Computer shorthand

Subject: Computer shorthand
From: GUEST,Jim
Date: 23 Aug 06 - 10:54 AM

It seems there is a new language, Computerese, appearing on the internet. Some of these shorthand messages are easy to figure out; I've assumed that "IMO" means "in my opinion", but others just leave me without a clue. Could someone please provide a translation for the common Computerese terms for non-geeks like me. I know I'll never use them, but it would help me understand other people's posts.
Thanks,
Jim

Subject: RE: Computer shorthand
From: treewind
Date: 23 Aug 06 - 10:57 AM

Internet Jargon
(one of many such references)
Anahata

Subject: RE: Computer shorthand
From: mack/misophist
Date: 23 Aug 06 - 11:01 AM

Not new at all. It's been around for ages.

Subject: RE: Computer shorthand
From: GUEST,Jim
Date: 23 Aug 06 - 11:02 AM

Thanks treewind. Exactly what I was looking for. I've seen LOL many times and would never have guessed what it meant.

Subject: RE: Computer shorthand
From: treewind
Date: 23 Aug 06 - 11:05 AM

Sorry - HERE is a much better one, in the right language...

Subject: RE: Computer shorthand
From: Bill D
Date: 23 Aug 06 - 11:22 AM

There are only 3-4 of those that I would use here...and only a couple more that I would use even in a group of computer savvy regulars. In the world of IM (Instant message) banter, that's about the only way some people keep up...but they don't end up saying much.

I will use LOL or BRB or FYI sometimes, but usually prefer to just type it. I will NOT stoop to 'u' for 'you' and '4' to shorten 'for'!!! (nor even b4)

Subject: RE: Computer shorthand
From: Richard Bridge
Date: 23 Aug 06 - 11:25 AM

HTFSIK - How the flip should I know?
HTFWYK - How the flip would you know?

Subject: RE: Computer shorthand
From: treewind
Date: 23 Aug 06 - 11:37 AM

"'u' for 'you' and '4' to shorten 'for'"
That (and 'm8' and others) didn't start off as internet slang, it's cellphone TXT abbreviations.

Subject: RE: Computer shorthand
From: Bill D
Date: 23 Aug 06 - 11:44 AM

ummmm...the internet, and things like IRC (Internet Relay Chat) pre-date cellphone text messaging, I believe.

Subject: RE: Computer shorthand
From: Scrump
Date: 23 Aug 06 - 11:53 AM

The Internet abbreviations started because of the need to keep communications as short as possible when dialup connection was slow and keeping text lengths down was more important than it is today. I use a few of them still, mainly because they save me time when typing, and I figure most people know the ones I use. Txt abbrevs started for similar reasons on cellphones.

That said, I used some abbreviations in internal office emails even before I had access to the Internet, such as m8 for mate. I wasn't aware of their use elsewhere at the time. It would be difficult to pinpoint when any of the commonly used ones started, or who invented them. I could claim to have 'invented' (e.g.) m8 but I know others invented it independently (not that it takes any brains to do that).

To the original GUEST,Jim: RTFM ;-) (note the emoticon!)

Subject: RE: Computer shorthand
From: JohnInKansas
Date: 23 Aug 06 - 12:24 PM

The shortest versions currently are most used in "text messaging," especially when used as an alternative to learning by school kids who really have little to say anyway(?). Some of these can be virtually inscrutible, unless surrounding context gives a clue.

For the most part, the common ones are "obvious" acronyms or loosely "phonetic" spellings.

For some terms one must know the original bit in order to progressively understand more complex ones. Trivial example:

IMO = In My Opinion
IMHO = In My Humble Opinion
IMNSHO = In My Not So Humble Opinion
IMOEO = In My Own Exalted Opinion

The progression leads to some rather complex terms, many of which appear in other uses - as on T-shirts and hats:

DILLIGAF = Do I Look Like I Give A F**K
DILLIGAFF = Do I Look Like I Five A Flying F**K

Bizarre ones crop up, like:

WAY? = Who Appointed You?
WMYLAMOTU? = Who Made You Lord And Master Of The Universe?

One may also encounter "created" abbreviations where the intent is that they NOT be intelligible, in order that someone must ask WTF? and the originator can deliver their "crushing" definition - almost always in terms derogatory of the original object of the remark and of the respondent who was forced to ask. (Considered rude.)

In some contexts, as with text messaging, one supposes that they save some keystrokes; and are useful within cliques that share common usage. A few of the best known and/or more obvious appear rather generally, may be a simple way of indicating joking or sarcastic comment, and can usually be "looked up" at Wiki or elsewhere.

John

Subject: RE: Computer shorthand
From: wysiwyg
Date: 23 Aug 06 - 12:35 PM

Jim, welcome to Mudcat. Be sure to also review the Mudcat FAQ, where links to internet slang are located. Also, there are a few acronyms particular to Mudcat that you will also encounter eventually.

~Susan

Subject: RE: Computer shorthand
From: mrdux
Date: 23 Aug 06 - 12:58 PM

my favorite net jargon dictionary:

http://www.netlingo.com/

Subject: RE: Computer shorthand
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 23 Aug 06 - 03:27 PM

Some things have been around a LOT longer than the Internet or cell phone messaging.

FYI, for example. ASAP. SNAFU. Governments, the military, and law enforcement have been filled with acronyms for decades, at the very least.

SRS

Subject: RE: Computer shorthand
From: Nigel Parsons
Date: 23 Aug 06 - 04:03 PM

WYSIWYG: (which is yet another acronym)
Should you have expanded upon you reference to the Mudcat FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions)

And why is "World Wide Web" abbreviated to "www" but said aloud as "double you, double you, double you" Needing 9 syllables in place of the original three?

CHEERS
Nigel (Never Intentionally Gets Exceedingly Legless)

Subject: RE: Computer shorthand
From: Snuffy
Date: 23 Aug 06 - 07:04 PM

SPQR is quite old too

Subject: RE: Computer shorthand
From: MGM·Lion
Date: 12 Oct 12 - 02:01 AM

Has it occurred to anyone else that the official IT abbreviation for
HyperText Markup Language (HTML) is liable be acronymised to suggest 'Hate Mail'? ~~ a concept near enough in association as to produce an unfortunate effect. Obviously too late now to change so established a usage; but it does strike me as a regrettably suggestive coincidence which should perhaps have been thought of by the original formulators.

~Michael~

Subject: RE: Computer shorthand
From: Jack the Sailor
Date: 12 Oct 12 - 02:19 AM

Or Hat Mall.

Subject: RE: Computer shorthand
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 12 Oct 12 - 02:36 PM

Hot Tamale, hot milk

e. g.
a. o. , &c, etc.

IITA= I ignore them all (except the classics in OED)

Subject: RE: Computer shorthand
From: Jim Dixon
Date: 12 Oct 12 - 03:30 PM

Lately I have been frequenting another internet forum that attracts mainly younger people (don't they all? All except Mudcat, anyway), and I have been encountering a lot of abbreviations that are never used at Mudcat. I have been looking them up as I go along, and I probably can't remember most of them now. Unfortunately, I haven't kept any notes.

If you need a definition for anything, Google works pretty well for things that aren't listed in standard dictionaries. In your search box, type "define:" followed by the word or term you want defined, with no space, for example:

define:rofl

Funny story: There is a certain Mudcatter who frequently writes things like: "That song was written by Richard Thompson, IIRC." The musicians he writes about are mostly British, and that abbreviation "IIRC" occurred so often after a person's name that for a long time I assumed it was one of those honorific titles that the queen sometimes bestows on distinguished artists, like OBE or MBE. It isn't.

Subject: RE: Computer shorthand
From: JohnInKansas
Date: 12 Oct 12 - 06:22 PM

Has it occurred to anyone else that the official IT abbreviation for HyperText Markup Language (HTML) ...

Caution on this one is suggested, since we have several here who may thing that SGML (the precursor of HTML) is something about SEX.

An alternative to IIRC, although less commonly is IMSM. I think it's used mostly by those who want to give the impression of being "intellectual" even if they can't spell.

The mention of SNAFU, which is very old, left out the associated term used to describe a SNAFU when "magament assistance" or help from "high command echelons" is applied: FUBAR.

Being somewhat of a cranky old fart, I could suggest that these are not "Computer Shorthand" and maybe "Social Shorthand" would be more appropriate." People blame computers for lots of stuff that's only the fault of the (MIS)USERS. ...

"Computer shorthand" is more like ABEND and BRS.

There is some overlap, however, as with SPGWK.

John

Subject: RE: Computer shorthand
From: EBarnacle
Date: 13 Oct 12 - 09:28 AM

My favorite is RTFM. Wikipedia cites it as going back to the Korean War. A conversation with Dick cites it as being a common usage before the war in the college which he attended with a lot of GI Bill students.

As an initialism, it almost certainly goes back to WW II and its explosion of both manuals and initialisms.

Subject: RE: Computer shorthand
From: Bert
Date: 13 Oct 12 - 11:45 AM

TTFN goes back at least to ITMA.

Subject: RE: Computer shorthand
From: Kenny B (inactive)
Date: 13 Oct 12 - 11:56 AM

Or Even TTFNQ ............. its for bananas

Subject: RE: Computer shorthand
From: Rob Naylor
Date: 13 Oct 12 - 12:18 PM

A large amount of what seems to be called "text speak" or "internet abbreviations" derives from telex shorthand.

Much of the rest was created back when connection speeds were 1200 or 2400 bits per second and *compactness* was absolutely required. It migrated into phone texts when SMS message lengths were limited to 127 characters and then unnecessarily into www forum communications.

What *was* a true innovation of the comupter age was "leet" or "1337" which we used to use on bulletin boards back in the 1980s to defeat "spybots" looking for banned discussion subjects, among other things!

l337 w45 4 w4y b4ck 7h3n 0f 0u71n6 y0ur53lf 45 n07 b31n6 4n 0nl1n3 n3wb13. (That's level 1 leet).

133+ \\|/45 4 \\|/4`/ 84(|( +|-|3|\\| 0|# 0|_|+!|\\|6 `/0|_||2531|# 45 |\\|0+ 83!|\\|6 4|\\| 0|\\|1!|\\|3 |\\|3\\|/8!3. (same thing in Ultimate Leet).

Subject: RE: Computer shorthand
From: Arthur_itus
Date: 13 Oct 12 - 12:35 PM

Dont know if many of you use twitter? If not, you are restricted to 140 characters per post, which includes the address of the person(s), a bit like an email address such as @stephenfry

I love Twitter, becuase it can be challenging to say what you want to say with such a few characters.

So things like for, to, and, you would be 4, 2, &, u

Sometimes if I am short on characters, I will take out fullstops, commas etc.

Subject: RE: Computer shorthand
From: Rob Naylor
Date: 13 Oct 12 - 01:24 PM

I spent years railing against the 127 character limit that was all you could use in early SMS texts. It was challenging but frustrating to fit your texts within the limit.

Consequently, now that texting limitations are a thing of the past, I find it faintly ridiculous, given the plethora of ways of communicating effectively these days, why people seem so struck on *voluntarily handicapping* their communications! :-)

Subject: RE: Computer shorthand
From: JohnInKansas
Date: 13 Oct 12 - 04:24 PM

For some, the use of "shorthands" is a way of excluding those who aren't "in" from reading their messages.

During one period when I was forced to attend a whole lot of useless management meetings I took most of my notes in Gregg, because their was always some nosy SOB trying to look over my shoulder to see what I was writing.

I was never very good at it, since I only had one weekend to learn; but it served my purposes and was sufficient for response to one of the nosy SOBs (the only ones who had noticed) when one of the secretary/stenographers quit and left a batch of untranscribed letters he'd dictated. (It's a good thing the ballpoint killed Pittman, 'cause I found it much more difficult to read, and never attempted to write it.)

John