What are all the common abbreviations used on the SDMB? I got ROTFL, but what is IRC, BTW, etc? I could probably figure them out if I thought really hard, but that would take a lot of effort now, wouldn’t it? I know WAG too. What are the rest?
All I’m looking for here is a comprehensive list of the abbreviations, with complete word histories, latin translations, and MLA citations for any historical or other references.
Is that too much to ask?
IIRC-if I recall correctly
FWIW-for what it’s worth
BTW-by the way
FYI–you can get most of this in the ATMB forum, IIRC.
IIRC, this has been covered in this thread: http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?threadid=32636
Before I looked it up, I used to think WAG meant “Wild Accurate Guess” and was a kind of ironic “I’m pretty sure this is right but I can’t back it up or remember where I saw it” type thing.
I think my version is better 
I got this a while ago somewhere on the 'net.
Abbreviation Meaning
ADN Any day now
AFAIK As far as I know
AFK Away from keyboard
ARE Acronym-rich environment
A/S/L? Age/sex/location?
B4N Bye for now
BAK Back at the keyboard
BBIAB Be back in a bit
BBL Be back later
BEG Big evil grin
BFD Big fing deal
BFN Bye for now
BG Big grin
BIOYIOP Blow it out your I/O port
BL Belly laughing
BOTEC Back-of-the-envelope calculation
BRB Be right back
BTA But then again…
BTW By the way
BWTHDIK But what the heck do I know…?
CU See you
CUL See you later
CUL8ER See you later
CYA Cover your ass
CYO See you online
DBA Doing business as
DFLA Disenhanced four-letter acronym (that is, a TLA)
DIKU Do I know you?
DITYID Did I tell you I’m distressed?
DNFTT do not feed the trolls
DQMOT Don’t quote me on this
EG Evil grin
EMFBI Excuse me for butting in
EOM End of message
EOT End of thread (meaning: end of discussion)
ETLA Extended three-letter acronym (that is, an FLA)
F2F Face to face
FAQ Frequently-ask question(s)
FISH First in, still here
FLA Four-letter acronym
FMTYEWTK Far more than you ever wanted to know
FOAD F off and die
FOMCL Falling off my chair laughing
FUBAR Fed up beyond all repair or recognition
FUD Fear, Uncertainty, and Doubt
FWIW For what it’s worth
FYI For your information
G Grin
GA Go ahead
GAL Get a life
GD&R Grinning, ducking, and running
GIWIST Gee, I wish I’d said that
GMTA Great minds think alike
GOL Giggling out loud
GTRM Going to read mail
HAND Have a nice day
HTH Hope this helps
IAC In any case
IANAL I am not a lawyer (but)
IC I see
IHA I hate acronyms
IIRC If I recall/remember/recollect correctly
ILU or ILY I love you
IM Immediate message
IMHO In my humble opinion
IMing Chatting with someone online usually while doing other things
IMNSHO In my not so humble opinion
IMO In my opinion
IOW In other words
IPN I’m posting naked
IRL In real life (that is, when not chatting)
IYSWIM If you see what I mean
JBOD Just a bunch of disks
JIC Just in case
JK Just kidding
KOTC Kiss on the cheek
KWIM? Know what I mean?
L8R Later
LD Later, dude
LDR Long-distance relationship
LLTA Lots and lots of thunderous applause
LOL Laughing out loud
LRF Little Rubber Feet (the little pads on the bottom of displays and other equipment)
LTM Laugh to myself
LTNS Long time no see
LTR Long-term relationship
LULAB Love you like a brother
LULAS Love you like a sister
MorF Male or female
MOSS Member of the same sex
MOTOS Member of the opposite sex
MUSM Miss you so much
NFG No fg good
NFW No feasible way or no fg way
NIFOC Naked in front of computer
NP or N/P No problem
NRN No response necessary
OIC Oh, I see
OLL Online love
OTF Off the floor
OTOH On the other hand
OTTOMH Off the top of my head
PANS Pretty awesome new stuff (as opposed to “POTS”)
PCMCIA People can’t master computer industry acronyms
PDA Public display of affection
PEBCAK Problem exists between chair and keyboard
PIBKAC Problem is between keyboard and chair
PITA Pain in the ass
PMFJIB Pardon me for jumping in but…
::POOF:: Goodbye (leaving the room)
POS Piece of st
POTS Plain old telephone service
PU That stinks!
RL Real life (that is, when not chatting)
ROR Raffing out roud (Engrish for “laughing out loud”)
ROTFL (or ROFL) Rolling on the floor laughing
ROTFLMAO Rolling on the floor laughing my a* off
ROTFLMAOWPIMP Rolling on the floor laughing my a** off while peeing in my pants
ROTFLMBO Rolling on the floor laughing my butt off
RPG Role-playing games
RSN Real soon now
RTFM Read the fing manual
RYO Roll your own (write your own program; derived from cigarettes rolled yourself )
S4L Spam for life (what you may get when you become someone’s customer or client)
SEG S-eating grin
SF Surfer-friendly (low-graphics Web site)
SNAFU Situation normal, all fed up
SO Significant other
SOL Smilling out loud or sht out of luck
SOMY Sick of me yet?
STFW Search the fg Web
STW Search the Web
SWAG Stupid wild-a guess
TAFN That’s all for now
TANSTAAFL There ain’t no such thing as a free lunch
TFH Thread from hell
THX Thanks
TIA Thanks in advance (used if you post a question and are expecting a helpful reply)
TLA Three-letter acronym
TLK2UL8R Talk to you later
TMI Too much information
TOPCA Til our paths cross again (early Celtic chat term)
TPTB The powers that be
TTFN Ta-Ta for now
TTT Thought that, too (when someone types in what you were about to type)
TTYL Talk to you later
TU Thank you
UAPITA You’re a pain in the ass
UW You’re welcome
VBG Very big grin
VBSEG Very big s**-eating grin
WDALYIC Who died and left you in charge?
WFM Works for me
WIBNI Wouldn’t it be nice if
WT? What/who the ?
WTFO What the F***! Over!
WTG Way to go!
WTGP? Want to go private?
WU? What’s up?
WUF? Where are you from?
WYSIWYG What you see is what you get
YGBSM You gotta be stin’ me!
YMMV Your mileage may vary.
Abbreviation Meaning
ADN Any day now
AFAIK As far as I know
AFK Away from keyboard
ARE Acronym-rich environment
A/S/L? Age/sex/location?
B4N Bye for now
BAK Back at the keyboard
BBIAB Be back in a bit
BBL Be back later
BEG Big evil grin
BFD Big fing deal
BFN Bye for now
BG Big grin
BIOYIOP Blow it out your I/O port
BL Belly laughing
BOTEC Back-of-the-envelope calculation
BRB Be right back
BTA But then again…
BTW By the way
BWTHDIK But what the heck do I know…?
CU See you
CUL See you later
CUL8ER See you later
CYA Cover your ass
CYO See you online
DBA Doing business as
DFLA Disenhanced four-letter acronym (that is, a TLA)
DIKU Do I know you?
DITYID Did I tell you I’m distressed?
DNFTT do not feed the trolls
DQMOT Don’t quote me on this
EG Evil grin
EMFBI Excuse me for butting in
EOM End of message
EOT End of thread (meaning: end of discussion)
ETLA Extended three-letter acronym (that is, an FLA)
F2F Face to face
FAQ Frequently-ask question(s)
FISH First in, still here
FLA Four-letter acronym
FMTYEWTK Far more than you ever wanted to know
FOAD F*** off and die
FOMCL Falling off my chair laughing
FUBAR Fed up beyond all repair or recognition
FUD Fear, Uncertainty, and Doubt
FWIW For what it’s worth
FYI For your information
G Grin
GA Go ahead
GAL Get a life
GD&R Grinning, ducking, and running
GIWIST Gee, I wish I’d said that
GMTA Great minds think alike
GOL Giggling out loud
GTRM Going to read mail
HAND Have a nice day
HTH Hope this helps
IAC In any case
IANAL I am not a lawyer (but)
IC I see
IHA I hate acronyms
IIRC If I recall/remember/recollect correctly
ILU or ILY I love you
IM Immediate message
IMHO In my humble opinion
IMing Chatting with someone online usually while doing other things
IMNSHO In my not so humble opinion
IMO In my opinion
IOW In other words
IPN I’m posting naked
IRL In real life (that is, when not chatting)
IYSWIM If you see what I mean
JBOD Just a bunch of disks
JIC Just in case
JK Just kidding
KOTC Kiss on the cheek
KWIM? Know what I mean?
L8R Later
LD Later, dude
LDR Long-distance relationship
LLTA Lots and lots of thunderous applause
LOL Laughing out loud
LRF Little Rubber Feet (the little pads on the bottom of displays and other equipment)
LTM Laugh to myself
LTNS Long time no see
LTR Long-term relationship
LULAB Love you like a brother
LULAS Love you like a sister
MorF Male or female
MOSS Member of the same sex
MOTOS Member of the opposite sex
MUSM Miss you so much
NFG No fg good
NFW No feasible way or no fg way
NIFOC Naked in front of computer
NP or N/P No problem
NRN No response necessary
OIC Oh, I see
OLL Online love
OTF Off the floor
OTOH On the other hand
OTTOMH Off the top of my head
PANS Pretty awesome new stuff (as opposed to “POTS”)
PCMCIA People can’t master computer industry acronyms
PDA Public display of affection
PEBCAK Problem exists between chair and keyboard
PIBKAC Problem is between keyboard and chair
PITA Pain in the ass
PMFJIB Pardon me for jumping in but…
::POOF:: Goodbye (leaving the room)
POS Piece of st
POTS Plain old telephone service
PU That stinks!
RL Real life (that is, when not chatting)
ROR Raffing out roud (Engrish for “laughing out loud”)
ROTFL (or ROFL) Rolling on the floor laughing
ROTFLMAO Rolling on the floor laughing my a* off
ROTFLMAOWPIMP Rolling on the floor laughing my a** off while peeing in my pants
ROTFLMBO Rolling on the floor laughing my butt off
RPG Role-playing games
RSN Real soon now
RTFM Read the fing manual
RYO Roll your own (write your own program; derived from cigarettes rolled yourself )
S4L Spam for life (what you may get when you become someone’s customer or client)
SEG S-eating grin
SF Surfer-friendly (low-graphics Web site)
SNAFU Situation normal, all fed up
SO Significant other
SOL Smilling out loud or sht out of luck
SOMY Sick of me yet?
STFW Search the fg Web
STW Search the Web
SWAG Stupid wild-a guess
TAFN That’s all for now
TANSTAAFL There ain’t no such thing as a free lunch
TFH Thread from hell
THX Thanks
TIA Thanks in advance (used if you post a question and are expecting a helpful reply)
TLA Three-letter acronym
TLK2UL8R Talk to you later
TMI Too much information
TOPCA Til our paths cross again (early Celtic chat term)
TPTB The powers that be
TTFN Ta-Ta for now
TTT Thought that, too (when someone types in what you were about to type)
TTYL Talk to you later
TU Thank you
UAPITA You’re a pain in the ass
UW You’re welcome
VBG Very big grin
VBSEG Very big s**-eating grin
WDALYIC Who died and left you in charge?
WFM Works for me
WIBNI Wouldn’t it be nice if
WT? What/who the ?
WTFO What the F***! Over!
WTG Way to go!
WTGP? Want to go private?
WU? What’s up?
WUF? Where are you from?
WYSIWYG What you see is what you get
YGBSM You gotta be s***tin’ me!
YMMV Your mileage may vary.