Acronyms (abbreviations?)

It is already hard to debate with some of the members here, but I get definitely lost when they post "words" like BTW, AFP, BtK (I'm making up some of these, ok? :) ).
So I'm asking you: Could you post a list of the most common abbreviations (acronyms)? Or if there's one already, could you direct me to it?
Thanks!

Hmm, lessee, let's make a list:

BTW = By the way
IMO = In my opinion
IMHO = In my humble opinion
brb - be right back
WAG - wild ass guess
WTF - what the (well, you know)
ROFL - Rolling on floor laughing
ROFLMAO - Rolling on floor laughing my ass off
LOL = Laugh out loud
IRL - In real life
IIRC - If I recall correctly
YMMV - Your mileage may vary (meaning that things may be different in different circumstances)

That's all I can think of for now. . . .

-Melin

------------------
I'm a woman phenomenally
Phenomenal woman
That's me
(Maya Angelou)

Hope this is a good start:

BTW = By The Way
IMO = In My Opinion
IMHO = In My Humble Opinion
IIRC = If I Recall Correctly
AFAIK = As Far As I Know
MST3K = Mystery Science Theatre 3000 (sorry, had to include it)
OP = Original Post
LDS = Latter Day Saints
PC = Politically Correct / Personal Computer
GGD = Great God Debate (it'll last longer than cockroaches)
GQ = General Questions
BBQ = The BBQ-Pit (flamers welcome!)
GD = Great Debates
PM / TPM = The Phantom Menace
UBB = Ultimate Bulletin Board
LOL = Laughing Out Loud
LMAO = Laughing My Ass Off
ROFL = Rolling On the Floor Laughing
BP = Before Present
IDL = International Date Line

whoops...Melin beat me to it.... ;)

TTYA! (Thanks To You All!)

Could we leave this thread here as a "reference" link or something like that for the begginers like me?

By the way, my son was chatting with a friend on ICQ, and as soon as I approached, he wrote this: PAW, so for all those with ICQ addicted kids, like me, it means Parents Are Watching :) (I hope my son forgives me for giving this away, he, he...)

AFK = away from keyboard

And yes, E1, these topics remain here ... they only become "invisible" if the date on the latest posting is further back than the number of days you have selected to view posts.

IIRC (don'tcha just love it?), Opalcat has a long list of acronyms at her Teeming Millions site. Check here:

http://fathom.org/teemingmillions/



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The overwhelming majority of people have more than the average (mean) number of legs. -- E. Grebenik

Here's one I can't find. What is BBS?

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The mass of men lead lives of quiet desperation.
-- Henry David Thoreau

BBS could either be a Bulletin Board System, typically not accessed through a URL, but dialed directly through your modem.

Or it could be the British Broadcasting System, the primary (I believe) TV / Radio network in Great Britian (is it also in Canada and Australia?)

Wait....I think I've confused the BBS and the BBC...ignore the second half of my post....

sheesh!

And my personal favorite: LSHIPIMP (Laughing So Hard I Peed In My Pants)

------------------
sosumi

Could we leave this thread here as a "reference" link or something like that for the begginers like me?

You bet. In fact, let's get a good list going and then we'll put it in the FAQ, as well as a link to other lists, perhaps, so you get everything. Don't forget, you can access the FAQ by simply clicking on FAQ in the upper right hand corner of the board.

Thanks for the additions. folks, keep 'em coming.

And of course my all time favorite: LSHIGRBUMN: Laughed So Hard I Got Root Beer Up My Nose. It happens.

your humble TubaDiva/SDStaffDiv
for the Straight Dope

FAQ-Frequently Asked Questions

Had to do it.

IOW-In Other Words
SD-Straight Dope
SDMB-Straight Dope Message Board
TM-Teeming Millions
HTML-Hypertext Markup Language

Some Abbreviations may be usefull too.

Reg.-Regular visitor
Sig.-Signature (the little quote people stick at the bottom of their posts)

Let's not forget:

JERK = Poor excuse for a human being
MUSH-FOR-BRAINS = not a rocket scientist

A long acronym, but useful in many circumstances:

TWIAVBP = The World Is A Very Big Place

Comes in handy when a poster assumes that the whole universe has the same senibilities of the poster's hometown.

A: "How could anyone find raw fish appetizing?"
B: "TWIAVBP"


Alphagene

WOMBAT:Waste Of Money, Brains And Talent-saw it on the Dilbert List and it's become my favorite. "c'mere my little wombat"

I think BBS usually stands for Be Back Soon.



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sosumi

I like BILC--Because It Looks Cool. This acronym explains why a movie has a flashy special effect in it that does nothing to further the plot.

TLA - Three Letter Acronym

SWF ISO - Single white female in search of
NIMBY - Not in my back yard
GIGO - Garbage in, garbage out
YOYO - You're on your own
FMAIHP - Feel my ass, it has powers
GD&R - Grinning, ducking and running

WYSIWYG - What you see is what you get
TDA - Terminal Dumb Ass - as in 'don't pay any attention to him, he's got TDA'

------------------
sosumi

Not really an acronym, but IDtenT errors are common in my line of work.

(Resolve the numerals to observe the problem.)

------------------
Tom~

PHD - Pop has Dough
BOHICA - Bend over, here it comes again.

FOAF - friend of a friend
OTL - out to lunch

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sosumi

i think its ok ifwe

Huh?

------------------
sosumi

I disagree lover ock

[The Ryan]

tanstafl-there aint no such thing as a free lunch (I think this is someone's handle)

[Markxxx]

I never understood. IMO or IMHO. You are writing the message, of course it is your opinion.

[E1skeptic]

Another language purist....

[tomndebb]

It is not always opinion. Several of us work very hard to post facts. On occasion, the complete reply to a question requires a bit of speculation. At that point it is polite to indicate to the audience that the following is no longer verifyable fact (although it should, of course, be given a weight approaching fact due to our faithful emulation of Cecil).

------------------
Tom~

[suzanne]

IM(R)HO - in my (rarely) humble opinion
BMDB - bite me dough boy (Drew Carey)
<G> - big grin
TTYL - talk to you later
l8r - later (not really an acronym, but in the same vein)

------------------
:) Suzanne
www.zerocattle.com
Serendipity Enterprises (http://www.inforamp.net/~suzanne/index2.htm)

[suzanne]

thanks, but it was actually more screwed up than that! I forgot how, um, creative, ubb code can be when you go in and edit it...

:) Suzanne

[TubaDiva]

Almost there on that coding . . . .

{URL=http://www.inforamp.net/~suzanne/index2.htm}Serendipity Enterprises{/url}

(Of course, replacing { with [ )

Serendipity Enterprises (http://www.inforamp.net/~suzanne/index2.htm)

your humble TubaDiva/SDStaffDiv
for the Straight Dope

[UncleBeer]

NATO - Not Able To Organize
HUA - Head Up Ass (for the BBQ Pit)


------------------
Abstainer: a weak person who yields to the temptation of denying himself a pleasure.
- Ambrose Bierce

[Sealemon88]

Hi everyone!!! My first post!! ("And there was much rejoicing. Yaaaaaaaa.")


AOL=Almost Online
POS=Piece Of Shit. This diagnostic term I frequently use at work, when I'm testing PCs for the masses.

"What's wrong with this unit? It seems to be locked up."
"A definite POS situation."

[tomndebb]

bump

[RTFirefly]

Tom - thanks for bumping this up!
TTFN, RTF ;)

[moriah]

Don't ever, ever bump up a thread that has a loverock post. I nearly had a brain attack until I say the date. :eek:

Peace.

[DrMatrix]

DYPMTTUAYGA - Do You People Make These Things Up As You Go Along?

------------------
Virtually yours,

DrMatrix

[Alan Smithee]

No one's explained the only one that confuses me: FWIW. Whazzitmeen?

[Alan Smithee]

Duh! After wondering about it forever, as soon as I post the question and go back to the thread I was reading, it suddenly comes to me.

Still, if no one spells it out, someone else will come along and want to know anyway, so For What It's Worth, I'll give the answer myself.

[SingleDad]

Don't forget PBCK: Problem Between Chair and Keyboard

------------------
He's the sort to stand on a hilltop in a thunderstorm wearing wet copper armor, shouting 'All Gods are Bastards!'

[Esprix]

BBL = Be Back Later
UL = Urband Legend (www.snopes.com)

Esprix

------------------
Ask the Gay Guy! (http://boards.straightdope.com/ubb/Forum7/HTML/001376.html)

[Esprix]

BBL = Be Back Later
UL = Urband Legend (www.snopes.com)

And, based on some of the recent discussions here:

SSM = same-sex marriage
DP = domestic partnership
USSC = US Supreme Court
DOMA = Defense of Marriage Act

Esprix

------------------
Ask the Gay Guy! (http://boards.straightdope.com/ubb/Forum7/HTML/001376.html)

[meek]

ftp = file transfer protocol

or

"F*** THAT PAL!"

[jab1]

TANJ = There Ain't No Justice -- Science fiction author, Larry Niven

------------------
When all else fails, ask Cecil.

[Esprix]

I'm gonna bump this 'cause it's so darned useful. Took me forever to get WAG.

Esprix

------------------
Ask the Gay Guy! (http://boards.straightdope.com/ubb/Forum7/HTML/001376.html) (or, if you prefer the Jesusfied version, Asketh the damn Priest Guy! (http://www.askjesus.org/ask.cgi?http://boards.straightdope.com/ubb/Forum7/HTML/001376.html))
------------------
"Never assume a malicious intent when stupidity will explain just as well."
------------------
{This space reserved for a Genuine WallyM7 Sig™}

[Esprix]

I wanted to bump this, and thought of a few more:

LBMB - The Left Behind Message Board (leftbehind.com - if you don't know, don't ask)
OT - Original Topic
ATMB - About This Message Board (where you are right now)
MPSIMS - Mundane Pointless Stuff I Must Share (just in case you missed it listed as such)
IDIC - Infinite Diversity in Infinite Combinations (live long and prosper, eh?)

And my friend Carson came up with CYTWAB - Cute Young Thing With A Brain. ;)

Esprix

------------------
Evidently, I rock.
Ask the Gay Guy! (http://boards.straightdope.com/ubb/Forum7/HTML/001376.html)

[Esprix]

PITA = Pain In The Ass.

Learnt a new one today! :D

Esprix

------------------
Evidently, I rock.
Ask the Gay Guy! (http://boards.straightdope.com/ubb/Forum7/HTML/001376.html)

[elucidator]

DFY- Dumb Effing User
LOTH - leaning over toilet, hurling

[elucidator]

DFY- Dumb Effing User
LOTH - leaning over toilet, hurling

[Esprix]

Bumpin' this baby!

Esprix

[CatsPaw]

SNAFU - Sleeping Nomenclature Always Fuses Underwear

[London_Calling]

This one's from the WW2 SWALK era (soldiers oversea's) - NORWICH 'Nickers off ready when i come home'. Courtesy of my Grannie - which is mildly disconcerting.

[rockerjoe]

There are the always usefull

SNAFU-- Situation normal, all f'ed up
TARFU-- Things are really f'ed up
FUBAR--f'ed up beyond all repair

as in, the day started snafu, my allarm didn't go off, then it proceeded to turfu, i rear-ended my boss trying to rush to work, and it went all the way to fubar when i realised that he hit a police car due to the force of our impact. :)

[hflathead]

It bothered me all day.....stress is everywhere and I can't figure this one out....what a dumbshit.
please help....DNFTT?
later, Tom

[Unauthorized Cinnamon]

Tom, you must work in tech support like my husband. In addition to ID10T errors, he often encounters the RTFM error (read the f'ing manual).

[UncleBeer]

DNFTT = Do Not Feed The Troll(s).

[psiekier]

A coworker shared one that I had neither heard nor used, but that he said is quite common on the woodworking newsgroup he frequents, and that is "SWMBO" - "She Who Must Be Obeyed" - referring, of course, to one's wife.

Of course, he's married and I'm not, which might explain my lack of familiarity with that term. :-)

And speaking of ways to waste your time in Usenet, "RGMW" refers to my favourite way of doing that: rec.games.miniatures.warhammer.

---
Pete
Long time RGMWer and ardent AOLer
http://members.aol.com/psiekier/

[capacitor]

I'm bumping, not trolling. This post is too useful.

TYP--Thank you partner
THA--Thank you all

[Silo]

SOL = Sh*t Outta Luck

-could also mean Standards Of Learning or Speed Of Light.

[Moe]

Other useful ones:

MCAS - my cornflakes are soggy
DSTD - Don't shoot the deer
AHAGP - Anybody have any Grey Poupon

[Tomcat]

Originally posted by TubaDiva
Could we leave this thread here as a "reference" link or something like that for the begginers like me?

You bet. In fact, let's get a good list going and then we'll put it in the FAQ, as well as a link to other lists, perhaps, so you get everything. Don't forget, you can access the FAQ by simply clicking on FAQ in the upper right hand corner of the board.



Just a suggestion, but what about turning these into a separate window that you can click on and quickly see? Sorta like the smilies one. In fact, put it next to the smilies. It would get people to use them while posting (thus also teaching everyone them).

[Fanny May]

Many are from this thread:
Molosters (http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?threadid=24126)

moloster - For those of you who haven't seen the "thread killers" thread, a moloster derives from and is defined by the words MOst Last pOSTer.
UBB - the "old" bulletin board software
vB - the "new" bulletin board software
Sock - short for Sock Puppet, a extra screen name created by a poster, usually to support an argument.
newbie, oldbie, middlebie - relative number of posts on this board.
Troll - a regurlar poster or a sock puppet who disagrees with you. You must shout him down if you are a Troll Buster, another form of troll.
ATMB ~ About This Message Board
CCC ~ Comments on Cecil's Columns (sounded like a govt. dept.)
CMA ~ Comments on Mailbag Answers (sounded like hardware)
GQ ~ General Questions (It made no sense as the magazine)
GD ~ Great Debates (thought it was swearing)
IMHO ~ In My Humble Opinion (sounded like a non-board term)
MPSIMS ~ (still have no idea about this one)
BBQ or Pit ~ The BBQ Pit
And here's some local ones from this thread:
(http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?threadid=30949)
This is the forum Fanny May missed:
MPSIMS - Mundane Pointless Stuff I Must Share. For general chatter, great thoughts, etc.
DNFTTH - Do Not Feed The Troll Hunters either. They are both playing the same game of tag, to the detriment of the board.
AFK - Away From Keyboard
SWAG - Scientific Wild Ass Guess
and my own invention, UAFSE - Use A Search Engine, useful when people start threads asking what a troll is and whatnot.
This reminds me of RTFM, a customer support favorite ... Read The F*ing Manual.
Here's a new one. UTPF - Use the Preview Feature.
SIFEUI : Search Is Easy, Use It

[Fanny May]

ATTN Newcomers - Abbreviation List (http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?threadid=30949)

[Mu Mu]

Originally posted by Commander Fortune Originally posted by MysterEcks
I will simply reply: IWFAIDWP.Do I get a cookie?I Will Feed Anyone I Damn Well Please.
Am I right?

[DrMatrix]

Mu Mu

I've got an acronym for you -- GO.

It doesn't really standfor anything. So, I guess it's not actuallyan acronym....

Oh well...

[Unix Geek]

Here is another one that I can't figure out: TWPM

Any hints?

[tshirts]

If you know GO is not an acronym, why post it?
If you have a problem with the acromyn Mu Mu noted, why blame him?
The acronym he used seems to belong to MysterEcks
and Commander Fortune.
Or is this just more newbie hazing?

[tshirts]

Originally posted by Unix Geek
Here is another one that I can't figure out: TWPM

Any hints?

I couldn't find TWPM in any of my first dozen acronym lists.
The closest I got was TWFW[/], Too Weird For Words.
So, I suppose it could be [b]Too Weird, night-time formula
I searched the SDMB and found it a few times, mainly CanadaSue's sign off.
You probably should go to the most active thread you've seen it in to ask.

[Mu Mu]

WYSIWYG
what you see is what you get

YAFIYGI
you ask for it, you get it (opposite of WYSIWYG)

WYSITWIRL
what you see is totally worthless in real life

[ShakeNBake]

BTL Better Than Life
BDSM bondage, discipline, sado-masochism
S/M sado-masochism
DS dominance and submission
BS bullshit
T&A tits and asses
S&D search and destroy
R&D research and development
R&P rape and pillage (excessive violence)
SBD silent but deadly (fart) George Carlin; also used by Beavis & Butthead
CBD complete body dysfunction
STD sexually transmitted disease / severe tire damage (rows of spikes on the road)

[SIA - Sorry I Asked]

[SPOOFE]

DTTIO - Damn, This Thread Is Old! :D

[Show_Biz]

"hijack"Originally posted by Coldfire
after MikeG respond to "What is a hijack?" by hijacking as a prank.
MikeG, yer evil :D

Yes, dougy_monty, that's precisely what a "hijack" is. A poster interjects something completely off-topic. Sometimes they apologize, sometimes they don't. Sometimes, a hijack can be permanent, and alter the threads course - often to the dismay of the OP.

Group Dynamics, SDMB Style. Fascinating stuff, at times.

To implicitly apologize, the aside is enclosed with these lines.


This reminds of my mother. Boy, she was always scolding me about this.


The square brackets and slash mark are to make it look like coding, mirroring [quote]

[Show_Biz]

Originally posted by AudreyK
I use either *s or ::s to enclose an action. For example:

*throws cream pie at KKBattousai*

::runs and hides::

Which one I use depends on whichever I feel like using at the moment. Originally posted by bibliophage
Years ago, only plain text was available for most e-mails and message boards. Some clever people came up with a way to overcome that shortcoming.

This is *bold*
This is /italic/
This is _underlined_

These conventions are not really necessary here, since we have bold, italic and underlined, but old habits die hard.
Actually, old habits are quite fun, when you're in on the secret. Thanks, *bibliophage*

[Dolores Reborn]

SO - significant other.

I have also seen TH used as SO, but I don't know what it stands for. Any clues?

[cessna]

nm?

[galt]

And one which I could never figure out until I read jab1's post here:

TANSTAAFL: There Ain't No Such Thing As A Free Lunch


Personally, I find the use of the more obscure ones a little rude. The writer is effectively saying, "I'd rather save myself 10 keystrokes than make sure you understand what I'm saying."

[nikjohns]

Originally posted by cessna
nm?


Never mind / No more

[bibliophage]

When confused by an acronym, I use THE CANONICAL ABBREVIATION/ACRONYM LIST (http://www.astro.umd.edu/~marshall/abbrev.html)

[coming up for air]

DMML - don't make me laugh
MDML - the year 1550 in Roman numerals

ATRORMS - at the risk of repeating myself
ASTRORMS - we have suites for causmonauts, complete with beds on the ceiling and Tang in the mini-fridge.

TIAYW - take it as you will
TIAMARIA - now for a little sippin' time

[Dolores Reborn]

And we mustn't EVER forget the illustrious AYBABTU -
All your base are belong to us.

[omni-not]

One address I've found helpful on more than one occasion for acronyms:

http://www.acronymfinder.com/

[tomndebb]

TMI - Too Much Information,
usually in reference to the human body and things that go into or come out of or churn around inside the same.

[bughunter]

Ohhh.... Kay! I guess I'm not bumping this. Thanks tomndebb.

Well, there's at least three or four acronyms I use regularly that I didn't see in this thread (although I may not have been looking hard enough):

ISTR - I Seem To Recall
IIRC - If I Recall Correctly
HTH - Hope That Helps
(often used - sarcastically - in combo with)
HAND - Have A Nice Day
(and the compliment to AFK)
BAK - Back at Keyboard

and one last one that I don't think has made it past my local circle of chat room friends, but it has certainly stuck there:

EMWIGJON - Excuse Me While I Go Jack Off Now

used in response to suggestive material, and which is often followed by repetitive sends of

FAP - purely onomatopoeic. Use your imagination. Readers of (the now retired) Thin H Line web comic won't be confused as to what that means.

[bughunter]

One More! (Not used since BBS/early Usenet days, though.)

OHP/OHA - One Handed Post/One Handed Article

(yes, my vocabulary of acronyms concentrates on the depraved)

[warmgun]

I can't believe no one has offered up: AYB



:)

[warmgun]

Oops... posted before I knew this was a 2 pager.

Hey!: OPBIKTWA2P

OK, maybe not...

[Spectre of Pithecanthropus]

TTFN - Ta-Ta For Now.

-Tigger.

[Esprix]

Gonna bump this puppy as people have been asking about it.

Esprix

[Gaspode]

Whoosh: Onomatopoeia. Sound of fast moving, flying object passing overhead. A reference to humour, particularly sarcasm, parody or dramatic irony, that has gone right over the reader's head.

eg.
Poster 1: That's about as useful as an inflatable dartboard.

Poster 2: But inflatebale dartboards aren't particularly useful. I mean you'd keep putting holes in them and

Poster 3: (Quote from poster 2)
WHOOSH

[cleops]

I was like Rye--what the hay DO those acronyms or whatever they should be called mean. OK, so I found the list--after having much fun on SD for weeks--but how about something on the welcome page that tells you where to go go FIND the list. Good going, Rye! Glad you posted in GQ.

[Tony Montana]

WTHITDLAGIHFPITT= Why The Heck Is TubaDiva Listed As "Guest" In Her First Post In This Thread ?

[Arnold Winkelried]

Many current posters in the beginning of the thread are also labelled "Guest". That's the situation for any post made before the SDMB converted from UBB to vBulletin software.

[movingfinger]

Any good personal story that might seem a bit too good should be preceded with TINS or NSTRH (This Is No Shit, and No Shit This Really Happened). Especially useful with those "There I was in the rice paddy with Charlies all around me and no more grenades" type of story.

[EvanS]

I never understood. IMO or IMHO. You are writing the message, of course it is your opinion.
One doper usta post IMNSHO.... in my not so humble opinion.....
Wasn't TubaDiva! (our humble administrator)