I still don’t know what sheesh means exactly altho it is used by many members. Why does screaming bother so many people when the words are just typed as capitals? Where can I and others like me learn all about the rules for discussing in forums etc? Only serious answers are welcome.
The general agreement is that since this is a message board, and not a chat room, then a poster should at least make the effort to use correct grammer and spelling.
Most of the regulars are pretty leniant with this, as long as the effort has been made. God knows my spelling sucks!
The diffent forums have little discriptions under their names in the message board home page. These descriptions give a pretty good summary of what kind of tone and topics are expected in each particular forum.
Check out the FAQ. This answers many basic questions for you.
Some general pet peeves that will probably get you flamed or ignored:
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Don’t type in all caps. This is seen as “cybershouting”. Sorry, that’s the way it is.
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Don’t use ellipses(sp) in place of periods. (I’m talkng about “…” every three words.)
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Don’t just type a big block of text. Nothing will get your post ignored faster than a half page of writing with no breaks to deliniate paragraphs. Even if you don’t really know where you should place a paragraph break, just put a space every six lines or so.
ChefScott has a great tag line he uses: “Read twice, submit once”.
Until this board gets a spell checker and an edit button, this is the best thing you can do.
You say “cheesy” like that’s a BAD thing.
I’ve been lurking for while, trying to get acquainted with this new culture. What does IIRC mean?
Renee
All caps is hard to read, too. I usually skip it, not only because it is shouting but it takes that extra effort to read and who wants to do that if you’re shouting?
Oh, I’m gonna keep using these #%@&* codes 'til I get 'em right.
thanks for responding to me. i was beginning to feel invisible. renee
IIRC stands for If I recall correctly. Another shorthand you’ll say regulary is WAG for wild ass guess.
“You CAN’T be evil. 'Cos no matter how many ‘bad’ things you do on purpose,
you MUST be doing it because you think it’s the right thing to do.”
<font color=red>I</font> did not ignore you, Renee, I couldn’t remember what it meant and couldn’t find the page with all the abreviations on it.
8)But I never get these @:@ codes right 
either :// if you are patient and good, Louie will come along and give you the address for the abreviations.
Oh, I’m gonna keep using these #%@&* codes 'til I get 'em right.
See 8) 
@: :@ 
Oh, I’m gonna keep using these #%@&* codes 'til I get 'em right.
“sheeesh” basically means “I can’t believe you posted that.” (It can also mean “I can’t believe I/he/she/it posted that” in context.)
It gets a lot of play on this board because of an historical incident (from the AOL/SDMB) in which a several week flame war broke out when a newbie took umbrage at a single, good-natured sheeesh.
Tom~
Acronyms in general use can be found at
[urlhttp://www.straightdope.com/ubb/Forum2/HTML/000096.html
Acronyms (Abbreviations)
smilies and other horrid critters can be found in the faq, which has a link up near the right hand corner of each Forum page.
Tom~
Newbies might be interested in reading Louie’s “Fun with HTML: A Tutorial” in the Archives section. It also has the UBB code posted there.
Also, when making a reply, scroll down to the bottom of the reply page, where there is a sentence (in red on my computer) that says “*If HTML and/or UBB Code are enable, this means you can use HTML and/or UBB Code in your message.” Click on the underlined phrase ‘UBB Code’ to go to the site that explains the UBB Code.
And, as Tom pointed out, the Acronyms thread in this forum is most helpful.
I’m sure there are websites that provide info on proper e-mail/message board etiquette. Being a dummy, I bought a book called ‘Internet for Dummies’ that explains proper net etiquette.
Going back several months to the older threads and reading a lot of them helps with learning what is expected in particular on this message board. Helps with understanding some of the obscure references you’ll come across, too!
And Opalcat’s Teeming Millions homepage has a link to ‘inside jokes’.
It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it. - Aristotle
[QUOTE]
Originally posted by Jois:
8)But I never get these @:@ codes right either :// if you are patient and good, Louie will come along and give you the address for the abreviations.
[QUOTE]
Christmas was last month and I’m not Santa. 
Okay, here’s all the basic abbreviations…
2U2 = To You, Too
AAMOF = As A Matter Of Fact
AFAIK = As Far As I Know
AFAIC = As Far As I’m Concerned
AFAICT = As Far As I Can Tell
AFK = Away From Keyboard
ASAP = As Soon As Possible
BAK = Back At Keyboard
BBL = Be Back Later
BITMT = But In The Meantime
BOT = Back On Topic
BRB = Be Right Back
BTW = By the way
C4N = Ciao For Now
CRS = Can’t Remember “Stuff”
CU = See You
CUL(8R) = See You Later
CWOT = Complete Waste Of Time
CYA = See Ya
DITYID = Did I Tell You I’m Distressed?
DIY = Do It Yourself
EOD = End Of Discussion
EZ = Easy
F2F = Face To Face
FAQ = Frequently Asked Questions
FBOW = For Better Or Worse
FOAF = Friend Of A Friend
FOCL = Falling Off Chair Laughing
FWIW = For What It’s Worth
FYA = For Your Amusement
FYI = For Your Information
/ga = Go Ahead
GAL = Get A Life
GBTW = Get Back To Work
GFC = Going For Coffee
GFETE = Grinning From Ear To Ear
GMTA = Great minds think alike
GR&D = Grinning, Running & Ducking
GTG = Got To Go
GTGTTBR = Got To Go To The Bathroom
GTRM = Going To Read Mail
HAND = Have A Nice Day
HHOK = Ha Ha Only Kidding
HTH = Hope This Helps
IAC = In Any Case
IAE = In Any Event
IC = I See
IDGI = I Don’t Get It
IMCO = In My Considered Opinion
IMHO = In my humble opinion
IMNSHO = in My Not So Humble Opinion
IMO = In My Opinion
IMPE = In My Previous/Personal Experience
IMVHO = In My Very Humble Opinion
IOTTMCO = Intuitively Obvious To The Most Casual Observer
IOW = In Other Words
IRL = In Real Life
ISP = Internet Service Provider
IYKWIM = If You Know What I Mean
JIC = Just In Case
J/K = Just kidding
KISS = Keep It Simple Stupid
L8TR = Later
LD = Later dude
LOL = Laughing Out Loud
LTNS = Long Time No See
MorF = Male or Female, or person who asks that question
MTCW = My Two Cents Worth
NRN = No Reply Necessary
ONNA = Oh No, Not Again!
OTOH = On The Other Hand OTTOMH = Off the top of my head
OIC = Oh I See
OTF = On The Floor
OLL = Online Love
PCMCIA = People Can’t Memorize Computer Industry Acronyms
PLS = Please
PU = That Stinks!
REHI = Hello Again (re-Hi!)
ROFL = Rolling On Floor Laughing
ROTF = Rolling On The Floor
ROTFL = Rolling On The Floor Laughing
RSN = Real Soon Now
RTDox = Read The Documentation/Directions
RTFM = Read The Frickin’ Manual
RUOK = Are You OK?
SNAFU = Situation Normal; All Fouled Up
SO = Significant Other
SOL = Smiling Out Loud (or You’re Out of Luck)
TANSTAAFL = There Ain’t No Such Thing As A Free Lunch
TAFN = That’s All For Now
TEOTWAWKI - The End Of The World As We Know It
THX = Thanks
TIA = Thanks In Advance
TLK2UL8R = Talk to you later
TMK = To My Knowledge
TOS = Terms Of Service
TPTB = The Powers That Be
TSWC = Tell Someone Who Cares
TTBOMK = To The Best Of My Knowledge
TTFN = Ta-Ta For Now
TTYL(8R) = Talk To You Later
TWIMC = To Whom It May Concern
Txs = Thanks
URL = Web Page Address
w/b = Welcome Back
w/o = Without
WRT = With Regard To
WTG = Way To Go
WU? = What’s Up?
WWW = World Wide Web
WYSIWYG = What You See Is What You Get
Y2K = Year 2000
YGIAGAM = Your Guess Is As Good As Mine
YGWYPF = You Get What You Pay For
YMMV = Your Mileage May Vary
ZZZ = Sleeping
He’s Santa! He’s Santa! 
Oh, I’m gonna keep using these #%@&* codes 'til I get 'em right.