What are the abbreviations most commonly used on the Internet?

Question

Every so often I see various abbreviations used on forums and blogs and whatnot, such as FYI (For Your Information) and AFAIK (As Far As I Know).

What other common abbreviations are there, and what are their meanings?

IMNSHO IHAA WIIGTE - In my not so humble opinion, I hate abbreviation abuse. Where is going to end? — Ivo Rossi, Jan 10 '11 at 17:15
@Ivo nice one... but you forgot an "it" in the long form ;-) — Jürgen A. Erhard, Jan 10 '11 at 17:34

score 9 · Answer 1 · edited Jan 11 '11 at 05:27

9

Here are some that I've seen quite often (there are many more here):

AFAIC: As Far As I'm Concerned
AFAIK: As Far As I Know
AFAIR: As Far As I Recall
AFK: Away From Keyboard
ATM: At The Moment
BSOD: Blue Screen Of Death
BTDT: Been There, Done That
BTW: By The Way
FAQ: Frequently Asked Questions
FTR: For The Record
FWIW: For What It's Worth
FYI: For Your Information
GIGO: Garbage In, Garbage Out
IANAL: I Am Not A Lawyer
IIRC: If I Recall Correctly
IMHO: In My Humble Opinion
IMNSHO: In My Not So Humble Opinion
IOW: In Other Words
IRL: In Real Life
LOL: Laughing Out Loud
OOTB: Out Of The Box
RTFM: Read The Manual
TLA: Three Letter Acronym
YMMV: Your Mileage May Vary

edited Jan 11 '11 at 05:27

zerkms

536

answered Jan 10 '11 at 16:55

Kramii

611

I'm quite partial to "IMPAO"... yes, I can be arrogant ;-D – Jürgen A. Erhard Jan 10 '11 at 17:35
Oh, and the F in RTFM has apparently been censored, when we all know that it stands for "Fine" ("Read The Fine Manual"). ;-) – Jürgen A. Erhard Jan 10 '11 at 17:36
@jae - I prefer the "F" to stand for "flimsy" since most of them (IME) never completely cover the topic I am looking for right then. – ssakl Jan 10 '11 at 18:53
"LOL" can also stand for "lots of love", though it's certainly less common. – psmears Jan 10 '11 at 19:24
specifically to internet - AFK and IRL are also widely used. – zerkms Jan 11 '11 at 05:25

score 5 · Answer 2 · answered Jan 10 '11 at 19:39

5

One I've seen only recently is

tl;dr

which apparently means "too long; didn't read".

answered Jan 10 '11 at 19:39

gablin

1,155

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I've also seen tl;dnr for those who don't like to abbreviate their abbreviations – Mr. Shiny and New 安宇 Jan 10 '11 at 19:44
More info at http://english.stackexchange.com/questions/209439/what-does-tldr-mean-and-how-is-it-used – A E Nov 24 '14 at 12:25

score 1 · Answer 3 · answered Jan 10 '11 at 17:03

1

WTF - What the F*** (or 'Why the face' - Modern Family. Phil: "I'm cool dad, that's my thang. I'm hip, I surf the web, I text. LOL: laugh out loud, OMG: oh my god, WTF: why the face")

answered Jan 10 '11 at 17:03

dave

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score 1 · Answer 4 · answered Jan 11 '11 at 04:28

1

i've noticed the emergence of the letter "F" in common acronyms, added for color. i.e. BTFW (by the f-ing way), etc. @Kramii's answer includes my favorite: RTFM!

answered Jan 11 '11 at 04:28

dddppp

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What are the abbreviations most commonly used on the Internet?

4 Answers4