Internet slang
Internet slang is slang words which are used on the internet. Most of these words are new, such as Wiki and blog, which were not used before the internet became popular.
Some old words were given new meanings, such as mail (which now means email). This makes many metaphors on the Internet, such as boot (which otherwise mean a shoe) and link (which otherwise means a joint in a metal chain). Some existing acronyms, such as "AFK" (To mean "Away from keyboard") and "IRL" (To mean "In real life") were used on bulletin board systems before the internet became popular. These are now used on the internet, such as in chat rooms and on instant messenger software. And Lol (laugh out loud)
People have also created some verbs and adjectives to describe things that only happen on the internet:
Shorthand words
Shorthand is where a word is written in a shorter way because it is quicker and easier to type. It is also done to fit more into a limited space.
Internet slang uses many acronyms because they are quicker and easier to type. They are often shorthand for common phrases and idioms, but they can show somebody's emotions and their certainty.
Leet speak
Leet speak (written as: L33T or 1337) is the most common language on MMORPGs because rude words are not stopped by filters. This language is changing all the time because new words are made and used. A lot of the words use numbers instead of letters but some were made because of typing errors which are now done on purpose. Also, some suffixes are used, such as -age and -ness.
Some of the numbers and symbols used instead of letters are in the table below.
| A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | I | J | K | L | M | N | O | P | Q | R | S | T | U | V | W | X | Y | Z |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
4
|
8
|
[
|
)
|
3
|
|=
|
6
|
#
|
1
|
_|
|
X
|
1
|
|v|
|
^/
|
0
|
|*
|
(_,)
|
2
|
5
|
7
|
(_)
|
\/
|
\/\/
|
%
|
j
|
2
|
Internet Slang Media
In this picture, the graffiti represents some examples of the different types of slang. The symbols "X:)" ":)" and "XD" are an example of emoticons. LOL "laugh out loud" and ROFL "rolling on the floor laughing" are examples of letter homophones.
Chinese seal carving work. The character is a combination of three characters, which is done by Chinese netizen. This is a satire of Chinese Internet censorship. See Grass Mud Horse.
