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OMG! U R a N00b if U don’t know 1337 speak!

If you understood what I wrote for the title of this article, you are either a computer hacker by trade, or were born after 1990 (give or take a few years). The literal translation is, “Oh my gosh! You are a newbie if you don’t know elite speak!”

Every parent since the dawn of time has decried the fact that they can’t understand their children half of the time, so nothing is really new here except that a whole lot of consonants and vowels have been lost and sometimes a few numbers stand in for letters. Elite speak, typed as 1337 or l33t, was built up many years ago by those who really knew their way around the internet in its early days. It uses symbols and numbers to replace their alphanumeric counterpart. Internet/chat slang though is just an extension of any other shorthand from the military or medicine and is designed to convey the most amount of information in the most compact form. It mainly grew out of the difficulty of typing complex sentences while either playing an online game, conversing in an online chat room, or having to type on a phone’s numeric keyboard.

Since this is our children’s issue I thought I would help those of you who don’t spend every waking hour texting their friends, chatting online, or playing World of Warcraft, with a quick little primer on some of the more common internet/chat slang words. I do this for no other reason than to help you understand your kids a bit better but also to help keep them safe if you think there might be some inappropriate conversations going on.

Here is a quick list of some of the most common words and phrases:

1337 – Derived from the word elite, often used in reference to one’s self; opposite of n00b.

10q – Thank you.

AFAIK – As far as I know.

AFK – Away from keyboard

ASL – Age / Sex / Location. A way to find out who is in the chat room. Be wary of people who ask this a little too often in chat rooms, they are looking for something, and most likely not a pen pal.

ATM – At the moment.

BCNU – Be seein’ you.

BFF – Best friends forever.

BFN – Bye for now.

BRB – Be right back.

BTDT – Been there done that.

BTW – By the way.

CU – See you (later).

Flamer – Someone who make inflammatory or abusive remarks. Typically typing in ALL CAPS

is considered to be ‘flaming’ someone.

FOAF – Friend of a friend.

FUD – Fear, uncertainty, and doubt (purposefully spreading misinformation).

FWIW – For what it is worth.

GFU – Good for you.

GFY – Go F*** yourself.

GG – Good game, typically used at the end of an online game match and is good-sportsmanship.

GTG or G2G – ‘Got to go’ or ‘Good to go’.

HAND – Have a nice day.

H4x0r – A computer hacker in 1337-speak.

HTH – Hope this helps.

IDK – I don’t know.

IMHO – In my humble/honest opinion.

IRL – In real life (all the rest of the time that isn’t in front of a keyboard).

JAS – Just a sec.

JK or j/k – Just kidding.

KTHX – OK, thanks.

KTHXBAI – OK, thanks, goodbye. A way to cut short a conversation or to express displeasure

at being cut off.

L8R- Later, as in ‘see you later’.

LFM – Looking for more. Can often mean that someone is looking for more than just a chat

partner online.

LMAO – Laughing my ass off.

LMIRL – Let’s meet in real life. When a chat room member wants to meet in person and can be

a serious red flag if the parents aren’t there to accompany their child.

LOL – Laughing out loud.

lurker – Someone who hangs out in chat rooms without participating in discussions.

LYLAB/S – Love you like a brother/sister.

MMORPG/MMO – Massive Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game.

MTFBWY – May The Force be with you (my favorite).

MYOB – Mind your own business.

N1 – Nice one, mostly used in gaming.

Newbie, newb, or n00b – An inexperienced player of a game or an annoying person.

NIFOC – Naked in front of computer. Typically used as a joke but sometimes not depending on

the discussion, another red flag.

NP – No problem.

O RLY – Oh really?

OMG – Oh my god.

ONOZ – Oh no!

OTP – On the phone.

PAW – Parents are watching.

PITA – Pain in the ass.

POS – ‘Parents over shoulder’ or ‘Piece of S***’.

pr0n – Intentional misspelling of porn.

pwned – Intentional misspelling of owned, typically used in gaming to say that you ‘owned the

other team’.

QWP – Quit whining, please.

ROFL – Rolling on the floor laughing.

RTFB/M – Read the F***ing book/manual. Telling someone to read the instructions before

asking stupid questions.

SOHF – Sense of humor failure (someone didn’t get the joke).

TBH – To be honest.

THX, TNX, or TX – Thanks.

TMI – Too much information (sharing too much personal information).

TTFN – Ta ta for now.

TTYL – Talk to you later.

w00t or w00T – An expression of exuberance or ‘We own the other team’.

W/E – Whatever.

WTF – What the F***?

WUBU2 – What have you been up to?

W8 – Wait.

ZOMG – An intentional misspelling of the acronym for ‘Oh my Gawd’, typically to make fun of someone who overuses OMG.

Well, I hope this helps some of you parents and grandparents understand your children/ grandchildren a bit better. If you really want them to stop using these shorthand terms, you could start using them yourself, and in no time they will start using such perfect English that it would make Shakespeare cry. That is it for this month’s Gadgets & Gear, and as always if you have any questions or comments, please feel free to write to me at jeff@healthandleisureonline.com.