Making Sense of Acronyms and Abbreviations Used in Instant Messaging and Chat

Now You Won't Need to Ask What "lol" Means

If you've spent any amount of time at all in an internet chat room or instant messaging programs you've no doubt asked, or at least wondered, what some of the abbreviations people frequently use mean. It has become commonplace in the past few years to see words and phrases abbreviated on the interent. This is generally done to save time in real-time chat or instant messaging programs. It can be quite confusing to attempt to figure out what someone is trying to say if you aren't familiar with the acronyms.

There are several websites that offer help for translating these letters into understandable sentences or phrases. One only needs to do a quick search to find hundreds of results on the topic. The most common acronym is likely the three letters "lol". Most people know this one as it has been around for some time. This abbreviation simply means "laughs out loud". This can be used in many ways, often it is used as a reply to someone who has said something amusing. There are hundreds of these little abbreviations out there. Below you will find a quick reference to help unravel the puzzle of internet lingo.

ASL Age, Sex, Location, MIL Mother in Law, AFK Away From Keyboard, MIRLMeet in Real Life, NE1 Anyone, BB Be Back, OIC Oh, I See
BBIAB Be Back in a Bit, OT Off Topic, BBL Be Back Later, PAW Parents are Watching, CYA See you, PG Pretty Good, CUL8R See you later,
QT Cutie, CYM Check Your Mail, R Are, DL Download, ROFL Rolling on the Floor Laughing, DH Dear Hubby, SAHM Stay at Home Mom,
DW Dear Wife, SS So Sorry, E2EG Ear to Ear Grin, THX Thanks, EMML Email Me Later, TTYL Talk to you Later, F2F Face to Face, TC Take Care,
G1 Good One, IMO In my Opinion, GAL Get a Life, IDK I Don't Know, H Hugs, JK Just Kidding, H8 Hate, K Okay, HAGN Have a Good Night,
LOL Laugh Out Loud, HAGD Have a Good Day, LMAO Laughing my Ass Off.

These are just a few of the acronyms you might see in a chat room or using an instant messenger program such as Yahoo or Windows Live Messenger. By using the chart you will find that those letters that people have been typing actually do have a meaning and you will be able to join in the conversation and fit right in!