Internet Initialisms

Internet Initialisms Internet Initialisms Internet Initialisms By Maeve Maddox Although I’ve adopted a few initialisms such as BTW, LOL, and IMHO in my own informal writing, I’m mostly ignorant of the alphabet soup current on Twitter and other social media sites. When a reader recently introduced me to the combination DRTL, I realized that this new language represents not just a kind of shorthand, but also a new philosophy of written language. This particular construct, DRTL, seems to me to symbolize the new philosophy: DRTL = Didn’t Read, Too Long. Note: A more common version of DRTL is TLDR or tl;dr, meaning too long; didnt read. Strings of commonly understood letter combinations such as FYI (For your information), TGIF (Thank God it’s Friday), and ASAP (As soon as possible) pre-date the Internet, of course, but they never occurred in the profusion that exists now. Readers who share my lack of currency in Abbreviation-Speak may find the following list useful. AFAIK: As far as I know AIUI: As I understand it BTDT: Been there, Done that BTW: By the way F2F: Face to face FOAF: Friend of a friend FWIW: For What it’s worth GAL: Get a life GIGO: Garbage In, Garbage Out HTH: Hope that helps IANAL: I am not a lawyer ICYMI: In case you missed it IIRC: If I recall correctly IMHO: In my humble opinion IMO: In my opinion IRL: In real life ISTM: It seems to me JK (also J/K) Just kidding LOL: Laughing out loud OMG: Oh, My God OTOH: On the other hand OTT: Over the top STW: Search the Web TIL: Today I learned TMI Too much information TTYL: Talk to you later WYSIWYG: What you see is what you get Of course this list is a mere scratching of the surface. And I’ve deliberately left out the ones that contain a gratuitous F. Nevertheless, even a short list may help a few codgers navigate Twitter with a little more comprehension. HTH. Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Vocabulary category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:When to Capitalize Animal and Plant Names8 Types of Parenthetical PhrasesUsing "zeitgeist" Coherently