A very good question Sara. What does ROFL mean indeed. It turns out, courtesy of Avanutria that it means Roll On the Floor Laughing. Who new?
I am probably an old fud out of touch with such things, but I confidently recognize only two of the various acronyms used by many in this site. I recognize WHOA, because it has been explained, and I have a bad case of it, and ROFL because Sara had the wit to ask.
Could we have a glossary of these terms? Does one already exist?
Anyone?
Post whatever’s stumped you, I’m sure someone here will know. A recovered (mostly, I suppose) chat addict myself, I know of a lot of them that were popular, though I’m sure there are some new ones that I haven;t come across.
Some amusing ones…
PEBCAK - Problem Exists Between Chair and Keyboard
WYSIWYG - What You See is What You Get (a real computer term)
Or browse… http://www.freewarehof.org/acronyms.html
(My apologies for the abundant profanity in the url page - but what do you expect from the teenage chatroom population? 
)
[ This Message was edited by: avanutria on 2001-11-06 18:08 ]
tuugaalik,
Thanks! I’m glad someone else wondered.
avanutria,
(My apologies for the abundant profanity in the url page - but what do you expect from the teenage chatroom population? )
I am a young teenager and am quite disgusted with the “popular” terms and the way many teens my age speak and I’d just like to say that I’m very happy to have found this board where there are nice people and nothing objectionable like so many of the teen message boards out there.
Peace,
Sara
Hope you didn’t take my comment personally, Sara 
I used to be a teenage chatter and I do understand that the people who make/use the popular terms are by no means a true representative of the net population. Some of those acronym databases are created by users submitting their own acronyms. This results in some of the more unusual entries (for example, “ILTNMMAMOTC. HYCFAPMSFTJ” for “I’d like to nominate Mike Meyer as moderator of that conference. Honestly you couldn’t find a person more suited for the job.”!) as well as a good bit of the profanity.
I would like to change my comment to:
My apologies for the abundant profanity in the url page - it amuses some of the teenage chatroom population.
Though I always liked RTFM for “Read The Confounded Manual” 
–Beth
Sara, sorry about the confusion I created by using the acronym ROFL. As a new media programmmer I often communicate via acronyms because programmers use so many technical terms (and because I’m lazy) but I try to avoid them in less “techie” settings such as this.
There aren’t actually that many non-technical acronyms that are frequently used. Here are some of the most common:
IMHO = In My Humble Opinion
IMO = In My Opinion
OTOH = On The Other Hand
BTW = By The Way
FWIW = For What Its Worth
LOL = Laughing Out Loud
There are some rather vulgar acronyms but, honestly, I don’t see them used very frequently except in certain settings such as the hacker community.
I think its great that we have some vibrant and intelligent young people (like you) here on the Chiff & Fipple message board. I think that most of the regular contributors to the board do try to keep the postings suitable for people of all ages. If you do see somthing that you think is inapproppriate for teenagers your age please speak up. Have a good day!
Hi Gary,
Thanks for the definitions of the common acronyms, and thanks Sara for bringing up to subject. For the couple of years I have been reading this board, I have been trying to figure them out for myself and coming up with some interesting (if incorrect) definitions.
- I though ROFL was what you did when you ate too many Halloween candies in one go!!
avanutria,
No, I didn’t take your comment personally at all - I totally agree with you! Actually, too many of the people who create/use these terms are sadly representatives of the internet/teenage population. I have come across many teens my age who prove this perfectly. I wish I could say it wasn’t so and I’m determined to change it. And you don’t have to change your comment. Not all of the acronyms are bad - I use “lol” and “btw” sometimes. But as a whole, I’m just not into the “popular” way of speaking or acting.
garycrosby,
Thank you, your comment meant a lot to me and my parents!
Peace,
Sara
Definitive Guide to Internet Trash:
FS: - for sale
REQ: - request
ISO: - I seek out or In search of
WTB: - Want to buy
Q: - question
FT: - for trade
AFAIK - As Far As I Know
AFAIAC - As Far As I Am Concerned (Also AFAIC)
aka - Also Known As
B&P - Blanks and postage (term used by tape traders)
FWIW - For What It’s Worth
HTH - Hope This Helps (usually said sarcastically)
IMHO - In My (Humble|Honest) Opinion
LOL - Laughing Out Loud
OT - Off Topic
ROFL - Rolling On the Floor, Laughing (also ROFLMAO, adding “My Ass
Off”)
RTFM - Read The Fine Manual (although ‘Fine’ is often replaced by
another word of the user’s choice)
UCE - Unsolicited Commercial Email (aka email spam)
YHBT. HAND. - You Have Been Trolled(+). Have A Nice Day.
(+see below for definition)
Flame - a message that harshly ridicules someone else or their opinion through the use of personal attack rather than reason & logic. Usually feature lots of capital letters, exclamation marks, obscene and derogatory remarks, and misspelled words.
Troll - a post specifically designed to generate as many replies as possible (usually in the form of a blatant flame, obviously incorrect information, or (missed) sarcasm). Most likely named after a fishing technique
Yelling - using all capital letters (usually considered rude and annoying) Also known as shouting, screaming, etc.