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Internet Abbreviations Added To Oxford Dictionary
f1vlad writes "Philologists have added popular internet abbreviations to the one hundred twenty-six year-old Oxford English Dictionary. Among these are the popular OMG, LOL, and FYI. 'Dictionary compilers said that although the terms are associated with modern electronic communications, some are surprisingly old. The first confirmed use of "OMG" was in a letter in 1917. "Things people think are new words normally have a longer history," Graeme Diamond, the dictionary's principal editor for new words, said Friday.'"
March 25, 1952: Upon receiving a humorous letter from a friend, Wellesley College student Lucy Michaels wishes to write back and express how much the letter amused her. Unfortunately, having hurt her wrist the day before in a tragic lacrosse incident, Lucy is forced to abbreviate her feelings by simply scratching out the simple abbreviation "LOL" on a postcard with her off-hand, hoping to explain the abbreviation in a phone call later. History was made.
It is to pioneers like Lucy Michaels and many others like her that we today owe our modern internet vernacular. Kudos to you, Lucy, and may you RIP.
SJW: Someone who has run out of real oppression, and has to fake it.
LOL! FYI I thought this was funny.
ROTFLMAO. k ttyl.
How much longer until OMFG, NFW, WTF, GTFO, and all the other fun uses of F get in there?
No WTF?
noun :the tinfoil hat brigade
humorous
used in allusion to the belief that wearing a hat made from tinfoil will protect one against government surveillance or mind control by extraterrestrial beings:you don't need to be wearing a tinfoil hat to understand that your privacy might not be as private as you would think
[as modifier]
FYI, FYI is hardly an "internet abbreviation". I remember hearing it back in the early 1970s (when I was very, very young, FYI).
Possibly of more interest to the /. crowd is the fact that hentai is being added to the book.
http://alternatives.rzero.com/
(link is goatse)
SMH
That's just what the GOVERNMENT wants you to THINK! The REAL reason I wear my tinfoil HAT is to stop the RADIATION from leaving my BRAIN, which happens because of the THOUGHT-SCATTERING computer implanted into my cerebellum by Renee ZELLWEGER.
There's no -1 for "I don't get it."
The Oxford Management Group, Lloyds Of London, and Finnish Yodeling Institute are very upset.
Rhymes that keep their secrets will unfold behind the clouds.There upon the rainbow is the answer to a neverending story
When the first english dictionary was compiled by Samuel Johnson a London high society lady is said to have thanked him, "Thank you Dr Johnson, for leaving out certain words". Dr Johnson apparently replied, " I'm shocked, m'lady. You were looking for them?"
sed -e 's/Chuck Norris/Rajnikant/g' joke > fact
LOL means Laughing Out Loud.
Well, OK. It was on the wall of my mom's basement. But it smells like a cave.
Have gnu, will travel.
I think the next step forward is to start adopting acronyms of acronyms, as we often do in technology names (AJAX). Clearly it takes far too many keystrokes to express such emotions. And as a bonus we can build up fun chains of searches in the dictionary.
OL = OMG LOL = Oh my god, laugh out loud.
IW = IMHO WTH/F = In my humble opinion, what the hell.
Now when I shout at someone for chatting to me using a ton of abbreviations ... they can point out that its in the dictionary now...
EOM
This might give me the edge I need to beat my parents at scrabble.
They missed out on the most obvious addition to the dictionary, TL;DR
Before the early days of AIM, LOL meant little old lady and NAD meant no apparent distress. I don't know how far back that dates; I first read it in The House of God iirc.
I just got a chuckle imagining one of my younger cousins trying to parse tHoG.
-b
No offense, but I've stopped responding to AC's.
Singer: Real women of geeeEeeniuuus...
Narrator: Today we salute you, Miss LOL inventor woman.
Singer: Miss LOL inventer woman...
Narrator: In March of 1952, upon receiving a humorous letter from a friend, you wished to write back and express your amusement.
Singer: I'm laughing out loud!
Narrator: Unfortunately, having hurt your wrist the day before in a tragic lacrosse incident, you were forced to simply scratch out "LOL" on a postcard with your off-hand
Singer: But I'm not rolling on the floor!
Narrator: Hoping to explain the abbreviation in a phone call later, you made history by inventing the acronym most often mistook for "Lot's of Love"
Singer: OMGWTFBBQ!
Narrator: It is to pioneers like you that we owe our modern internet vernacular. So, kudos to you, Miss LOL inventer woman...may you RIP.
Singer: Miss LOL Inventer woman...
Incidentally, if you have a public library card, and said library allows online access, and subscribes to the OED Online, you may be able to use your library card number to access the OED either through your library site or at oed.com directly. It works both ways with the Columbus (OH) public library, but I use oed.com because the proxy arrangement at the library blocks the very cool javascript cross-referencing features of the OED. The OED Historical Thesaurus (part of the package) is truly wonderful.
Sent from the iPad I found in your car.
IN a few years the contents of Urban Dictionary will be added to the Oxford English Dictionary as well.
---
There are several important counterpoint definitions that need to be added. There are some common chat-room abbreviations:
AFK- 'away from keyboard'
BRB- 'be right back'
To these, need to be added:
AK- 'at keyboard'- this should be typed every ten seconds or so into the chat channel so EVERYBODY knows you are still there.
SRH- 'staying right here'- this, again, should be typed every ten seconds or so.
NFC- 'nobody f*cking cares'- the appropriate response when anybody types AFK or BRB.
This is important stuff and sets the proper tone in chat-room settings.
Was Ben Schumin behind this decision? Anyone know?
Does the OED include "OED"?
Make me REALLY hate time travellers.
There is no -1 Disagree.
Northern Mesopotamia, 5,000 B.P.
OMG OED, WTF? LOLZ! STFU & GTFO...YDTM (Your Dead To Me, while were just adding crap to the dictionary, why not just make up some new stuff to add)
'Dictionary compilers said that although the terms are associated with modern electronic communications, some are surprisingly old. The first confirmed use of "OMG" was in a letter in 1917. "Things people think are new words normally have a longer history," Graeme Diamond, the dictionary's principal editor for new words, said Friday.'"
Translation: "Harumph, whatever, people. You think we added it to our big book of words people say because people are saying them now? Hell no! Screw you and your new fangled computroid machines. We found some really sketchy old ass uses of the word to justify to ourselves that they're real words. As if we care about words people actually use. We're the Oxford dictionary, not freakin' Websters. Good day to you all" - "Golden" Graeme Diamond.
Who spells their name as Graeme? I'll tell you who. the principal editor of the Oxford fucking dictionary, that's who.
While these additions will make Scrabble easier, I'd like a few additions that include Q without U.
I don't think that sets the proper tone. For that one should add:
YMCAAA: 'You might come across as a'. As in: YMCAAA noob!
JAFOS: 'Just a figure of speech'. As in ROTFL! (JAFOS)
EMSOL: 'Excuse me Sir or Lady'. As in: EMSOL WTF?
Please stop posting stories about OED adding fashionable words. The OED is dying thanks to the internet. Every new issue they add some silly words then go and tell people in the media who can't be bothered to write proper stories and want some easy copy.
Dictionaries are in and of themselves wonderful things but this little dance is so tedious. They have been doing it for over a decade. Please stop playing along and then it will die a quiet death.
Who spells their name as Graeme? I'll tell you who. the principal editor of the Oxford fucking dictionary, that's who.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:PrefixIndex/Graeme
Thinking of all the abbreviations that are in use. My favorite is CYA.
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Should of been added during the tech boom in my opinion, another reason they are behind the curve in my opinion and sites like wikipedia dominate. Jere http://www.thenerdblurb.com/
The Nerd Blurb - If a Nerd Doesn't Know, No One Knows!