lol – r u afk or zzz?

DAVE’S FRIDAY FEATURE

Last Friday I finished the week with an article on emoticons. I had some interesting feedback and, as promised, am following up with this Friday’s feature: Web Abbreviations (or Webbreviations).

Whether you’re texting, instant messaging, playing online games, or even emailing, from time-to-time you’ll seen an abbreviation.

Some, such as LOL (laughing out loud) are so commonplace as to merit entry in commercial dictionaries. In order to expand your web diction, below is a list of some of the more (or less) common abbreviations you might see out there.

2nite	tonight
l8r	later
afk	away from keyboard
bbfn (ttfn)	bye bye for now (ta-ta for now)
k (kk)	okay – sometimes written as kk but meaning the same thing
brb	be right back
bio	bathroom (as in I’m going on a bio break)
omw (brt)	on my way (be right there used interchangeably)
bc or b/c	because
bs	(take a guess)
idk	I don’t know
btw	by the way
gl	good luck
cu (cul8r)	see you (see you later)
dnd	do not disturb (have seen this used as "denied" as well)
lol	laughing out loud
rofl	rolling on the floor laughing
eta	estimated time of arrival
noob (n00b)	someone is new to something (derogatory – "newb" or "newbie" is the polite version)
leet (l33t)	elite (meaning cool)
g2g	got to go
gf / bf / wyf / hub / so	girlfriend / boyfriend / wife / husband / significant other
gr8	great
grz / gratz / grtz	congratulations
oxo / xoxo	hugs and kisses
id10t	idiot
imo / imho	in my opinion / in my humble opinion
jk / j/k	joking or just kidding
msg	message
im	instant message
myob	mind your own business
ne1	anyone
u2	you too (not the band)
nm	never mind
omg	oh my God (or gosh)
plz / pls	please
tmi	too much information
ppl	people
qotd / motd	quote of the day / message of the day
qt	quiet
rl	real life
sfx	special effects
tx	thanks
ttyl	talk to you later
w8	wait
w/ w/o	with / without
zzz	sleeping / sleepy

Okay, now you’re totally l33t and will be able to understand what your kids are saying (jk). There are literally hundreds of abbreviations out there. This small list comprises some of the more "universal" ones.

I’ve left some of the less appropriate ones out, but there are plenty of those too.

So, get online and I’ll ttyl!

Blackberry and Texting Etiquette

An increasingly large number of my clients are getting Blackberrys (or is it Blackberries…) and other texting devices. After all, it’s a tried-and-tested technology for those on the move. But speed and convenience seems to be leading to short replies that may be misinterpreted…

When your email is routed to your Blackberry and you want to reply, it’s relatively straightforward: type and send. However, the nature of the devices tends to mean that quick, one-liners are the norm. I often get these in reply, with a message footer “Sent from my Blackberry”. I know that a short and often abrupt-seeming reply is nothing more than that. Be careful, however, if you’re replying to a client or someone who may be a little more sensitive.

Interpretation of email and text messages can be very mixed. I, for one, am guilty of misunderstanding a sentence or two as mean something quite different than intended by the sender. The written messages don’t reflect the tone of the sender, so it’s prudent to take a moment and consider how the message may be interpreted.

Am I too concerned? Perhaps. But if someone sends you an email, for example “is this the best offer we can get” and you, caught up in a thousand other things, respond “yes” on your texting device, will your client think you’re being a little abrupt…even rude because they’re used to you explaining youself in “regular” email or on the phone? Will they understand BRT, LMAO or CUL8R? For those who would like to know more, here is a list of text abbreviations from Webopedia.

As technology moves forward and communication gets quicker, it’s easy to forget that what you meant to say and how it was perceived can be very easily blurred.

Here’s a Top 10 list of SMS etiquette tips from WirelessDevNt.com.

Don’t text and drive!

Dave

Texting a signal of wider trend (BBC).