Emoticons and Abbreviations

Are you on an e-mail list and don't know what they're talking about half the time? Maybe all you need is a course in Internet speak. Here are some of the commonly used abbreviations and emoticons (you know the little smiley faces etc.) that you might come across. The first ones are the ones that are readily and easily recognizable by most folks. The next list is others that are general in nature, and finally the last ones are needlework related. I'm sure there are many more specific to each list. Have fun!

`ASAP`	`as soon as possible`
`<BG> or <bg>`	`Big Grin`
`AFAIK`	`As Far As I Know`
AKA	Also known as
ATM	At the moment
BF	Best Friend, Boyfriend
BRB	Be right back
BFN	Bye for Now
BTW	By the Way
BTDT	Been there, done that
`CYL`	`Catch You Later`
B4	Before
`BTW`	`By The Way`
`CUL8R`	`See you later`
CYL	Catch You Later
DD	Dear Daughter
`DH`	`Dear Husband, Darling Husband Darned Husband (depending on your mood!) Demented Husband (depending on his mood!)`
`DIL`	`Daughter-in-Law`
FAQ	Frequently Asked Questions
`FIL`	`Father-in-Law`
`FYI`	`For Your Information`
`FWIW`	`For What It's Worth`
`ggg`	`giggles`
`<G> or <g>`	`Grin`
GF	girlfriend
`GMTA`	`Great Minds Think Alike`
`HTH`	`Hope That Helps`
`IMCO`	`In My Considered Opinion`
`IMHO`	`In My Humble Opinion`
`IMNSHO`	`In My Not So Humble Opinion`
`IAE`	`In Any Event`
`IMO`	`In My Opinion`
`IOW`	`In Other Words`
IRC	Internet Relay Chat
ISO	In search of
JMHO	Just my humble opinion
ISRN	I'll Stop Rambling Now
ITD	In the Dark
JFTR	Just for the Record
JK	Just Kidding
LMK	Let Me Know
`LOL`	`Laugh out loud`
LY, LY2	Love you, love you too
`MIL`	`Mother-in-Law`
NRN	No Reply Necessary
OT	Off Topic
`OTOH`	`On the Other Hand`
OL	Out of Luck
`ROFL`	`Rolling On Floor Laughing (or ROTFL)`
`RDFC`	`Running, Ducking For Cover!`
`ROFLWTIMY`	`Rolling on the floor laughing with tears in my eyes`
RSN	Real Soon Now
`RTM`	`Read The Manual`
`sig`	`signature below your post`
`SIL`	`Son In Law, Sister In Law`
`SAHM`	`Stay at home mom`
SITD	Still In The Dark

AA	Annie's Attic
`ASN`	`American School of Needlework`
AFH	Afghan from H*ll
`BAS`	`Book Acquisition Syndrome`
`BHG`	`Better Homes and Gardens`
`CGOA`	`Crochet Guild of America`
`CL`	`Crochet List`
`CP`	`Crochet Partners`
`CTH`	`Crochet Tolerant Husband`
FO	Finished Object
`Frog It, Frog Stitch, Frogging, Froggie`	`ripit, ripit, ripit (tearing out stitches)`
`GAS`	`Gadget Acquisition Syndrome`
`HAR`	`Hardanger (subject identification in header)`
`HAS`	`Hook Acquisition Syndrome`
`HOWB`	`House of White Birches`
`HPI`	`Holes Per Inch (plastic canvas reference)`
`HWHN`	`Husbands Who Hardly Notice`
`ISO`	`In Search Of`
`ISRN`	`I'll Stop Rambling Now`
`JOMRS`	`Just One More Round Syndrome`
KM	K-Mart
`LA`	`Leisure Arts`
`LFL`	`Leaflets for Less`
MAM	Mile a Minute
`MAS`	`Magazine acquisitionsyndrome or Message Acquisition Syndrome`
`NTBFUFO`	`Never To Be Finished Un-Finished Object`
`OT`	`Off Topic`
PCA	Pattern Collectors Anonymous
`PAS`	`Pattern Acquisition Syndrome`
`PIGS`	Projects in Grocery Sacks (the stuff you buy and plan to do soon so you keep it all together in a grocery store bag)
PILL	Projects I lost lately
PIT	Projects in Totes
`PL`	`Project Linus (charity project)`
`PMS`	`Procure More Stuff!`
`Puffy`	`envelope containing something from an exchange partner`
RH	Red Heart
SABLE	Stash Acquisition Beyond Life Expectancy
SS	Simply Soft
`TAS`	`Thread Acquisition Syndrome`
`TBD OOTD`	`To Be Done, One Of These Days!`
THUD	The Usual Disclaimers
`UDO`	`Un-Designed Objects`
`UFO`	`Unfinished Object (a started project not yet done)or Unfinished Fiber Object`
`UPGS`	`Unfinished Project Guilt Syndrome`
`URB`	`Un-Read Books`
`USO`	`Un-Started Object`
WM	Wal-Mart
WIM	works in mind
WIP	Work in progress
`WUA`	`Warm Up America (charity project)`
`XS`	`Cross Stitch`
`YAS`	`Yarn Acquisition Syndrome`
YIT	Yarn in Totes

BIAW	Book in a Week
BM	Black Moment
Crit	critique
CP	critique partner
FBP	Floating Body Part
GMC	Goal, Motivation, Conflict
H/h	Hero/Heroine
HEA	Happily Ever After
HA	Harlequin American
HAR	Harlequin American Romance
HI	Harlequin Intrigue
HT	Harlequin Temptation
HH	Harlequin Historicals
HP	Heartsong Presents
H/S	Harlequin/Silhouette
HSR	Harlequin Superromance
LI	Love Inspired
ms, mss (plural)	manuscript
MOC	Marriage of Convenience
nit	small corrections or suggestions made in a critique
POV	Point of View
R, The Big R	Rejection letter, which is proof that you are a real writer
RUE	Resist the urge to explain
SIM	Silhouette Intimate Moments
SSE	Silhouette Special Edition
SDT	Show don't tell
TOTW	Topic of the Week
TBR	To be Read
WIP	Work In Progress, current ms

`:-)`	`smile`
`8-) or B-)`	`smile (from a person with glasses/sunglasses)`
`:-D`	`laughing`
`;-)`	`wink "I mean no offense, this is said in good humor and I'm teasing/yanking your chain"`
`:-(`	`sad or frown`
`:-o`	`uhh oh! (startled or surprised)`
`:-> or >:-)`	`devilish grin`
`;-> or >;-)`	`winky and devilish grin`
`:-P`	`tongue hanging out (did someone say "chocolate"?!), alternative definition is "razzberries"`
`:-[`	`pouting`
`%-)`	`smile from a stitcher who stayed up till 2am working on "one more row"`
`@-'--,-`	`a rose`
`:-@`	`screaming`
`:-\`	`undecided, unsure`
`=:0`	`when you spill your coffee/tea on your fabric`
`:}`	`worried or too much caffeine from having stayed up the night before doing "one more row"; also embarrassment`
`=l:-)>`	`Uncle Sam`
`:-0`	`worried, shocked`
`<3`	`a heart`
`:-/`	frustrated
`:-{`	between frustrated, angry, and sad; chagrin
`-X`	`My lips are sealed`