Chat Slang and Acronyms used in chat rooms, IM, and email
Public Service Announcement to three of my email contacts (one of whom is my Mother):
LOL does not stand for 'Lots of Love'. It stands for 'Laughing Out Loud'.
It looks really strange when you sign off your emails with LOL (name). Why are you laughing? Are you not taking the email seriously? Do you find me funny, like a clown?
Understand that you may inadvertently upset someone by using the acronym to stand for Lots of Love; they may not read it in the same way you do.
Sidenote: I wonder if this is a common change in usage for people who are relative newcomers to the internet? eg, if you're a pre-2000 denizen, it will always be Laugh, but post 2000, Love is the more common interpretation.
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If and when I have a thought, and have ten minutes in the office, I might write mildly diverting thoughts here: about new media in real life, about the web, about the future. But mostly, I think, I'll just wiffle about nothing.
About Me
- kim
- London, United Kingdom
- Portly noo-meejah product manager with a liking for gin and ladies. Oh, and a boy. Just the one. Fond of eating, Prone to being too serious, Optimistic (mostly), Solipsistic, Nowhere near as interesting as you might think, A wobbly speller (sorry).
Being Diverted By The Following
Previous Diversions
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2008
(28)
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June
(8)
- Gizmodo v. the Truth
- Roots of Breakdance (Run DMC - It's Like That)
- A Note About Email Validation
- Reminder - Book your tickets for Open Tech 2008 - ...
- In which Orange need to get their acceptable use p...
- This is what you want, not what you'll get.
- TLA Variants
- In which a lifetime of License Fees are accounted ...
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June
(8)
2 comments:
Funny... one of my clients - who has worked on a number of on-line projects and is savy enough to play around in MUDs often wondered why I'd send her Lots Of Love in emails and chat sessions..... she eventually asked one day. So it's not just your mum...
It's easy to forget that whilst all these acronyms are common parlance if you come from one background, they are completely unknown to others.
You have suddenly clarified why my parents appear to find emailing me side-splittingly hilarious.
I always thought it odd.
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