Internet acronyms/initialisms (Uni-project - please contribute!)

[Sinj]

This semester I'm taking a course in lexicography. For those of you unfamiliar with the term, it's basically got to do with dictionaries.

There's both a practical and a theoretical aspect of the discipline.
Of the two, I've chosen to write a 'practical paper', which means that I'll have to compile 'my own dictionary'. This is, of course, a very time-consuming and difficult task, so I've decided to narrow my focus down to 'acronyms' and 'initialisms', particularly neologisms (newly coined words) that are used a lot on the internet.

And this is where I need your help. For my data collection I'm going to use informants (that is, you guys), so what I would love for you guys to do is this:

* Write down some acronyms/initialisms in this thread (stuff like 'brb' and 'gtg')

* If possible, write what it means, state if there are alternative spellings/meanings

* If possible, bring an authentic example of the acronym/initialism in question (screenshots or textlogs are very welcome, but not necessary)

* Various other relevant info (can the word/phrase be inflected somehow, is it used mostly by children/people from a certain MMO etc)

* Finally, it would be great if you could state your sex, age and country you're from


After I'm done with the informant data, I'll be holding it up against some corpus data (that I haven't compiled yet).
I'm well aware that there are more or less complete lists on the internet out there. I'll be using those in my paper as well, and I know they exist, so it would be great if you would refrain from simply linking to these.

I hope you guys can help me out

[Kuniku]

brb - be right back
brt/bts - be right there/be there soon
omw - on my way
ttfn - ta ta for now
iirc - if i remember correctly
imo - in my opinion
imho - in my honest opinion
stfu - shut the fuck up
gtfo - get the fuck out
mtfu - man the fuck up

just a few off the top of my head to get the list started

27, m, UK

[Pilobolus]

LOL - Laughing Out Loud
LMAO - Laughing My Ass Off
MFW - My Face When (Usually used along with a picture to describe a moment)

Still early in the morning, couldn't think of anything else that wasn't already said above.

27, male, United States

[Butler to Baby Sloths]

FWIW - for what it's worth
WB - welcome back
AFK - away from keyboard
FML - fuck my life
GZ - congratulations
GG - good game

25, male, Germany (also chat with americans and brits on a frequent basis)

[Deleted]

Everything the people above me said and more.

mfw - My face when
tmw- That moment when
ikr - I know right

18, M, Portugal.

You can find a lot of "words" like these on Urban Dictionary.

[Porcell]

Why am I doing your work for you. Google that shit man. We aren't going to come up with anything that's not on some other list somewhere...

[Blueobelisk]

One of my friends texted me "SMH" once and I was like "bitch, wtf does that mean."

SMH- Shake my head

Never ever heard that on the internet before though lol...

[Hraklea]

NSFW = Not Safe For Work.

[Butler to Baby Sloths]

NSFW = Not Safe For Work.

One of my favourite ones

/wink

[Kisho]

Why am I doing your work for you. Google that shit man. We aren't going to come up with anything that's not on some other list somewhere...

You should probably read the first post in a bit more detail.

Instead of listing a bunch of acronyms, I'll instead talk a bit about something interesting to me (because I do it a lot):

How acronyms can kind of become words of their own, then experience their own bastardisations, spinoffs, changes, etc. As an example, the acronym 'lol'. Sure, it means 'laughing out loud', but it's on a more direct meaning. It's not just 'laughing out loud', it's just an indication that you're laughing or at least smirking, finding something funny.

As such, it's become a word of its own, so experiences a lot of intentional mis-spellings as it evolves:

lol, lols, lolz, lulz, lul, lolworthy, loltastic, lolling, LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOL, and tons more.

Happens with other acronyms too, they become their own words ('roflcopter', 'rofl-waffle', etc.) instead of strictly an acronym.

It's pretty interesting and fun to think about.

Oh and I'm 24, male, in the UK. Since you asked so nicely.

[Deleted]

pls/plz = please
brb = be right back
gtg = got to go = have to go
bb = bye-bye
cya = see ya around
gn = good night
nn = nighty night (or something)
ta = thanks a lot
np = no problem
yw = you're welcome
u = you
omg = o my god
wtf = what the f(iretr)uck
wth = what the heck/what the hell
LEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOY JEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEENNNNNNNNNNNKIIIIIIIIIIIIIINNNNNNNNNNNSSSSSS = I'm going to make a big pull which we probably can't handle, or maybe we can barely handle it.
LFM = looking for more
LFG = looking for group
LFW = Looking for work
LFR = Looking for raid
iLvl = level of items made by Apple(tm) (nah jk, it's itemlevel)
jk = just kidding
imo = in my opinion
thx = thanks
afaik = as far as I know
IIRC = If I remember correctly

21, m, the Netherlands

[Kerath]

Think people have covered most of the ones I'm familiar with.
Couple that I don't think are listed yet (or I'm blind and missed them).

FTFY - Fixed that for you (used by pedantic feckers when quoting someone else and adjusting the text in the quote)
WHS/WSS - What he said/What she said
ATM - at the moment (also - Automated Teller Machine )
FFS - for fuck sake

29, F, UK

[Deleted]

Most I know have already been listed except these.

PST - please send tell
TMI - too much information

23, M, Hungary

[Symphonic]

YOLO = you only live once

26, M, USA

[Deleted]

FYI = For your information
IRL = In real life

NSFW = Not Safe For Work.

Then i'll take the boring counterpart.

SFW = Safe for work

20 Male Sweden

[Deleted]

Does foreign acronyms count?

asg = asgarv (Swedish semi-equalivent of rofl)

18, Male, Sweden

[Arcilux]

bio = bathroom break
l8r = see you later
tl;dr = Too long, didn't read - typically found in forums
OP = original poster - typically found in forums
asl = age/sex/language
p4p = password for password - not common, used on file sharing/pirating sites where downloads are password protected. Way to trade files
noob,n00b,newb = New user/player often inexperienced. Often used as an insult
ty = thank you
np = no problem
smh = shaking my head

23, male, USA