#31-- guide to the Internet, part one
Friday, October 06, 2006
Since I have lots of friends that haven't much swam/drown in the tumultuous waters of the Internet, I thought I'd post some tips and guidelines. I'll pay particular attention some of the language and slang tossed around on instant messengers and web forums, hopefully decoding it to a degree.
- "lol"-- stands for "laugh out loud." Most folks that use this are not, in fact, laughing at all. LOL is used as a response to something that's funny or potentially funny, but also used as a general response for people that feel the need to type something--anything. Little Johnny might response with "lol" if you make a funny joke, but is also like to use it to respond to your "granny died last night." If I notice an overabundance of lolz (more slang, there), I'll actually ask the person if they're laughing out loud, and why. That usually prompts another lol. Or a "wut."
- "wut"--stands for "what?" But, as I hear it spoken in my head, the upturned vocal inflection is absent. And there is a lot more slack-jawed cluelessness involved. People that type "wut" usually won't get the explanation, whatever it may be.
- "noob"--stands for "newbie." An insult at worst, a patronizing sympathy offering at best. Usually used to criticize someone new to the Internet/a game/whatever for, well, being new. More often used as an unconscious moral booster, since calling someone "n00b" in a video game automatically makes you awesome, with larger reproductive organs and unavoidable social graces. Not. I generally stop paying attention to people once "noob" leaves their (virtual) lips.
- ":)" --stands for "SMILEY FACE." The smiley emoticon (as they're called) usually means one of two things: 1) That the person is smiling, or 2) That the person is totally not smiling, but said something stupid or offensive and wants to disarm you. The second point is usually driven home by a string of smilies back-to-back.
posted, with grace and poise, by Jason @ 10/06/2006 11:09:00 AM,
