Internet slang
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Internet slang (Internet language, Netspeak, Chatspeak, Computer Language) is slang that Internet users have coined and popularized. Such terms often originate with the purpose of saving keystrokes, and many people use the same abbreviations in text messages and instant messaging. Acronyms, keyboard symbols, and shortened words are often methods of abbreviation in Internet slang.
In other cases, new dialects of Internet slang such as leet or Lolcats develop as ingroup memes rather than time savers. In leet speak, letters may be replaced by keystrokes of similar appearance.
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[edit] Origins of internet slang
In 1975, long before the Internet, Raphael Finkel at Stanford compiled a collection, the Jargon File, of hacker slang from technical cultures such as the MIT AI Lab, the Stanford AI Lab (SAIL), and others of the old ARPANET AI/LISP/PDP-10 communities. Two items on this list in current use as internet slang are "flame" and "loser". By 1990 the Jargon File had been enriched with examples of shorthand used in talk mode between two terminals (for example, "BTW", "FYI", and "TNX") as well as some slang expressions in use on Usenet and new commercial networks like Compuserve (for example, "LOL", "ROTF", and "AFK.") [1]
A Computerworld article discussing the origin of some current web slang terms cites a still-online Fidonet article from 1989, [2] which displays emoticons in addition to all-caps shorthand like "LOL" and "BRB".[3]
[edit] References
- ^ JARGON FILE, VERSION 2.1.1 (DRAFT) 12 JUN 1990
- ^ FidoNews (May 8, 1989)
- ^ Computerworld (November 7, 2008) "FWIW -- The origins of 'Net shorthand"
[edit] See also
- List of internet slang (Wiktionary)
[edit] External links
- [1]
- FOLDOC — Free On-Line Dictionary of Computing
- NoSlang Internet Slang Translator
- Internet Acronym Dictionary
- Internet Abbreviation Dictionary
- British Internet Slang Dictionary
- NetLingo - downloadable internet slang dictionary
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