Primer on Internet shorthand

©Washington Post

© St. Petersburg Times, published January 10, 2000

Internet shorthand packed with meaning Across the country every night, teens are chatting online with friends and Net acquaintances using a lingo all their own. A guide to 21st century jargon For linguistic purists, the world at the dawn of the 21st century is, well, a mess. Management consultants, marketing experts, lawyers and, especially in recent years, techno-geeks have cluttered American English with shorthand indecipherable to all but insiders.

Here's a short glossary of chatspeak:

• AYT -- Are you there?
• YIAH -- Yes, I am here.
• LTNS -- Long time no see.
• DIKU -- Do I know you?
• DTS -- Don't think so.
• WAYF -- Where are you from?
• A/S/L -- Request for fellow chatter's age, sex, location.
• AFAIK -- As far as I know.
• BRB -- Be right back.
• BTDT -- Been there, done that.
• B/F -- Boyfriend.
• G/F -- Girlfriend.
• GFETE -- Grinning from ear to ear.
• GFUG -- Good for you, girl.
• INAL -- I'm not a lawyer.
• IMHO -- In my humble opinion.
• ICCL -- I couldn't care less.
• OMG -- Oh my God, gosh.
• UGTBK -- You've got to be kidding.
• YOOC -- You're out of control.
• YYSSW -- Yeah, yeah, sure, sure, whatever.
• GTG, G2G, GG -- Got to go.
• TTFN -- Ta ta for now.
• CYA -- See ya.
• POOF -- Gone, left the chat room.

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