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Key Emoticon & Online Acronym's Translated: Your Guide to Understanding the Secret Language of Moder
by www.SixWise.com When is the last time you got mail? These days, upon hearing
these words most people immediately think e-mail, and chances
are high that you got a new e-mail in the last day, if not
within the last hour or several minutes. The Internet has
so significantly changed the way we communicate that the modern
generation may never get the pleasure of receiving a real,
now old-fashioned, pen and paper letter.
But that doesn't seem to bother them. In fact, modern youth
have developed an entirely new language of sorts, one that's
reserved just for the Internet and, if you aren't familiar
with it, looks like some sort of secret code.
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Kids are using a new computer language full of emoticons
and acronyms that, to most adults, looks like a secret
code.
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Who uses this new "secret" language? Primarily,
it's today's youth, which is not surprising considering that,
according to the U.S. Department of Commerce, close to 76
percent of 14-17 year olds and 65.4 percent of 10-13 year
olds use the Internet. Even nearly 40 percent of young
kids aged 5-9 use it.
^__^
(oo)\______
(__)\ )\/\
| |--w |
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Feeling a little ambitious? Try recreating this Web
cow using your computer keyboard.
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What are they doing online? If they're not surfing the Web
or playing games, they're e-mailing, chatting and instant
messaging their friends. In fact, 74 percent of online teens
have used instant messaging (IM) programs (compared with 44
percent of online adults).
A survey of more than 800 children ages 10 to 17, conducted
by the Mercury News in partnership with the Kaiser Family
Foundation, even found that half of all kids use IM or a chat
room at least once a week. And--here's a major sign of the
times--one in four of these kids said they rely on chat, instant
messaging or e-mail as their primary method of communicating
with friends.
Have no Fear: Internet Language Decoded
If logging onto the Internet makes you feel like you're an
outsider at some type of secret club, take heed. The following
lines will get you up to speed on everything you need to know
to look like the most computer-savvy kid on the block (LOL).
This new language is made up of two major components: Emoticons
and acronyms. Let's start with emoticons, which is the words
"emotion" and "icon" combined. Emoticons
are used to convey gestures, feelings, voice inflection or
other intonations that may otherwise go unnoticed over the
Internet. Some, as you see in the dictionary of rather common
ones below, are quite creative:
| Common Emoticons Decoded |
| Frown: :-( |
Tongue in cheek: :-J |
| Wink: ;-) |
Puzzlement: :-k |
| Crying :(```` |
Abraham Lincoln: =):-)=
|
| Mischievous grin:
>:) |
Punk: =:-) |
| Smirk or confused:
:-/ |
Snake: =====:} |
| Sticking tongue
out: :-P |
Black eye: ?( |
| Laughing hard: :-D
|
Long-stemmed rose: @>--->---
|
| Mad: >:-\ |
Atomic bomb: @== |
| Blowing a kiss:
:-{} |
Sunglasses on head: B:-)
|
| What?!: :-s |
Hats off to you: d :-o |
| Unsmiley: :-t |
A salute: M:-) |
| Shouting: :-V |
Yuck: 8-P |
| Kiss: :-X |
Wow: 8-] |
| Criticism: :-[ |
Smile: : ) |
| Sniffles: :-\'| |
Bored: : [ |
| Pondering, impartial: :-I |
Loudmouth: :( ) |
| Wry smile: :-i |
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Want to learn more? Computer User's Online Dictionary has
an
extensive list of emoticons.
Now moving on to acronyms ... you may be familiar with
BYOB and ASAP, but if BRB and LOL look like a foreign language,
then keep reading--help is on the way!
| Common (and Not-so-Common)
Computer Acronyms |
| LOL: laughing out loud |
GMTA: great minds think alike |
| ROTFL: rolling on the floor laughing
|
L8R: later |
| BFN: bye for now |
LOLA: laugh out loud again |
| TTYL: talk to you later |
LOOL: laughing outrageously loud |
| IMO: in my opinion |
N1: nice one |
| IMHO: in my humble opinion |
NM: never mind |
| IMNSHO: in my not so humble opinion
|
NP: no problem |
| IIRC: if I recall correctly |
NRN: no reply necessary |
| IAC: in any case |
NTK: nice to know |
| OTOH: on the other hand |
SFETE: smiling from ear to ear |
| FWIW: for what it's worth |
SMAIM: send me an instant message |
| HTH: hope that helps |
SWALK: sealed with a loving
kiss |
| AFAIK: as far as I know |
TFDS: that's for darn sure |
| BRB: be right back |
TTYL: talk to you later |
| FAWC: for anyone who cares |
TWIMC: to whom it may concern |
| ICBW: I could be wrong |
TYVM: thank you very much |
| IDK: I don't know |
WAD: without a doubt |
| IGTP: I get the point |
WBS: write back soon |
| IHNO: I have no opinion |
YWIA: you're welcome in advance |
BFN, HTH! ;-)
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An example of a new type of art called ASCII (American
Standard Code for Information Interchange, or text file)
emoticon art (this rose is by Normand Veilleux):
"M, .mM"
IMIm ,mIM"
,MI:"IM,mIMm
"IMmm, ,IM::::IM::IM, ,m"
"IMMIMMIMm::IM:::::IM""==mm ,mIM"
__ ,mIM::::::MIM:::::::IM::::mIMIM"
,mMIMIMIIMIMM::::::::mM::::::::IMIMIMIMMM"
IMM:::::::::IMM::::::M::::::::IIM:::::::MM,
"IMM::::::::::MM:::M:::::::IM:::::::::::IM,
"IMm::::::::IMMM:::::::IM:::::::::::::IM,
"Mm:::::::::IM::::::MM::::::::::::::::IM,
IM:::::::::IM::::::MM::::::::::::::::::IM,
MM::::::::IM:::::::IM::::::::::::::::::IM
"IM::::::::IM:::::::IM:::::::::::::::::IM;.
"IM::::::::MM::::::::IM::::::::::mmmIMMMMMMMm,.
IM::::::::IM:::::::IM::::mIMIMM"""". .. "IMMMM
"IM::::::::IM::::::mIMIMM"". . . . . .,mM" "M
IMm:::::::IM::::IIMM" . . . . . ..,mMM"
"IMMIMIMMIMM::IMM" . . . ._.,mMMMMM"
,IM". . ."IMIM". . . .,mMMMMMMMM"
,IM . . . .,IMM". . . ,mMMMMMMMMM"
IM. . . .,mIIMM,. . ..mMMMMMMMMMM"
,M"..,mIMMIMMIMMIMmmmMMMMMMMMMMMM"
IM.,IMI""" ""IIMMMMMMMMMMM
;IMIM" ""IMMMMMMM
"" "IMMMMM
"IMMM
"IMM,
"IMM
"MM,
IMM, ______ __
______ "IMM__ .mIMMIMMIMMIMMIMM,
.,mIMMIMMIMM, ,mIMM, IMM""" ,mIM". . . . "IM,..M,
,IMMM' . . . "IMM.\ "M, IMM ,IM". . . . / :;IM \ M,
.mIM' . . . / .:"IM.\ MM "MM, ,M". . . / .;mIMIMIM,\ M
,IM'. . . / . .:;,IMIMIMMM IMM ,M". . / .:mIM"' "IM,:M
,IM'. . . / . .:;,mIM" `"IMM IMM IM. . / .mM" "IMI
,IM . . / . .:;,mIM" "IMMMMM MM,. / ,mM "M'
IM'. . / . .;,mIM" "IIMMM ,IMIM,.,IM"
IM . . / . .,mIM" IMMMMMMM' """
`IM,. / ;,mIM" IIMMM
"IMI, /,mIM" __IMMM
"IMMMM" """IMM
"" IMM
IMM__
IMM"""
IMM
IMM
__IMM
"""IMM
IMM
IMM
IMM__
IMM"""
IMM
IMM
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Recommended Reading
The
Top Six Signs that Someone is Physically Attracted to You
Warning:
Certain Smells May Make You a Dangerous Driver (Really!)
Sources
The
Mercury News: Growing Up Wired
Going
Online: Youth & the Internet
Wise
Geek: What are Emoticons?
Computer
Knowledge General Information Page
ASCII
Art by by Normand Veilleux
ASCII
Art
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