Jargon
Mrs. side pocket is very good at crosswords, but occasionally she has to ask me about obscure 3-letter internet jargon. Everyone knows LOL but there are thousands of others. Kossacks, living on line as we do, know many of them, but they proliferate like Tribbles and it’s hard to keep up. TL:DR confused me at first (Too long:didn’t read) but now it’s commonplace.
Here’s a few to guess at. Answers below:
OMW
SWAG
YMMV
LMK
BRT
TYIA
SMH
TBH
G2G
SWIM
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On my way
Scientific wild-ass guess
Your mileage may vary
Let me know
Be right there
Thank you in advance
Shaking my head
To be honest
Got to go
See what I mean?
Of course, most of these are useful in texting, where brevity is paramount, but they find their way into many internet communications. As with most things, a little goes a long way. I found a site which claims to have the largest list of chat acronyms anywhere. There must be thousands, which is silly, because it’s merely the first letters of any short phrase….useless.
Speaking of transforming slang, an article in today’s Washington Post covers how gaming terms are migrating into our language Shared link I hope . It’s no wonder, considering its flexibility, that English is almost universal.
Do you know most of these acronyms? Do you use them? Texting only, or in comments and diaries? Well…..YMMV. Are there any you use that I haven’t mentioned? YWIA.