Textspeak & emoji

● Aliveabbr.✎ 3

IRL

'In real life' — the world outside the screen, named as if it were the other place. From 1990s forums to a Twitch category to a general adjective: 'we met IRL'. The record's entry for the word that admits which life is the default.

▸ 1995peak 2015still up

● Aliveabbr.✎ 3

NP

'No problem' — the reply to thanks, in two letters, from IRC to now, and the record's entry for the acknowledgement that is so small it is almost not there, which is the point.

▸ 1995peak 2010still up

● Aliveabbr.✎ 2

PEBKAC

'Problem exists between keyboard and chair' — tech support's code for 'the user is the problem', from the 1990s helpdesk into general use as a diagnosis for anything that is your own fault. The record's entry for the insult with a hardware address.

▸ 1995peak 2005still up

● Aliveabbr.✎ 3

TMI

'Too much information' — the reply to a detail nobody asked for, from 1990s forums into everyday speech, where it is said aloud and accompanied by a raised hand. The record's entry for the acronym that became a boundary before boundaries were a word.

▸ 1995peak 2008still up

◐ Dyingabbr.✎ 2

TTYL

'Talk to you later' — the sign-off of the instant-messaging era, when conversations had ends. Dying since the group chat abolished the concept of leaving. The record's entry for the goodbye nobody says any more.

▸ 1995peak 2005still up

● Aliveabbr.✎ 2

Thx

'Thanks', compressed — 'thx', 'ty', 'tysm' — as gratitude with the minimum of keystrokes, and the record's entry for the family of thank-yous that range from the abrupt to the effusive by letter count.

▸ 1995peak 2010still up

● Aliveabbr.✎ 3

GOAT

'Greatest of all time' — from a boxer's company name to a rapper's album to the argument that runs every sports comment section, and the goat emoji that settles it. The record's entry for the superlative that became an animal.

▸ 1992peak 2016still up

● Aliveabbr.✎ 3

OG

'Original gangster' — an original, a founder, someone who was there first — from a 1991 rap album into every context: the OG of a group chat, an OG Pokémon fan, the OG Fortnite map. The record's entry for seniority as a compliment.

▸ 1991peak 2015still up

● Aliveabbr.✎ 3

AFAIK

'As far as I know' — the hedge that has opened uncertain claims since Usenet, and survived every platform because people are still not sure. The record's entry for the oldest disclaimer still typed daily.

▸ 1990peak 2005still up

● Aliveabbr.✎ 2

BTW

'By the way' — the aside, in three letters, from Usenet to the present, and one of the first acronyms that non-internet people learned. The record's entry for the tangent that is usually the point.

▸ 1990peak 2005still up

● Aliveabbr.✎ 2

FWIW

'For what it's worth' — the hedge that pre-discounts an opinion, from Usenet to the present, and the record's entry for the most self-deprecating acronym in the file. It is usually worth quite a lot; the writer just wants to be safe.

▸ 1990peak 2010still up

● Aliveabbr.✎ 3

IIRC

'If I recall correctly' — the forum poster's way of citing memory as a source, and one of the few Usenet acronyms still in daily use on Reddit, where the recall is usually wrong and the correction is always waiting.

▸ 1990peak 2010still up

● Aliveabbr.✎ 2

LMAO

'Laughing my ass off' — the laugh above LOL and below ROFL, from the 1990s to now, and the one that survived the skull emoji because it can be typed with one hand. Also LMFAO, with an extra letter, and a band. The record's entry for the laugh that scaled.

▸ 1990peak 2015still up

● Aliveabbr.✎ 2

YMMV

'Your mileage may vary' — the disclaimer from petrol adverts, adopted by Usenet as the polite way to say 'this worked for me and might not for you'. The record's entry for the oldest hedge still in use, and the only one from a car commercial.

▸ 1990peak 2005still up

● Aliven.✎ 2

Caps Lock Shouting

ALL CAPS AS SHOUTING — a rule of netiquette since the 1980s, when it was explained to newcomers that capitals were rude, and still the internet's only universally understood volume control. The record's entry for the loudness that is typed.

▸ 1985peak 2005still up

● Aliveabbr.✎ 3

WTF

'What the f***' — the internet's oldest expression of disbelief, older than the web, and still its most-used. Also WTH, for the polite, and 'wat', for the speechless. The record's entry for the question that is never a question.

▸ 1985peak 2010still up

● Aliveabbr.✎ 3

RTFM

'Read the f***ing manual' — the reply to a question the manual answers, from the earliest days of computing to every forum since, and the record's oldest entry that is still rude. Software has no manuals now, and the phrase survives anyway.

▸ 1979peak 2005still up

● Aliveabbr.✎ 3

FUD

'Fear, uncertainty and doubt' — a 1970s term for a competitor's scare tactics, adopted by crypto in 2017 as the word for any negative statement about anything the speaker owned. The record's entry for criticism renamed as a conspiracy.

▸ 1975peak 2021still up

● Aliven.✎ 3

Slash Fiction

Fanfiction pairing two male characters, named for the slash in 'Kirk/Spock' in 1970s zines — the oldest term in the file that is still in daily use. The record's entry for the punctuation mark that founded a genre, and for the two men who started it without knowing.

▸ 1975peak 2010still up

● Aliveabbr.✎ 2

OMG

'Oh my God' — first written in a 1917 letter to Winston Churchill by an admiral, and rediscovered by the internet in the 1990s as the exclamation of everything. The record's oldest entry, filed with the note that the admiral was joking.

▸ 1917peak 2010still up