OK, I see people use these things all the time and I can usually get em, but there are some I’m not sure about:
IIRC - If I remember/recall correctly?
WAG - Wild-Assed Guess?
AFAIK - ???
There are more but if somebody could tell me if I’m right about these things I would appreciate.
You got the first two right.
AFAIK = As Far As I Know
Another one that comes up from time to time that confused the hell out of me for a while is “IANAL”. Which is “I Am Not A Lawyer”.
As Far As I Know.
The others are correct, AFAIK, IIRC. Not bad for a WAG. ^__~
What’s the deal with “Hi Opal!”?
You know, it seems like these questions come up a lot, so maybe it would be nice to have a board FAQ (one specific to SDMB, not just the generic one that comes along with VB) that explains some of the more common questions. Then when you sign up for an account, it could direct you to the FAQ before posting, or something like that.
Just a thought. And this should probably be in “About this board.”
Manny people ask me what these jokes are and I tell them to look here:
http://fathom.org/teemingmillions/injokes.html
Admittedly some of these references are dated but us old timers prefer to think of them as “classic”.
Well, I don’t know if the abbreviations would be considered in-jokes. They’re pretty wide-spread on MB’s, and I’ve quite a few of them all over the place. But there is an abbreviations list posted in ATMB (probably a better place to post this question) every once in a while:
Abbreviations List
“Hi Opal” is an in-joke. It’s been asked a couple of times recently, but I’ll help you out as best I can. I believe it started when OpalCat said that lists should have at least 3 things to be considered a list. So posters with only 2 things in their list would put “Hi Opal” as the third to tease her. It expanded somewhat, and some posters now just put it as the third point even if there are more than three things in thier list.
I’ll correct myself now, so my post isn’t broughten up in the next “Grammar Pet-peeves” thread. 
The acronyms are not from the SDMB, but the internet in general. Typical lists have been posted in past threads.
TTT = Thought that, too (when someone types in what you were about to type)
YMMV ?
Your mileage may vary.
Your Milage May Vary
I know I know!!
Your Mileage May Vary
::sits down, looking pleased with himself::
Arrgh. Damn simulposts…
::sits down, looking embarrassed::
“Some” of the references are dated? The only ones I even recognize (gry, manny) were ancient when I arrived.
Here’s the pertinent info on that page:
Last Modified: Monday, October 25, 1999 4:38:03 AM GMT
These seem to be mostly old jokes from the AOL days, and don’t refence more recent history, like Satan’s ass or “Guy Stuff.”
As I wrote, these are classics and like any classics are meant to read and studied so that their inner truths can be absorbed and from thence translated into the modern idiom. Think of the AOL Straight Dope Forum as the Greece that begat the Rome of the Straight Dope Message Board. Sure, it may have been the SDMB that conquered the known world, but it was us old-timers on AOL who founded the basis of Straight Dope culture as we now know it.
“Socrates himself is particularly missed,
A lovely little thinker but a bugger when he’s pissed”
That will give you all what they call “acronyms,” but, of course, you and I know these are not acroynms.