Webupon

LOL

“Laugh(ing) out loud”

Generally accepted to be the most widely used acronym on the Internet today. Generally used to portray a positive response, which would in the “real world” have caused you to laugh, however it is slowly becoming over-used and is losing any meaning to which it was previously entitled.

e.g. “LOL that was really funny.”

Variations:

LMAO- “Laugh My Ass Off”

ROFL- “Roll on Floor Laughing”

BRB

“Be Right Back” and/or “Bathroom Break”

Used mainly in “live” conversations online when a person must leave the computer for a few minutes. It indicates to the receiver that the user will not be able to reply to their conversation for a short period of time.

e.g “I’ve just got to go and eat my lunch, BRB”

Variations:

AFK: “Away from keyboard”

PPTL: “Pop to the Loo”

TTYL: “Talk to you later”

BBL: “Be Back Later”

OMG

“Oh My God”

Used as an exclamation of shock or surprise and is generally applied in the way that it would be in the real world.

e.g. “OMG I can’t believe what just happened!”

Variations:

OMG: Oh My Goodness

OMFG: Oh My F***ing God

GTG

“Got To Go”

Used when one of the participants of a conversation must leave to partake in other activities.

e.g. “Sorry we’ll talk later, I’ve GTG”

Variations:

CU: “See You”

L8R: “Later”

TTYL: “Talk to You Later”

TTYT: “Talk to You Tomorrow”

GB: “Goodbye”

WTF

“What the F**k”

May be used as an exclamation of surprise or anger; however it is also featured heavily in topics which are aggressive in nature.

e.g. “WTF are you talking about?”

        “WTF was that!?”

Variations:

WTH: “What the hell!?”

TBH

“To Be Honest”

Used before a comment or statement which the person wishes to be taken as a fact or an honest opinion.

e.g. “TBH I don’t think we have to worry about it.”

Variations:

TBCH: “To Be Completely Honest”

IMO: “In My Opinion”

IMHO: “In My Honest Opinion”

OJ

“Only Joking” (less commonly refers to Orange Juice)

Used when a person tells a joke over a chat room or messenger service, and wants to get the point across that they were being sarcastic.

e.g. “I’ve thrown your homework in the bin. OJ.

Variations:

JJ: “Just Joking”

JK: “Joke”/”Just Kidding”

JP: “Just Playing”

OP: “Only Playing”

TY

“Thank you”

Used in exactly the same context as in the real world.

e.g. “TY for sending me that picture”.

Variations:

YW: “You’re welcome”

YSVW: “You’re So Very Welcome”

NSFW

“Not Safe For Work”

Used by internet sites to illustrate which material is loud and/or has explicit content that is not safe/suitable for viewing in the work place.

e.g. “This video is NSFW”

Variations:

NWS: “Not Work Safe”

NSFL: “Not Safe for Life” (usually contains very explicit content)

BTW

“By the Way”

Once again, this phrase is used in exactly the same context as it would be in the real world.

e.g. “I think you should know I’m not going BTW”

Variations:

FYI: For Your Information