Internet Abbreviations Added To Oxford Dictionary 101
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.'"
On this day in internet slang history (Score:5, Informative)
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.
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Hang on, let me turn around and I'll show it to you.
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I guess now we know what the "O" in "LOL" really is.
A Real women of genius version (Score:3, Funny)
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:
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Pronunciation: Brit.
Forms: 19– LOL, 19– lol.
Etymology: Initialism
The first L of LOL is sometimes also explained as the initial letter of laugh.
(Show Less)
colloq.
A. int.
Categories
Originally and chiefly in the language of electronic communications: ‘ha ha!’; used to draw attention to a joke or humorous statement, or to express amusement.
1990 Jarg
OMG (Score:2)
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OMGWTFBBQ!!!
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gjhdaierkvzdscs!
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OMFG? (Score:1)
How much longer until OMFG, NFW, WTF, GTFO, and all the other fun uses of F get in there?
Re:OMFG? (Score:4, Insightful)
STFU n00b.
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BBQ.
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FWIW, F is NSFW!
p.s. In dutch, the word (not abbreviation, but actual word) "lol" translates to "fun". Not exactly the same as LOL, but close enough to fool me when I first encountered the abbreviation.
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In English it used to mean "lots of love".
My scrabble score is going to be higher (Score:2)
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WTF! (Score:4, Insightful)
No WTF?
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http://oxforddictionaries.com/view/entry/m_en_gb0994289#m_en_gb0994289 [oxforddictionaries.com]
It also has FUBAR, although misses out on the interesting history of that acronym.
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You posted the wrong link. And what is this interesting history of which you speak?
http://oxforddictionaries.com/view/entry/m_en_us1249363#m_en_us1249363 [oxforddictionaries.com]
Origin:
1940s: acronym from fucked up beyond all recognition (or repair)
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Indeed: FUBAR was WWII US military jargon, usually referring to combat missions led by non-US allied forces, but also in some situations to the supply lines. The stories are those told by vets regarding times when the acronym was actually used.
Oh, and if the GP started with the subject line, he'd realize that I didn't post the wrong link ;)
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Oh, and if the GP started with the subject line, he'd realize that I didn't post the wrong link ;)
An extra link wouldn't hurt. You could even code it in HTML so that the appropriate parts of your comment would link to the appropriate page.
That said, I was aware that FUBAR was militarial in origin, though I didn't know the details which you posted. So thanks for explaining it, I guess.
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tinfoil hat also added (Score:5, Informative)
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]
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WRONG (Score:4, Funny)
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.
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But does he drink tiger blood?
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No, that's just what they WANT you to believe!
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GTFO. (Score:3, Informative)
(link is goatse)
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So GP's post should be modded Informative, in fact, as it quite accurately describes what it links to?
FYI (Score:5, Interesting)
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.
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Well, they do say that English rap^H^H^H forcibly takes new words from foreign languages. Although this word probably liked it.
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Well, they do say that English rap^H^H^H forcibly takes new words from foreign languages. Although this word probably liked it.
I think this is said about most living languages. Just look at all the English words making their way into spoken Japanese, for example. They start out being cute extra-cultural references, then they become popular and take on a life of their own in the new language. That's one of the wonders of living language. Oxford is just trying to keep up with it in their own, 30-year-delayed way.
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Well, they do say that English rap^H^H^H forcibly takes new words from foreign languages. Although this word probably liked it.
Well, given the poor language's upbringing, it's not really all that surprising. After all, it was the bastard offspring of Anglo-Saxon and Norman French (which has a rather sordid history all its own, involving Latin, Gallic, Goth, Vandal, Frankish and Norse).
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"The problem with defending the purity of the English language is that English is about as pure as a cribhouse whore. We don't just borrow words; on occasion, English has pursued other languages down alleyways to beat them unconscious and rifle their pockets for new vocabulary." - James Nicoll, in rec.arts.sf-lovers [google.com]
That's actually a bit too timid; I'd say that English is a vocabulary vampire/zombie hybrid
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also: Barnard's star, couch surf, dot-bomb, drill-down, ego-surf, RSA, and tinfoil hat
See also: http://www.oed.com/public/latest/latest-update/ [oed.com]
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"... and I feel fine!"
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Yup! FYI (1981)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LaFonefbApo [youtube.com]
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No no, if' it ever appears on the internet, the internet had it first. "
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They give 'the Mote in God's Eye' as a reference from the 70's. It's in 'Cities in Flight' (1957) also.
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First use of FYI in the OED is 1941 in the Washington Post.
In other news (Score:5, Funny)
The Oxford Management Group, Lloyds Of London, and Finnish Yodeling Institute are very upset.
WTF added? (Score:5, Funny)
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Evidence of smileys in cave paintings (Score:1)
Well, OK. It was on the wall of my mom's basement. But it smells like a cave.
Acronyms of acronyms (Score:1)
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.
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Yeah, except those aren't acronyms. Maybe LOL, if you pronounce it lol. But the rest are initialisms.
Oh Great... (Score:4, Insightful)
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...
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Or conversely, if you send an SMS to a more elderly or less tech-savvy member of your family... when they ask you can simply point to the dictionary.
Now, if they have one of those cellphones with keyboards, however, they should be forming at least semi-coherent complete sentences.
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they can point out that its in the dictionary now
As opposed to never talking to you again, on account of you being an uptight ass?
TFS -- tl;dr (Score:3)
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LOL in NAD (Score:2)
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
You may already have access to the OED (Score:2)
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.
Maybe... (Score:1)
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Jesus, I hope not. Urban Dictionary is a pile of steaming adolescent crap.
Missing entries (Score:1)
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
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Don't forget FOAD.
Proper tone? (Score:2)
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?
Wikipedia admins taking over OED? (Score:1)
Could someone check... (Score:2)
Does the OED include "OED"?
Things like this... (Score:3)
First recorded use of "zomg poni3z" (Score:2)
Northern Mesopotamia, 5,000 B.P.
Seriously? (Score:1)
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)
We're entering into the dawn of the New Word Order (Score:2)
'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 fangl
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Do you think it should die a death because of all of the "crazy stuff" they're adding? Back in Shakespeare's time, "luggage" wasn't even a word--yet we use it so frequently today that we assume it has always been proper English.
Let
OMG abbreviation (Score:1)
HA! shoulda been added a decade ago (Score:1)