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The Internet is a great example of how language changes. As more people become interconnected through the world wide web, and communicating across different languages becomes more common, communicating on the web is changing with common jargon, phrases, slang, and acronyms. This new vernacular transcends traditional language barriers. Smart phone technology and texting has motivated many people to embrace this new “short-hand” way of communicating.

A lot of this vernacular is foreign to many people. For example, do you know the meaning of the following common terms?

• IANAL
• YMMV
• ROTFL
• MOS
• TL;DR
• IMHO
• BFF
• IIRC
• AFAIK
• NSFW
• PEBKAC

Here is what those terms mean:

IANAL: I Am Not A Lawyer

YMMV: Your Mileage Might Vary

ROTFL: Rolling On The Floor Laughing

MOS: Mother Over Shoulder

TL;DR: Too Long; Didn’t Read

IMHO: In My Humble Opinion

BFF: Best Friend Forever

IIRC: If I Recall Correctly…

AFAIK: As Far as I Know

NSFW: Not Safe For Work

PEBKAC: Problem Exists Between Keyboard And Chair

How can you learn all of these terms? There are too many for most people to memorize. Fortunately, only a minority of the terms and phrases are widely used. Many of the terms are obscure and seldom used. The good news is learning what any of these new terms mean is easy. There are several web sites dedicated to listing these terms and phrases. For example:

Internet Slang

Online Slang Dictionary

No Slang

Often, just typing the term into a general search engine will reveal the meaning.

There is a web site for finding the meaning of phrases and street jargon. Many of these phrases are now common in everyday language and not just the world wide web. Understanding the grand kids can be much easier these days. For example:

Urban Dictionary

Confused about emoticons, sometimes called “smiley faces”? Try this short list:

List of emoticons

Looking for old fashioned reference tools for words and phrases? Try these sites:

Dictionary.com

OneLook Dictionary Search

Thesaurus.com

Bartelby.com

Want to see how definitions have evolved? Use the Webster’s 1828 or 1913 dictionary:

Webster’s Dictionary

Never again feel left out of an online conversation. TTYL (Talk To You Later)!

Technical trivia: July 14, 1965. The first human made flyby of Mars by Mariner 4. Fifty years later to the day, July 14, 2015, the New Horizons space probe, a few billion miles away, traveling 9 miles per second, requiring about 4.5 hours to transmit and receive radio signals, sends flyby images of Pluto. The Pluto images make us the first human generation to have viewed up close all of the traditional solar system planets.

Next issue: Privacy Observations About Windows 10.

46 years ago, 20 years before the world wide web existed, humans connected to one another — in spirit — with the most widely watched TV event at the time.

Video

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Backwoods Geek

Backwoods Geek wrote his first computer program in 1977. He started using desktop computers in 1982 to write training and job aids. These days his home includes routers, switches, computers, a home theater PC, a laptop, and bluetooth phones. His professional career includes instrumentation and controls, computers, industrial training, technical writing, and teaching computer classes. Pastimes include sitting on the front porch, observing wildlife, cutting firewood, reading, watching movies, and tinkering with computers. He is uncomfortable around morning people until afternoon, likes dry and off-the-wall humor, and usually tells jokes with a straight face. He is a believer in the old adage that, "No matter where you go, there you are."

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