ARCHIVED: What do BTW, FAQ, FYI, IMHO, RTFM, and other acronyms mean?

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These are all abbreviations for specific phrases commonly used in informal written computer correspondence, online forums and boards, and online gaming. Following are some common acronyms and their meanings:

AFAIC As far as I'm concerned
AFAIK As far as I know
AFK Away from keyboard
BRB Be right back
BTDT Been there, done that
BTW By the way
BUAG Butt-ugly ASCII graphic
C/C Comments and criticism
EOM End of message
FAQ
Frequently Asked Question(s). When people say "the FAQ", they are generally referring to a list of answers to Frequently Asked Questions.
FTFY
Fixed that for you; often accompanied by a correction
FTW For the win
FWIW For what it's worth
FYI For your information
HTH Hope this helps
IANAL I am not a lawyer
IIRC If I recall correctly
IMHO In my humble opinion
IMNSHO In my not so humble opinion
IMO In my opinion
IOW In other words
l33t or 1337
From "elite". This has become a term used to describe the informal communication of Internet gaming. L33t speak is easily identified by the substitution of number and other characters for regular letters; e.g., hackers becomes h4XX0rz.
LFG
Looking for group, usually used in MMORPGs
LMAO Laughing my butt off
LMGTFY Let me Google that for you
LOL Laughing out loud
MMORPG
Massive multiplayer online role-playing game (e.g., World of Warcraft or Star Wars Galaxies); sometimes shortened to MMO
MOTAS Member of the appropriate sex
MOTOS Member of the opposite sex
MOTSS Member of the same sex
NG Newsgroup
n00b
From "newbie", meaning a newcomer not yet familiar with the rules
NT
No text; usually in the subject line of a message with no body
OMG Oh my God
OTOH On the other hand
PWN
Usage of the term "own", as in "I PWNed you!"
QQ
Cry more, noob (representation of eyes crying, often found in MMORPGs)
RL
Real life, as opposed to the Internet
ROFL Rolling on the floor laughing
ROFLMAO
Rolling on the floor laughing my butt off
RTFM
Read the fine manual. This may be interpreted as: "You have asked a question which would best be answered by consulting the manual (or FAQ, or other help files), a copy of which should be in your possession. The question you have asked is clearly answered in the manual and you are wasting time asking people to read it to you." It's good netiquette to mail this type of answer to another user rather than post it in public messages.
SO
Significant other; used to refer to someone's romantic partner
TBH To be honest
TLA Three letter acronym
TTFN Ta ta for now
TTYL Talk to you later
W/E Whatever
w00t An expression of joy
WFN Wrong forum, noob
WTF What the heck
WYSIWYG
ARCHIVED: What you see is what you get, pronounced as "wizzywig".
YMMH You might mean here
YMMV Your mileage may vary
{g} Grin
{BG} Big grin

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Last modified on 2023-09-22 17:53:42.