammatory, insulting, incorrect, inaccurate, or off-topic, with the intent of provoking a reaction from others. ...

E

• EOF - End Of File^[3]
• EOM - End of Message^[6]
• EOL - End of Life. Device or hardware that is at the end of its product life cycle.^[6]
• EQ - EverQuest^[2]
• ETA - Estimated time of arrival^[2]

End of Message. ...

F

• FAQ - Frequently Asked Question(s)^[3]
• FFS - For fuck's sake^[6]
• Flamer - Someone who makes inflammatory, abusive or directly offensive comments. Similar to, but not quite the same as an Internet troll^[3]
• FMCDH - From My Cold Dead Hands^[2]
• FOAD - Fuck off and die^[3]
• FOAF - Friend of a friend^[3]
• FTL - For the loss^[6]
• FTW - For the win^[6]
• FU - Fuck you^[2]
• FUBAR - Fucked up beyond all recognition / repair (from military slang; pronounced "foo-bar")^[3]
• FUD - Fear, Uncertainty and Doubt (the purposeful spread of misinformation)^[3]
• FWIW - For what it's worth^[3]
• FYI - For your information^[3]

FAQ is an abbreviation for Frequently Asked Question(s). The term refers to listed questions and answers, all supposed to be frequently asked in some context, and pertaining to a particular topic. ... A Do not feed the troll image In Internet terminology, a troll is someone who comes into an established community such as an online discussion forum, and posts inflammatory, rude, repetitive or offensive messages designed intentionally to annoy or antagonize the existing members or disrupt the flow of discussion, including... Look up FUBAR in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... Fear, uncertainty, and doubt (FUD) is a sales or marketing strategy of disseminating negative (and vague) information on a competitors product. ...

G

• GBTW - Get back to work^[2]
• GF - Great/good fight^[2]
• GFU - Good for you^[2]
• GFY - Go fuck yourself^[2]
• GG - Good game, used at or near the conclusion of a gaming match^[6]
• GJ - Good job, often used in online gaming when a teammate performs an act benefitting his team, such as killing an opponent or enabling that kill^[2]
• GMTA - Great minds think alike^[2]
• Godwin's Law - Dictates that the longer a thread, the more likely someone will post a comparison involving Nazis or Hitler^[10]
• Gratz - Congratulations^[2]
• GTFO - Get the fuck out^[2]
• GTG or G2G - 'Got to go' or 'Good to go'^[6]
• GR -Good Race^[2]

Listen to this article · (info) This audio file was created from an article revision dated 2006-07-01, and may not reflect subsequent edits to the article. ...

H

• HAND - Have A Nice Day^[3]
• Handle - Name used in online chat, (AKA nick(name), alias, screen/user name)^[7]
• HF - Have fun^[2]
• Haxor or H4x0r (1337) - Hacker^[6]
• Hit - A request made to the web server, (noun) the results of an internet search, (verb) loading a Web page. Hits are not equivalent to visitors of a webpage.^[7]
• Home page - The website's introduction page, starting point, and guide. The technical term is "index"^[7]
• Hot list - A collection of publicly available URLs (World Wide Web site addresses), sometimes available as text files.^[7]
• HTH - Hope this / that helps^[3]
• H8 - Hate^[2]

Have a Nice Day is commonly spoken valediction, typically spoken by retail employees or clerks to customers after a sale. ...

I

• IANAL - I am not a lawyer^[3]
• IBTL - In before the lock^[8]
• IDK - I don't know^[3]
• IIRC - If I recall / remember correctly^[3]
• IIUC - If I understand correctly^[2]
• IMO/IMHO/IMNSHO/IMAO - In my (humble / honest / not so humble / arrogant) opinion^[3][7][11]
• Information superhighway - The Internet (AKA: I-way, infobahn)^[7]
• IONO - I don't know^[2]
• IOW - In other words^[3]
• IRC - Internet Relay Chat^[3]
• IRL - In real life^[3]
• ITYM - I Think You Mean^[2]
• IWSN - I want sex now^[8]
• IYKWIM - If you know what I mean^[12]

IANAL is a Usenet and chat abbreviation (acronym) for I am not a lawyer. ... Internet Relay Chat (IRC) is a form of real-time Internet chat or synchronous conferencing. ...

J

• Jaggy - Aliased computer graphics^[7]
• JK or j/k - Just kidding, or joke^[2]
• JFGI - Just Fucking/Freaking Google It^[4]

On statistics, signal processing, and related disciplines, aliasing is an effect that causes different continuous signals to become indistinguishable (or aliases of one another) when sampled. ...

K

• k or kk - OK^[4]
• KISS - Keep it simple stupid.^[4]
• KS(ing) - Kill-Steal(ing)^[2]
• KOS - Kill on sight^[2]
• KTHX - OK, thanks^[4]
• KTHXBAI or KTHXBYE - OK, thanks, goodbye, used either to cut short a conversation or to express displeasure with being cut short^[4]

This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ...

L

• L2P - Learn to play; an admonishment to MMORPG players who are incompetent and/or whine^[2]
• L8R - Later, L8R also sometimes abbreviated as L8ER is commonly used in chat rooms and other text based communications as a way of saying good bye.^[6]
• Lag - Slang term for slow Internet speeds or high Internet latency; Lag is sometimes due to a server problem, but more frequently due to the connection between client and server. A slow or intermittent connection may often be referred to as laggy^[3]
• Lamer - A know-nothing, one who is lame.^[3]
• Leet - Often spelled as l33t or 1337 in ASCII form. It originally meant elite^[3]
• LFG - Looking for group^[2]
• LFM - Looking for more^[2]
• LMAO - Laughing my ass off^[3]
• LMFAO - Laughing my frigging ass off
• LMIRL - Let's meet in real life.^[2]
• LMK - Let me know^[2]
• LOL - Laughing out loud, laugh out loud^[13]
• LTNS - Long time no see^[6]
• Lurker - Someone who frequents a Usenet group without participating in discussions^[3]

Lag often refers to delays experienced in computing communications, however it may also apply to written or other forms of communication. ... Lamer is a jargon or slang name originally applied in cracker and phreaker culture to someone who didnt really understand what he was doing. ... Look up lame in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... Leet or Leetspeak (often written in Leet as 1337 or 13375p34k, or the most common name 13375p33|<) is a writing system used primarily on the Internet, particularly in online games such as Counter-Strike, Half-Life, Half-Life 2, Team Fortress, and Habbo Hotel. ... There are 95 printable ASCII characters, numbered 32 to 126. ... Look up LOL, lol in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ...

M

• MMORPG, MMO - Massive Multi-player Online Role Playing Game^[6]
• MMOFPS - Massive Multi-player Online First Person Shooter
• MOTD - Message of the day^[3]
• MS - MapleStory, an MMORPG^[2]
• MTFBWY - May The Force be with you ^[4]
• MUD - Multi-User Dungeon^[3]
• MUSH - Multi-User Shared Hallucination^[3]
• MYOB - Mind your own business^[3]
• M8 - Mate^[2]

An image from World of Warcraft, one of the largest commercial MMORPGs as of 2007, based on active subscriptions. ... In the fictional Star Wars universe, The Force is a binding, metaphysical and ubiquitous power that is the object of the Jedi and Sith monastic orders. ... In computer gaming, a MUD (Multi-User Dungeon or Domain or Dimension) is a multi-player computer game that combines elements of role-playing games, hack and slash style computer games and social chat rooms. ... The login screen from M*U*S*H, the centre of development for PennMUSH. A MUSH (sometimes said to be an abbreviation for Multi-User Shared Hack, Habitat, Holodeck, or Hallucination, though these are backronyms) is a text-based online social medium to which multiple users are connected at the...

N

• NE1 - "Anyone"^[14]
• Newbie, noob, or n00b - An inexperienced user of a system or game,^[3] or an annoying person.^[2]
• NIFOC - Naked In Front Of Computer^[3]
• NM - (Sometimes written N/M) Not much, Never mind or no message, used on message boards or in e-mails to indicate that everything is already said in the subject line.^[6][15]
• NP - No problem^[6]
• NSFW - Not safe for work. Warning about content that may get the viewer in trouble with his employer or co-workers.^[16][17]
• NVM, NVMD, or nm - Nevermind, not much^[18]

Noob redirects here. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ...

O

• O RLY - Oh really?^[19]
• OIC - Oh, I see^[3]
• OFN - Old fucking news^[3]
• OMG - Oh my god^[6]
• OMFG - Oh my fucking god^[6]
• OMW - On my way or Oh my word^[2]
• OP - Original poster / Operator / Outpost^[2]
• OS - Operating system^[3]
• OT - Off topic^[2]
• OTOH - On the other hand^[3]
• OTP - On the phone or One true pairing^[2]

As featured in The Independent Tiger Weekly. ... A One Time Programmable (or OTP) is an electronic chip that contains programmable read-only memory (PROM). ...

P

• P2P - Peer to peer, or pay to play^[2]
• PAW - Parents are watching^[12]
• PEBKAC/PEBCAK - Problem exists between keyboard and chair^[3]
• Ping - From the popular network monitoring tool, used as a greeting similar to "Are you there?".^[20][21]
• PITA - Pain in the arse / ass^[3]
• PLMK - Please let me know^[3]
• PMSL - Pissing myself laughing^[6]
• POS - Piece of shit, or parent over shoulder.^[6]
• POTS - Plain old telephone service^[3]
• POV - Point of view^[12]
• PPL - People^[12]
• PTKFGS - Punch the Keys For God's Sake^[2]
• pr0n - Intentional misspelling of porn^[2]
• PW - Persistent World (gaming)^[4]
• pwned - Intentional misspelling of owned^[4]

ping in a Windows 2000 command window ping is a computer network tool used to test whether a particular host is reachable across an IP network. ... A type of video game in which the game automatically loads adjacent rooms while you explore the one you are in. ... This article is on the slang term, for the Greek wireless network please see Patras Wireless Network. ...

Q

• QFT - Quoted for truth. Used on internet message boards to show agreement from a previous message^[4]

R

• Rehi (or merely re) - Hello again^[3]
• RL - Real Life^[3]
• RO(T)FL - Rolling on (the) floor laughing^[3]
• RO(T)FLMAO - Rolling on (the) floor laughing my ass off^[3]
• RO(T)FLOL - Rolling on (the) floor laughing out loud^[3]
• RSN - Real soon now (used sarcastically)^[3]
• RTFB - Read the fucking binary (or book)^[3]
• RTFS - Read the fucking source^[3]
• RTFM/RTM - Read the (fucking) manual^[3]

RTFM is an acronym for the statement Read The Fucking Manual. This instruction is usually given in response to a question that can be answered easily by reading relevant documentation, and suggests that the inquirer may be wasting peoples time. ... It has been suggested that UTFSF be merged into this article or section. ...

S

• SCNR - Sorry, could not resist^[5]
• sk8/sk8r - skate/skater^[4]
• Smiley - Another name for emoticons^[7]
• SMH - Shaking my head^[4]
• SNAFU - Situation normal: all (fucked/^[3]fouled) up^[2]
• Snail mail - Normal paper mail service^[7]
• SOHF - Sense of humor failure^[12]
• Spider - The program behind a search engine^[7]
• STFU - Shut the fuck up^[22]
• STFW - Search the fucking web^[9]

For other uses, see Smiley (disambiguation). ... An emoticon (pronounced (IPA) ), also called a smiley, is a sequence of ordinary printable characters, such as :-), ^_^, ._. ... SNAFU is an acronym meaning things are in a mess – as usual. The most commonly accepted rendering is Situation Normal: All Fucked Up, or, in polite use, Situation Normal: All Fouled Up. ...

T

• TANSTAAFL - There ain't no such thing as a free lunch^[3]
• TBF - Time between failures^[3]
• TBH - To be honest^[6]
• TG - That's great^[4]
• TGIF - Thank god it's Friday^[2]
• TH(N)X, TNX or TX - Thanks^[6]
• TIA - Thanks in advance^[9]
• TINC - There Is No Cabal, a term discouraging conspiracy theories^[3]
• TMI - Too much information^[2]
• TOS - Terms of service^[3]
• TTBOMK - To the best of my knowledge^[5]
• TTFN - Ta ta for now^[3]
• TTYL - Talk to you later (also spelled TTUL, T2UL or T2YL)^[3]
• TTYTT - To Tell You The Truth^[2]
• Tweedler - One who has deep love for all computer related technology and gadgets^[7]
• TWIMC - To Whom It May Concern ^[4]
• TY - Thank you ^[6]
• TYT - Take your time^[3]
• TYVM - Thank you very much^[12]

There Is No Cabal is a catchphrase used on Usenet. ...

U

• U - You^[2]
• UTFSE - Use the fucking search engine^[2]

V

W

• w00t, w00T or WOOT - First two express exuberance, the latter is a backronym for the term "We Own the Other Team".^[2]
• W/ or W/O - With or without^[2]
• WB - Welcome back^[3]
• W/E - Whatever^[2]
• WRT - With respect / regard to^[3]
• WTB - Want to buy^[2]
• WTF - What the fuck^[3]
• WTG - Way to go^[3]
• WTH - What the hell^[3]
• WTS - Want to sell^[2]
• WTT - Want to trade^[2]
• WUG - What you got?^[2]
• WoW - World of Warcraft (game)^[2]
• WUBU2 - What (have) you been up to?^[2]
• WUU2 - What (are) you up to?^[2]
• WYSIWYG - What you see is what you get^[3][7]
• W8 - Wait^[2]

A backronym or bacronym is a type of acronym that begins as an ordinary word, and is later interpreted as an acronym. ... Look up WTF in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... WYSIWYG (IPA Pronunciation [] or []), is an acronym for What You See Is What You Get, used in computing to describe a system in which content during editing appears very similar to the final product. ...

Y

• YHBT - You have been trolled.^[4]
• YKW - You know what?^[8]
• YMMV - Your mileage may vary.^[6]
• YTMND - You're The Man Now, Dog^[2]
• YW - You're welcome.^[2]
• YOYO- You're On Your Own.^[2]

Z

• ZOMG - An intentional misspelling of the acronym shorthand for "Oh My God/Gawd" and pronounced "Zoh My God/Gawd" This version is mainly used in jest or to ridicule people who use abbreviations like OMG and OMFG^[6]

See also

• Emoticon
• Internet
• Farkisms
• Slang
• Leet
• List of online-gaming slang
• List of Internet slang specific to thread-based communication
• List of computer-related jargon
• List of blogging terms
• Computer jargon
• List of computing and IT abbreviations
• The Jargon File

An emoticon (pronounced (IPA) ), also called a smiley, is a sequence of ordinary printable characters, such as :-), ^_^, ._. ... Fark. ... Slang is the use of highly informal words and expressions that are not considered standard in the speakers dialect or language. ... Leet or Leetspeak (often written in Leet as 1337 or 13375p34k, or the most common name 13375p33|<) is a writing system used primarily on the Internet, particularly in online games such as Counter-Strike, Half-Life, Half-Life 2, Team Fortress, and Habbo Hotel. ... This list is of slang terms used in the context of online gaming. ... ... ... This article or section may contain original research or unverified claims. ... (arcane computer acronym, terminology or technology) (Computer jargon must be distinguished from hacker slang, which is the language of a certain subculture of people involved with computers. ... It has been suggested that Computer jargon be merged into this article or section. ... The Jargon File is a glossary of hacker slang. ...

References