Michael Laser had a funny piece in the Los Angeles Times some weeks ago poking fun at all the chat acronyms that have popped up in the last 10 years and how he’s only recently learned what the more popular ones mean (LOL, DYHABF). Sad to say that even I, one of the very first chatters in cyberspace (entered my first AOL chat room in ’93, possibly called “trivia geeks”) wasn’t familiar with some of the new lingo like W/E=whatever or UW=you wish.
Laser came up with some of his own for, shall we say, people of a certain age. You can check out the whole piece here for his complete list. Meanwhile, I’ll leave you with some of my favorites and open the floor to you all. Leave us an original of your own in the comments and I’ll pick one creative soul with the MOOA (most original online acronym) and reveal the winner in next week’s Word Wrap!
SMB/SWU: Stiff Morning Back/Struggling With Underwear
ROTFC9: Rolling On The Floor, Call 911
SHBASH: Should Have Bought a Smaller House
GOFAM: Googling Old Friends After Midnight
NNRB: Need New Roof, Boiler
Comments (15)
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WUNA: Wrapping Up, Need Anything?
Sent to my wife around 5:00 every day, to see if I should pick up a quart of milk on my way home.
posted by jim santo on 1-19-2007 at 10:52 am
I need one for the bad jokes my friends send me. Here are some possibilities:
GAG – Gratuitous Audible Groaning
DEEPSIGH – Demonstrating Excessively Enhanced Pneumatic Semaphore In Geek Humor
BADBADBAD – Blatant Audible Demonstration Because Anecdote Delivery Brings Anticipated Disappointment
WHIMPER – Witticism Held In Mailed Punchline Evokes Response
posted by Bryan on 1-19-2007 at 11:29 am
Sorry to be a pedant, but an acronym is not just a set of words condensed by using their initial letters.
To be an acronym, those letters need to make another word themselves. Hence the ‘nym’ (name) part of ‘acronym’.
posted by mistercharlie on 1-19-2007 at 11:46 am
Yes, it’s true Charlie. But then who is to say what is or is not a word anymore? Does a word have to have a vowel? Brrr is actually a word.
So is zzzz.
Therefore, any combination of letters can be a word. They just need to be recognized as such, and that takes time, which is largely the point of the original piece in the Times, I think.
posted by David on 1-19-2007 at 11:51 am
Well, yes. But my understanding is that the word should be an existing one. Although any collection of letters which signifies something is in practice a word.
Also, having just looked at my Mac dictionary, it counts Laser as an acronym, and I’m sure that the word came after the awesome futuristic deathray, not before.
That’s the trouble with being pedantic. You often end up looking like a moron ;-)
posted by mistercharlie on 1-19-2007 at 12:09 pm
I agree with mistercharlie’s first post. A more correct term is “initialism.”
posted by john on 1-19-2007 at 12:54 pm
Or there’s:
twfaatinaw — that word for an anachronism that is not a word
posted by john on 1-19-2007 at 12:57 pm
Ooops. “Anacrhonism” should be “acronym” in the above post.
posted by john on 1-19-2007 at 12:58 pm
One of my favorites was ROFLMAYONNAISE
posted by erak on 1-19-2007 at 1:06 pm
KMA = kiss my patootie
posted by reginald on 1-19-2007 at 2:20 pm
WL? = Working Late? (sent to my sweetie every day to see if I should wait for her or just get on the bus to go home)
NA? = Need Anything? (often accompanies the WL)
CUATP? = See You At The Pub? (often sent around the office when the bar next door has happy hour)
posted by Kellie on 1-19-2007 at 5:42 pm
>12WFP = After midnight, wearing Fat Pants
i
posted by LuluJane on 1-20-2007 at 1:22 am
I am 45 and sent this to my husband who is 42 going on 25.
SWAK
He wanted to know what it stood for.
Sad…
posted by alice on 1-21-2007 at 8:54 am
lul – love you longtime, sent to the wife before every sign-off
awysi – any way you slice it
posted by FlippantBum on 1-21-2007 at 3:17 pm
I think my favorite one is that first one! (BTW, I found your blog by seeing who else loves From Beirut to Jerusalem on Blogger and found your site-great writing!!)
posted by Alexandra on 1-28-2007 at 3:46 pm