In a world of people who don't like to type, can't type quickly, or are too lazy to type, you're going to need a lot of help just figuring out what people are trying to say to one another.

For example, you might run across something like this in a chat room:

Dick: ...so the guy says, you know that's not a duck you've been talking to!
Jane: ROTFLOL
Dick: Yeah, my brother told me that. =) IMO, that's gotta be one of the better ones.
Jane: Definitely.
Dick: Oh Jane - I'm sorry, I gotta run. Spot's scratching at the door. I'd better take him for a walk. TTYL
Jane: OK. L8r.

Did any of that seem cryptic? Unless you’re online a lot, you probably get lost when you see stuff like that.

Here's a brief rundown of the ones that were used in the chat clip above:

ROTFLOL means "rolling on the floor, laughing out loud."
=) is a smiley face, a type of "emoticon". Turn your head to the left and it should make more sense.
IMO means "in my opinion."
TTYL means "talk to you later."
L8r is short for "later."
G stands for "grin."
LOL means "laughing out loud."

You're likely to run into more than that too.. Try some of these:

Going somewhere?

BRB isn't a stomach noise, but means "be right back"
AFK means "away from keyboard"
BAK means "back at keyboard"
BBL means "be back later"
TTFN means "ta ta for now"
BBIAB means "be back in a bit"
BBIAF means "be back in a few" or "be back in a flash"

Other

FWIW means "for what it's worth"
OIC means "Oh, I see"
OTOH means "On the other hand"
IMHO means "in my humble opinion"
IMNSHO means "in my not-so-humble opinion"

A few common "emoticons"

Smileys:

=)
:)
:-)
8)
8^)

To make a frown, use the opposite parenthesis, e.g., =(

Surprised: =O

Evil grin: >=)

Silly "tongue" smiley: =P or =Þ

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