Do you BlogSpeak? Use Wolfie’s new guide

28 December, 2007 — Wolfie

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I do a lot of reading of blogs, forums, etc and I often come across abbreviations that seem to be common knowledge to most people but which, for one reason or another, I take a while to work out. I figured that I couldn’t be the only one that felt that way so I decided to inaugurate Wolfie’s BlogSpeak Dictionary.

I’m going to start with the first few that spring to mind for me, but what I want is for you to tell me the ones that you’ve come across that baffled you to start with (or still do) and we’ll see if we can come up with the definitive reference guide. To those of you who are more geekspeak-savvy, these may seem simple but bear with us.

So, in no particular order:

FWIW - For What It’s Worth.
Usually meaning that actually I think it’s worth quite a bit, but I’m trying not to seem overly strident about it. Or else, indicating that there’s nothing anyone can do to fix it, but FWIW, everyone agrees that it needs fixing.

FYI - For Your Information.
You’ve been a complete dick and I think you need to know these facts so that you don’t continue to be a complete dick.

HTH - Hope That (This) Helps.

IMHO - In My Humble (Honest) Opinion.
This is what I really think.

IMO - In My Opinion.
This is what I really think, but I don’t feel particularly humble today.

LOL - Laugh Out Loud / Lots Of Laughs.
Great big belly-laughs were caused by what you just wrote - could be sarcastic!

YMMV - Your Mileage May Vary.
This is what happened when I tried this, but it may not work as well for you.

TPTB - The Powers That Be.
Forum moderators, company CEO’s, Mac in the post-room: whoever’s responsible for making the decisions around here.

OMG - Oh. My. God!

BTW - By The Way

FAQ - Frequently Asked Question.
As in, “What does FAQ mean?”

IIRC - If I Remember (Recall) Correctly
Please tell me I’m not going insane; it did use to be like that, didn’t it?

AFAICS - As Far As I Can See
But there’s probably something very obvious I’m missing .

b0rked
Something somewhere has gone terrible wrong.

That’s just a few (with some possible indications of how and when they might be used ) but there must be lots more. Add your submissions in the comments and I’ll start including them in the entry.

All opinions in this blog are either my own or else they’re made up just to get a rise out of you and make you angry. Either way, they’re probably not very well thought out or expressed so do yourself a favour and don’t take the world so seriously.

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