A Guide to Acronyms Used in Instant Messaging (don't scroll down yet!)

Ever wondered just what people are saying when they use those shortened "almost-words" in text messaging? After you take the quiz, check below to find out more about those answers.

NSFW: Not Safe For Work. This is sent in the subject lines of emails that aren't safe to be caught looking at if the boss walks in silently behind you. If you get caught, well, you were warned!

LOL: Laughing Out Loud. Some people even say this in conversation. If you're one of those people, please stop. It's annoying. Remember how your parents used to say "That's really great... NOT!" It's like that.

OMG/OMFG: Oh My God!/Oh My F****** God! This is used to act surprised. You can also use an emoticon for this. :O Be sure to use a capital 'O' for the mouth, though. :o just looks like a clown with no mouth since this is a clown. :o)

ROTFLMAO: Rolling On The Floor Laughing My A**OFF. There was a time when it was popular to say "roffle" in conversation, making an instant messanger reference to rotfl" but it's generally considered tacky, just like saying "lol" above.

WTF/WTH: What The F***/What The Hell. This a statement of shock and bewilderment. It usually comes with a request for more information or an explanation. Sometimes that request is just implied. Sometimes the reply can simply be, "I know."

IMO/IMHO/IMAO: In My Opinion/In My Humble Opinion/In My Arrogant Opinion: This precedes an opinion. IMHO was used initially but people decided opinions weren't always humble so IMAO became popular, too.

AFK: Away From Keyboard.

BRB: Be Right Back. These two (AFK and BRB) are sometimes interchangeable but AFK implies you might take a while returning.

Bio: Biological break. (Be right back, I'm going to the bathroom.)

TTYL: Talk To You Later. Said as a departing goodbye.

TTFN: Ta Ta For Now. (Same as TTYL)

QQ: Cry more. This is meant to represent two eyes with tears in them. It's a way of poking fun at someone for complaining too much.

1337: Leet. This is a shortened version of the world "elite" meaning "great" or "excellent." It is, incidentally, written in numbers. Helps if you squint.

411: Information. This is the number you can call to access an information directory.

404: I don't know. When you type in a web address but the page isn't found, you get a 404 error.

<3: It's a sideways heart! It means "I love you."

AFAIK: As Far As I Know.  This often precedes a comment the commenter isn't completely sure of.

JOOC: Just Out Of Curiosity.  This is almost always followed by a question.

BIAB: Back In A Bit

BBL: Be Back Later

BRT: Be Right There

JK: Just Kidding.  Often people will write this after a joke that was obviously a joke.  It's a joke killer.  Best to wait until someone shows they're not sure if you were joking.  Other times, people use this after an insult to try blame-dodging.  Doesn't work that way.  Just don't insult people.  But don't kill jokes, either.

PEBKAC: Problem Exists Between Keyboard and Chair.  This is used to say "the problem is you, friend."  It could be a response for when someone can't figure out how a program works or for when they're tired and not making sense.

NOOB: Pronounced "nube" or "noob."  This means "newbie" or "beginner."

PWN/PWNT/PWND: This doesn't really have a spoken translation.  One might say "powned" or just "owned" as in "beaten in a game."  It originated as a typo since the 'p' and the 'o' are right next to one another.

RTFM: Read The F****** Manual. "Don't ask me, look it up."

STFU: Shut The F*** Up.  "Stop talking."

SWAG: Stuff We All Get.  Also known as SoftWare And Giveaways, this is a term meant to allude to the free logo-laden and propaganda-infused items handed out at conventions.

TMI: Too Much Information.  This might be good in response to "bio."  They could have just said "brb."  This one is also about a decade old and it's going out of style.

TY/YW: Thank You/You're Welcome.  'Nuff said.

Combining letters and numbers to create other words, or words created by saying letters aloud is also popular. A few examples are acronyms like w8 QT, h8, and OIC.

Other acronyms you might already be familiar with like MIA, KISS and SNAFU work great over the internet. People are almost always looking for shortcuts. Those tiny keyboards, no matter how trendy, are hard to type on.

And just so you know, they're usually not capitalized.  Here they were to make clear the acronyms versus complete words, but in chatting, they're usually all lowercase.