By Miranda Carter

®Mary Vertulfo

We speak differently online. Words can be shortened, replaced by symbols, and sometimes spelled differently. Each language has its own unique online personality. In English, many acronyms are used to make typing less time consuming and more convenient. An example of an acronym is this: BRB, where each letter stands for a word: Be Right Back.

Between chatting, blogging, status-updating, and emailing, there are tons of situations where online lingo is used.

Let’s check out some popular online lingo:

• BRB – “Be right back” Someone’s calling me, BRB.
• WAYD – “What are you doing?” WAYD tonight?
• 2day, 2nite, 2morro – “Today”, “Tonight”, and “Tomorrow” Want to go shopping 2morro?
• ab/abt – “about” What are you talking abt?
• GTG – “got to go” Time for work – GTG!
• YOLO – “you only live once” You should buy that dress, even if it is out of your price range. Come on! YOLO!
• NSFW – “not safe for work” Only look at this website if you have privacy. It’s NSFW!
• IDK – “I don’t know” IDK if I can come over later, my schedule is pretty busy today.
• ILY – “I love you” I’m so glad we are married. ILY!
• IKR – “I know, right?” When she told me the new boss was mean, I agreed, saying “IKR?”
• JK – “Just kidding” I just won the lottery. JK!
• K – “Okay” I’ll call later, k?
• LOL – “laugh out loud” That’s hilarious! LOL!
• MSG – “message” Didn’t you get my msg?
• TXT – “text” Txt me later.
• NE – “any” Do you have ne time to meet later?
• NM – “Not much” Nm is going on this weekend.
• NP – “No problem” I’ll file the reports by three, np.
• OMG – “oh my god” OMG I just saw Brad Pitt at the mall!
• PLZ  – “please” Plz make sure you lock the front door.
• SRSLY, SRS – “seriously”, “serious” Did she srsly cheat on her boyfriend? Are you srs?
• SUP – “what’s up?” I’m bored, sup?
• TTYL – “talk to you later” GTG, TTYL!

Next time you are online, look around and see if you can spot any of these phrases being used. Perhaps you are chatting with a co-worker and he or she says “txt me the info!” Now you will know exactly what he or she means! Online lingo can be a bit confusing, but the more often you encounter it, the more familiar it will become. Try incorporating it into your online or text conversations as practice. Remember, proper English is always the best, but sometimes you’ve GTG with the flow and use online lingo in your MSGs!