Chat symbols are short abbreviations used while chatting online. Often in chat rooms people use symbols and abbreviation to stand to full thoughts. This phenomenon occurred for several reasons. One, most of the first people chatting online were programmers and other high tech people. Programmers and other like people have a natural tendency as a whole group to be lazy. And, such typing out symbols and abbreviations is quicker and easier. Two, with the explosion of the Internet any idiot out there can get on AOL and start chatting it up. These people generally can’t type with any kind of speed. So for them to type a symbol or abbreviation is a necessity to keeping a conversation going.

Many new to the online chat scene this can be overwhelming and difficult to figure out. Most of these symbols and abbreviations are simple common senses. Below is a list of many of the most common chat symbols.


! Indicates, " have a comment"
$0.02 Throwing in your two cents' worth.
501 An excuse that's full of holes.
jk Just Kidding
? Indicates, "I have a question"
A-OLs Administrators On-Line. Administrators who police on-line services.
AAMOF As A Matter Of Fact
ADN Any Day Now
AFAIC As Far As I'm Concerned.
AFAIK As Far As I Know
AFAIR As Far As I Remember
AFJ April Fool’s Joke
AFK Away From the Keyboard
AISI As I See It.
ANFAWFOS And Now For A Word From Our Sponsor.
ANFSCD And Now For Something Completely Different …
AS Another Subject.
ASAP As Soon As Possible
ATSL Along The Same Line.
AWC After While, Crocodile
AWGTHTGTATA Are We Going To Have To Go Through All This Again?.
AWGTHTGTTA Are We Going To Have To Go Through This Again?.
AWGTHTGTWTA? Are We Going To Have To Go Through With This Again?
AYOR At Your Own Risk.
B4N Bye For Now
BAK Back At Keyboard
BBFN Bye Bye For Now
BBIAB Be Back In A Bit.
BBIAF Be Back In A Few (minutes)
BBL Be Back Later
BBR Burnt Beyond Repair.
BCNU Be seein’ you
BEG Big Evil Grin.
BF Boy Friend.
BFN Bye For Now.
BION Believe it or not.
BOT Back On Topic.
BRB Be Right Back
BRS Big Red Switch.
BTA But Then Again
BTAIM Be That As It May.
BTHOM Beats The Hell Outta Me.
BTOBD Be There Or Be Dead.
BTW By The Way
BWL Bursting With Laughter.
BWQ Buzz Word Quotient.
BYE? "Are you ready to say goodbye?" If so, the other person replies "BYE"
BYKT But You Knew That
BYOB Bring Your Own Bottle
BYOM Bring Your Own Mac
C&G Chuckle and Grin.
CADET Can't Add, Doesn't Even Try.
CID Crying In Disgrace.
CMIIW Correct Me If I’m Wrong
CO 1. Conference. 2. Company.
CSG Chuckle, Snicker, Grin.
CU See You
CU2 See You, Too.
CUL See you later
CUL8R See You Later
CULA See You Later, Alligator
CWYL Chat With You Later.
CYA 1. See Ya. 2. Cover Your Ass.
CYAL8R See You All Later.
DIIK Damned If I Know.
DIKU? Do I Know You?
DIY Do It Yourself .
DK Don’t Know
DLTBBB Don't Let The Bed Bugs Bite.
dotgov A government official (from the .gov ending of government domain names).
DTRT Do The Right Thing
DWIMC Do What I Mean, Correctly.
DWIMNWIS Do What I Mean, Not What I Say.
ESAD Eat Sh** And Die
ETLA Extended Three Letter Acronym.
F2F Face To Face
FCFS First Come, First Served
FISH First In, Still Here.
FITB Fill In The Blank
FOAD F*** off and die
FOAF Friend Of A Friend
FS For Sale
FTASB Faster Than A Speeding Bullet.
FTF Face to Face.
FTL Faster Than Light.
FUBAR Fouled Up Beyond All Repair
FUBB Fouled Up Beyond Belief.
FUD Fear, Uncertainty and Doubt
FURTB Full Up Ready To Burst - describing hard drive.
FWIW For What It’s Worth
FYA For Your Amusement
FYI For Your Information
GA Go Ahead
GAL Get A Life
GD&R Grinning, Ducking and Running
GD&RF Grinning, Ducking, and Running Fast.
GD&WVVF Grinning, Ducking, and Walking Very, Very Fast
GDW Grin, Duck and Weave.
GF Girl Friend.
GFN Gone For Now.
GFR Grim File Reaper.
GIWIST Gee, I Wish I’d Said That
GLGH Good Luck and Good Hunting.
GMTA Great Minds Think Alike
GOWI Get On With It.
GTSY Great To See You.
H&K Hugs and Kisses.
HAK Hugs And Kisses.
HHIS Hanging Head In Shame.
HHO 1/2 K Ha, Ha, Only Half Kidding.
HHOJ Ha Ha Only Joking
HHOK Ha Ha Only Kidding
HHOS Ha Ha Only Serious
HHTYAY Happy Holidays to You and Yours.
HOYEW Hanging On Your Every Word
HSIK How Should I Know.
HTH Hope That Helps!
IAAA I Am An Accountant.
IAAL I Am A Lawyer.
IAE In Any Event.
IANAA I Am Not An Accountant.
IANAL I Am Not A Lawyer (but ) A disclaimer which is usually followed by a legal opinion
IAW In Accordance With
IBTD I Beg To Differ.
IC I See
IIABDFI If It Ain't Broke, Don't Fix It.
IIRC If I Remember Correctly
IIWM If It Were Me . . . (or) If It Were Mine . . . .
IJWTK I Just Want To Know
IJWTS I Just Want To Say
IKWUM I Know What You Mean
IMA I Might Add
IMAO In My Arrogant Opinion
IMCO In My Considered Opinion
IME In My Experience
IMHO In My Humble Opinion
IMNSHO In My Not So Humble Opinion
IMO In My Opinion
IMPOV In My Point Of View.
INPO In No Particular Order
IOW In Other Words
IRL 1. In Real Life (chat). 2. Industrial Robot Language. A high-level language used for the programming of industrial robots.
ISS I’m So Sure
ISSYGTI I’m So Sure You Get The Idea!
ISWIM If (you) See What I Mean
ITFA In The Final Analysis.
ITSFWI If The Shoe Fits, Wear It.
IWALU I Will Always Love You.
IWBNI It Would Be Nice If
IYFEG Insert Your Favorite Ethnic Group (for ethnic jokes)
IYSWIM If You See What I Mean
JAM Just A Minute
JAS Just A Second.
JIC Just In Case
JMO Just My Opinion.
JSNM Just Stark Naked Magic.
JTLYK Just To Let You Know .
k Okay
KHYF Know How You Feel.
KIBO Knowledge In, Bullshit Out
KISS Keep It Simple, Stupid.
KIT Keep In Touch.
KMA Kiss My Ass.
KWIM Know What I Mean?
KYFC Keep Your Fingers Crossed
L Laugh
L8R Later
LABATYD or LAB&TYD Life's A Bitch And Then You Die
LJBF Let’s Just Be Friends

LLTA Lots and Lots of Thunderous (or Thundering) Applause.
LMAO Laughing My Ass Off.
LMHO Laughing My Head Off .
LOL Laughing Out Loud
LSHMBA Laughing So Hard My Belly Aches
LSHMBH Laughing So Hard My Belly Hurts.
LTHTT Laughing Too Hard To Type
LTNS Long Time No See
LTNT Long Time, No Type.
LTS Laughing to Self.
LUWAMH Love You With All My Heart.
LY Love You.
MLA Multiple Letter Acronym.
MOF Matter Of Fact.
MOTAS Member Of The Appropriate Sex
MOTD Message of the day
MOTOS Member Of The Opposite Sex
MOTSS Member Of The Same Sex
MTFBWY May The Force Be With You.
MYOB 1. Mind Your Own Business (chat). 2. A small
business accounting package from Best!Ware.
NAVY Never Again Volunteer Yourself.
NBD No Big Deal.
NFW No Friggin' Way!.
NHOH Never Heard Of Him/Her
NIH Not Invented Here.
NIMBY Not In My Back Yard.
NINO 1. Nothing In, Nothing Out. 2. No Input, No Output.
NOYB None Of Your Business.
NP No Problem.
NQA No Questions Asked.
NTIM Not That It Matters.
NTIMM Not That It Matters Much.
NTW Not To Worry.
NTYMI Now That You Mention It.
O Over (completion of communication)
OATUS On A Totally Unrelated Subject.
OAUS On An Unrelated Subject.
OBO Or Best Offer
OBTW Oh, By The Way
OIC Oh, I See
ONNA Oh No, Not Again.
ONNTA Oh No, Not This Again.
OO Over and Out (end of communication)
OOTC Obligatory On-Topic Comment.
OTF On the Floor (laughing)
OTFL On the Floor Laughing
OTL Out To Lunch.
OTOH On The Other Hand
OTOOH On The Other Other Hand.
OTT Over The Top; too much
OTTH On The Third Hand.
OTTOMH Off The Top Of My Head.
OWTTE Or Words To That Effect.
PABG Packing a Big Gun.
PDS Please Don't Shout. (Shouting in chat mode is typing all in capital letters, which is considered rude.) Example: PLEASE DON'T SHOUT.
PLOKTA Press Lots Of Keys To Abort.
PMBI Pardon My Butting In.
PMF 1. Pardon My French. 2. Pure Freaking Magic.
PMFBI Pardon Me For Butting In
PMFJI Pardon Me For Jumping In
PMIGBOM Put Mind In Gear, Before Opening Mouth.
PMJI Pardon My Jumping In
PNCAH Please, No Cursing Allowed Here
POSSLQ Person Of Opposite Sex Sharing Living Quarters. ppl People
PTMM Please Tell Me More
R U THERE? Are you there?
RAEBNC Read And Enjoyed, But No Comment.
re 1 Hello again; regreet 2 In regard to
rehi Hi again
RHIP Rank Has Its Privileges.
RL Real Life (an abbreviation used in MUDs and chat)
RLCO Real Life Conference.
ROFL Rolling On Floor Laughing.
ROFLASTC Rolling On Floor Laughing And Scaring The Cat.
ROFLGO Rolling On Floor Laughing Guts Out.
ROFLMAO Roll On Floor Laughing My Arse Off.
ROTF Rolling On The Floor
ROTFL Rolling On The Floor Laughing
ROTFLAHMS Rolling On The Floor Laughing And Holding My Sides.
ROTFLOL Rolling On The Floor Laughing Out Loud
RRQ Return Receipt Request.
RSN Real Soon Now
RSVP Respondez S'il Vous Plait French for "please reply"; a notation often found on invitations
RTBM Read The Bloody Manual
RTFAQ Read The Frequently Asked Questions
RTFF Read The Fucking FAQ.
RTFM Read The Fucking Manual A gentle suggestion to users who ask questions they could have answered themselves with a little research
RTM Read The Manual
RTSM Read The Silly Manual.
RTWFQ Read The Whole Friggin' Question.
RYFM Read Your Friendly Manual
RYS Read Your Screen.
S Smile
SAPFU Surpassing All Previous Foul Ups.
SCNR Sorry, Could Not Resist.
SEC Wait a second
SETE Smiling Ear To Ear.
SFLA Stupid Four Letter Acronym.
SICS Sitting In Chair Snickering.
SLM See Last Mail.
SMOP Small Matter of Programming.
SNAFU Situation Normal: All Fouled Up
SO Significant Other
SOL SH** Out Of Luck
SOS 1. Same Old Stuff. 2. Help!.
SOW Speaking Of Which.
SUFID Screwing Up Face In Disgust.
SWIM See What I Mean?
SWL Screaming With Laughter.
SYS See You Soon.
TAF That's All, Folks!.
TAFN That’s All For Now
TANJ There Ain’t No Justice
TANSTAAFL There Ain’t No Such Thing As A Free Lunch
TARFU Things Are Really Fouled Up.
TBYB Try Before You Buy.
TDM Too Darn Many.
TFS Three Finger Salute (Ctl-Alt-Del).
TFTHAOT Thanx For The Help Ahead Of Time.
TFTT Thanks For The Thought.
TGAL Think Globally, Act Locally.
THX Thanks
TIA Thanks In Advance
TIC Tongue In Cheek
TINWIS That Is Not What I Said.
TNSTAAFL There's No Such Thing As A Free Lunch.
TNTL Trying Not To Laugh
TNX Thanks
TNXE6 Thanks A Million ("E6" means 10 to the 6th power = a million)
TOBAL There Oughta Be A Law.
TOBG This Oughta Be Good.
TOY Thinking Of You.
TPTB The Powers That Be
TRDMC Tears Running Down My Cheeks.
TSR Totally Stupid Rules.
TTBOMK To The Best Of My Knowledge
TTFN Ta Ta For Now
TTKSF Trying To Keep a Straight Face
TTUL Talk To You Later.
TTYAWFN Talk To You A While From Now.
TTYL Talk To You Later
TTYT Talk To You Tomorrow.
TYCLO Turn Your CAPS LOCK Off (Quit Shouting).
TYVM Thank You Very Much
UOK Are You OK?
WAEF When All Else Fails.
WB Welcome Back
WDYMBT What Do You Mean By That?.
WDYT What Do You Think?
WIBAMU Well, I'll Be A Monkey's Uncle.
WIBNI Wouldn’t It Be Nice If
WMMOWS Wash My Mouth Out With Soap.
WNOHGB Where No One Has Gone Before.
WOA Work Of Art.
WOTAM Waste Of Time And Money.
WRT With Regard To, or With Respect To
WT Without Thinking.
WTB Want To Buy
WTF What The F***?
WTG Way To Go!
WTGP Want To Go Private?
WTH What the hell?
WTTM Without Thinking Too Much.
WYGISWYPF What You Get Is What You Pay For
XOXOXO Kisses and hugs
YABA Yet Another Bloody Acronym
YAOTM Yet Another Off-Topic Message.
YAUN Yet Another Unix Nerd
YGLT You're Gonna Love This ....
YGTI You Get The Idea?
YGWYPF You Get What You Pay For
YIU Yes, I Understand
YIWGP Yes, I Will Go Private
YKYARW You Know You're A Redneck When . . ..
YMMV Your Mileage May Vary (or your experience could be different) Several of the symbols where taken from a web site http://www.computeruser.com/resources/dictionary/chat.html

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