Netiquette

The common social mores of Internet usage.

Caps, Emoticons, and Acronyms

From time to time in E-Mail and on the Internet you will run across some punctuation or abreviations that you may not recognize.

The unusual punctuation is often an "Emoticon" meant to convey feelings.

There are also common acronyms to represent frequently used expressions or feelings. Some of the more common ones can be found below.
If it is not listed below larger dictionaries can be found by using a search engine and the term "emoticon" or "Internet abbreviations"

Caps

• when communicating on the Internet use lower case.
  

• CAPITAL LETTERS ARE ONLY USED WHEN YOU WANT TO SHOUT
  
• if you type in all caps you are shouting.
  
• even if you do it inadvertently, it may be considered it rude.

Emoticons

When you are speaking face to face your expressions and body language convey a lot of meaning. When writing E-mail or other text it is often difficult to convey the feeling behind the words. Emoticons (emotional icons) are used to compensate for the inability to convey voice inflections, facial expressions, and bodily gestures. Emoticons can be very effective toward avoiding misinterpretation of the writer's intent. There are no standard definitions for emoticons. Below are a few common ones, with their usual meanings. Most emoticons look like a face when rotated 90 degree clockwise.

Emoticon	Meaning		Emoticon	Meaning
:-)	Happiness, sarcasm, or a joke		:-I	Indifferent or Neutral
;-)	Winking, joking or flirting		:-\	Undecided, confused, or skeptical.
:-(	Expresses unhappiness		:-Q	Confused
:-]	Very Happy or Jovial		:-S	Expresses incoherence or loss of words
:-[	Very Sad or despondent		:-@	Expresses shock or screaming
:-D	Expresses jovial happiness		:-O	Surprise, yelling or "uh oh!"

Acronyms.

When doing a lot of typing or typing quickly it can be a time saver to use abbreviations of common expressions. Below are some commonly used abbreviations of common expressions.

AAMOF	as a matter of fact		IAC	in any case		OTOH	on the other hand
BBFN	bye bye for now		IAE	in any event		ROF	rolling on the floor
BFN	bye for now		IMCO	in my considered opinion		RSN	real soon now
BTW	by the way		IMHO	in my humble opinion		RTFM	read the fine (or f***ing) manual
BYKT	but you knew that		IMNSHO	in my not so humble opinion		SOL	S**t out of luck
CMIIW	correct me if I'm wrong		IMO	in my opinion		SITD	still in the dark
EOL	end of lecture		IOW	in other words		SWMBO	Significant Other
FAQ	frequently asked question(s)		LOL	lots of luck		TIA	thanks in advance
FITB	fill in the blank		LOL	laughing out loud		TIC	tongue in cheek
FWIW	for what it's worth		MHOTY	my hat's off to you		TTYL	talk to you later
FYI	for your information		NRN	no reply necessary		TYVM	thank you very much
HTH	hope this helps		OIC	oh, I see		XOXO	Hugs & Kisses