I’ve always wanted to expand my horizons and learn a new language and honestly…I always thought it would be Spanish or maybe French. I never ever thought it would be the new language of acronyms but in the world we live in today I guess this is what it’s come down to. (you’ll notice I didn’t say…up to! probably because my attitude is showing on this one.)

For those of you who might also want to learn this new language I’m sharing a few of these phrases commonly used in texts, emails and other forms of communication we are all forced to endure.

So here we go:

AFAIC means “As far as I’m concerned.”

AFAIK means “As far as I know.”

(bad grief, I’m pretty sure that really is how far you know!)

AFK means “Away from keyboard.”

(like really, if you didn’t respond to an email wouldn’t most people assume you were away from your keyboard?)

BRB means “Be right back.”

BTDT means “Been there, done that.”

(somehow BTDT is not nearly as fun as saying, “hey, been there, done that!”)

BTW means “By the way.”

BUAG means “Butt-ugly ASCII graphic”

(which still needs a definition!)

C/C means “Comments and criticism.”

(I have to ask, how does the other party know what your comments and criticisms are if you just shoot out a C/C? I suppose it leaves them guessing?)

EOM means “End of message.”

FAQ means “Frequently asked questions.”

(now this one’s been around for years.)

FTFY means “Fixed that for you; often accompanied by a correction.”

(What’s wrong with, “dude, you made a mistake!”)

FTW means “For the win.”

FWIW means “For what it’s worth.”

FYI means “For your information.”

(another one that’s been around for years and BTW…is greatly over-used by me.)

HTH means “Hope this helps.”

IANAL means “I am not a lawyer.”

(Seriously, I can’t quite grasp when somebody would even need this.)

IMHO means “In my humble opinion.”

(If you’re throwing that opinion out there like a gangster how humble is it, really?)

IMO means “In my opinion.”

(ok, I’ll give them that one, no humble pie here.)

IOW means “In other words.”

LMAO means “Laughing my butt off.”

(I have to admit I have never seen anybody’s butt fall off from laughing but then…in this new world who knows?)

LMGTFY means “Let me Google that for you.”

(love this one!)

LOL means “Laughing out loud.”

MOTAS means “Member of the appropriate sex.”

MOTOS means “Member of the opposite sex.”

(which apparently according to the one directly above this is not considered ‘appropriate’…lol.)

MOTSS means “Member of the same sex.”

OMG means “Oh, my God.”

(this one is also highly overused and not by me.)

OTOH means “On the other hand.”

QQ means “Cry more, noob”

(representation of eyes crying) which then cries to ask…“what is a noob?” so of course I looked it up. A noob is a person who is inexperienced in a particular sphere or activity, especially computing or the use of the internet. So guess what…I – Micki, am now a noob!!)

RL means “Real life, as opposed to internet.”

(I find it sad that we have to let people know the difference.)

And I’m skipping quite a few but will leave you with one last one.

TTFN – which means “Ta ta for now!”

And one I’d like to add that I don’t think is being used:

EA – means “Enough already!” I’m done.

And there, loyal Her and His Voice readers, is my mini acronym lesson.

Take care and God bless,

Micki