Instant Messaging and Me: Part 2: AmitL

As I said, IMing, always teaches me something new. So, after reading the posts from Loon Gal and Mich, I decided, it’s a Thursday, I’ve finished my planned tasks at work for the day and the week, so, why not do a bit of research on IMing words.(Read this as:Not tax my brains too much,and still come up with a post) So, here goes what I came across on some of the famous acronyms which I’ve also grown so used to utilizing or coming across in IM, blog posts, blog comments, et al.

- Famous first acronym: LOL:

It's original definition was "Laughing out loud" (also written occasionally as "Lots of Laughs"), used as a brief acronym to denote great amusement in chat conversations.Depending on the chatter, its definition may vary.

The list of its meanings includes, but is not limited to:

1) "I have nothing worthwhile to contribute to this conversation."

2) "I'm too lazy to read what you just wrote so I'm typing something useless in hopes that you'll think I'm still paying attention."

Other definitions:
the ultimate conversation ender, means laugh out loud, people say it even though they dont laugh at all
dude 1:hey man i saw so and so today

dude 2:lol(silence)

In truth the term "lol" is actually an acronym for "let's order linguini".
Person A: Damn, I'm hungry.

Person B: LOL! (Insinuating that Person A and Person B should both order linguini, a tasty pasta)

- Famous Second Acrynym: ROFL:

ROFL is an internet accronmym for Rolling On Floor Laughing, and like all things internet it has adapted to nerd culture and has taken on new real-life use, though usually in a satirical way.ROFL can be merged with other acronyms also.

Some examples of the merged accronyms are as follows:

ROFLAARP: Rolling On Floor Looking At Assorted Rodent P*rnography

or

ROFLEW: Rolling On Floor Laughing whilst Eating Waffles

Yo dude, these waffles are sweet! rofl.

Are you ROFLEW?

Nah dude! I'm totally eating them at a table.

- Famous Third Acrynym: LMAO

Laughing My Ass Off. Used online only.
Matt: Bill fell off the horse and injured his pelvis in 6 different places.

Joe: LMAO!

- Famous Fourth Acronym: BRB:
1. Acronym for Be Right Back 2. Acronym for Bathroom Break
1. brb. mom's calling.2. brb. i really need to pee.

- Famous Fifth Acronym: WTF: (Keshi, u reading this one and going WTF?haha)
1. What the f*ck.2. World Tae Kwon Do Federation
Guy #1: Dude! I'm going to the WTF world tournament!Guy #2: Uhh... what do you do in a "What the F*ck" tournament?

- Famous Sixth Acronym,nee, slang: Ha Ha:
I read two definitions for this one:

a) something very funny
that guy just drank too much beer and fell over with a dopey grin on his face. It was pretty ha ha.
b) Slang term for going to the loo. Though the reasoning for calling a bowel movement a "ha ha" is generally unknown, it is speculated that the reason invovles the comic value of pooping.
-Mom, where is grandpa?-Oh, he's going ha ha.

Footnote:

Confession: I really did not tax my brains for this one. All the knowledge is courtesy urban dictionary. Till next time, ROFL, LOL, BRB and awl zat Zazz.

Instant Messaging and Me: AmitL

Yahoo!!(Pun intended) Instant Messaging! Anytime, anywhere- on your PC or your laptop or your cellphone. If you don’t use any of the messengers, you are looked at with pity. Like you were an untouchable. As if you’re not from this planet. Why, anybody who’s somebody has a messenger id and chats with his or her family, girlfriends,boyfriends, pals,even unknown people thusly, be it a three year ole or a thirty three year ole or even a seventy year ole. Who has the time or the inclination to go to Archies, buy some stationery, some good fountain pens and then pen down a letter, for heavens sake?(That is a monologue I heard from someone, some time back. For me, that’d still be a pleasant event.)

Today, instant messaging is all the rage. It’s the quickest form of communication with anyone around the world. When the internet and IMing first became popular(Was that in y2k or earlier?*muses*), I remember actually being afraid to log on to YM or MSN. Perhaps it was the fear that it would bring with it a virus which would foul up the precious computer(And, believe me, even a Pentium I was more precious than the latest models today) which I just couldn’t have afforded to get removed.

I also remember being thrilled to bits, about having created my first yahoo and hotmail ids. And, it was even more of a thrill to know about msn messenger and yahoo messenger, which were totally new concepts.

In the beginning, conversations used to last for hours, with all the developments of the last few days being discussed with friends/ family, down to the minutest details, including how the neighbour’s cat had run away with the other neighbour’s dog.

Conversations range from the most inane to the most serious to the most humorous, depending on who you’re chatting with. Someone could be chiding you for not keeping in touch, someone could be conveying their happiness at being able to keep in touch. (I usually stay in invisi mode on them, so it’s usually the first one. LOL).

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Footnote: IMing is a boon for expats who're alone out here, with their families at home. Every week, they have an hour or two or three fixed, when they give a missed call to their wife/GF/BF/anyone, and that's the signal - come on line.They settle themselves at the cyber cafe with or without a cuppa coffee, and begin their chat with everyone they know- Bhai,Behen,Kaka,Kaki,Mama Mami,Dada, Dadi...the cam's definitely switched on,and,I can imagine everyone on the other side being thrilled as well.

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On the inane side, what would you make of such gibberish, if you were not used to messenger- ing lingo:

BTW, AFAIK him, he must be ROFLLHAO at how we us. LOL.

Anyway, I’ve GTG now. TTYL, in the next post. HWP.

(Anyone willing to decipher the above, without googling? If you do, you're a true messenger user)