13 Internet Slangs with Unexpected Alternate Meanings
Thanks to Mashable for these ineffable internet homonyms. You may have thought you were using a three-letter acronym to say something simple, but it turns out to have a secondary meaning that you didn't intend.
| You wrote | But it also means |
| LOL: laughing out loud | Little old lady, shorthand used by doctors. |
|
BRB: be right back |
Big Red Button, an important, non-descript button associated with a power, reset, detonation, self-destruction, emergency shut-down, or ejection switch. |
| IDK: I don't know | “Ident-A-Kid,” the largest child-identification program in the United States. |
| BFF: best friends forever | Binary File Format, a procedure for storing computer files encoded in binary code. |
| OMG: Oh my God! | Outlaw Motorcycle Gangs. One of the most notorious OMGs in America is the Outlaws Motorcycle Club, founded in 1935. |
| PLZ: please |
Known in aviation as the airport code for the Port Elizabeth Airport in South Africa, which recently saw increased traffic due to the 2010 FIFA World Cup. |
|
CYA: see ya |
Cover your ass |
| BTW: by the way | British Traditional Wicca, the Neo-Pagan religion Wicca that has origins in the New Forest area of England. |
| FML: F*ck My Life, a popular site for telling screwed up life stories | Family and Medical Leave |
| DOS: disk operating system | Dreaded Orange Spots, which have been plaguing soap-makers for ages, and apparently no one really knows why they show up |
| ROFL: rolling on the floor laughing | Clan 52 of Medievia, better known as “Rogues Of the Forbidden Legion. |
| THX: thanks | THX sound system, created by Tomlinson Holman for the third Star Wars film, to ensure optimal sound quality. |
| BC: because | Before Christ |
LOL often means (at least in the UK) "lots of love". I know many people who end their texts to loved ones this way.
So when they get messages from more internetty folks saying lol it kind of takes them aback...
Ian