Acronyms in IRC & eMail:                               [Common Emoticons or Smileys]
^5 - High Five
addy - address (as in eMail)
ADN - Any Day Now
AFAIK - As Far As I Know
AFK - Away From Keyboard
AKA - Also Known As (also a/k/a)
ARE - Acronym-Rich Environment
ATM - According To Me
ATTN - Attention
BAK - Back At the Keyboard
BBIAB - Be Back In A Bit
BBL - Be Back Later
BBS - Be Back Soon
<BEG> - Big Evil Grin
BFD - Big F***ing Deal
BFN - Bye For Now (also B4N)
<BG> - big grin
BIF - Basis In Fact
BION - Believe It Or Not
BIOYIOP - Blow It Out Your I/O Port
BL - Belly Laughing
BRB - Be Right Back
BTA - But Then Again...
BTSOOM - Beats The Sh*t Out Of Me
BTW - By The Way
CU - see you
CUA - Commonly Used Acronym(s) or Common User Access
CUL - see you Later (also CUL8ER)
CWYL - Chat With Ya Later
CYA - see Ya
CYO - see You Online
DBA - Doing Business As (also d/b/a)
DFLA - Disenhanced Four-Letter Acronym (that is, a TLA)
DIKU - Do I Know You?
DITYID - Did I Tell You I'm Distressed?
DTRT - Do The Right Thing
<eg> - Evil Grin
EMFBI - Excuse Me For Butting In
EOM - End Of Message (no comments)
EOT - End Of Thread (end of discussion)
ETLA - Enhanced Three-Letter Acronym (that is, an FLA)
F2F - Face to Face
FAQ - (list of) Frequently Asked Question(s)
FISH - First In, Still Here
FLA - Four-Letter Acronym
FOMCL - Falling Off My Chair Laughing
FUBAR - F*cked Up Beyond All Recognition
FUD - (spreading) Fear, Uncertainty & Doubt
FWIW - For What It's Worth
FYA - For Your Amusement
FYEO - For Your Eyes Only
FYI - For Your Information
<g> - grin (<G> - big grin)
GA - Go Ahead
GAL - Get A Life!
GIGO - Garbage In, Garbage Out
GIWIST - Gee, I Wish I'd Said That!
GMTA - Great Minds Think Alike
GOL - Giggling Out Loud
GR&D - Grinning, Running & Ducking
GTRM - Going To Read Mail
HHOK - Ha Ha, Only Kidding
HHOS - Ha Ha, Only Serious
HNG - Horny Net Geek
HTD - Have To Disagree...
HTH - Hope This Helps
HTHBE - Hope This Has Been Enlightening
IAC - In Any Case
IAE - In Any Event
IANAL - I Am Not A Lawyer, but... (also IANAxxx, such as IANACPA)
IC - I see
ICAM - I Couldn't Agree More
ICOWHMGOWYHH - I Can Only Wonder How Many Glasses Of Wine You Have Had
ID - I Disagree
IHA - I Hate Acronyms
IIRC - If I Remember Correctly
ILY - I Love You (also ILU)
IMAO - In My Arrogant Opinion
IMCO - In My Considered Opinion
IMHO - In My Humble Opinion
IMNSHO - In My Not-So-Humble Opinion
IMO - In My Opinion
INC - Illegitimi Non Carborundum (Latin: don't let the b*stards wear you down)
IOW - In Other Words
IPN - I'm Posting Naked
IRL - In Real Life (that is, when not chatting)
IRT - In Real Time
ITA - I Totally Agree!
ITRW - In The Real World
JAT - Just A Thought
JFU - Just For You
JIC - Just In Case
JK - Just Kidding (also j/k)
JMHO - Just My Humble Opinion
JMO - Just My Opinion
KWIM? - Know What I Mean?
L8R - Later (also L8TR)
LBAY - Laughing Back At You
LD - Later, Dude
LDR - Long-Distance Relationship
LLTA - Lots and Lots of Thunderous Applause
LMAO - Lauging My Ass Off
LOL - Laughing Out Loud or Lots Of Luck
LOLBAY - Laughing Out Loud Back At You
LTM - Laugh To Myself
LTNS - Long Time, No See
M/F? - Male or Female? (also MorF)
MEGO - My Eyes Glazed Over (booorrring)
MHOTY - My Hat's Off To You
MINK - Multiple Income, No Kids (NIMK?)
mm - merrily met (greeting)
MMHA2U - My Most Humble Apologies to you
MOOS - Member Of the Opposite Sex (also MOTOS)
MOSS - Member Of the Same Sex (also MOTSS)
MOTD - Message Of The Day
mp - merrily parted (farewell)
MUD - Multi-User Dungeon (or Dimension)
NBIF - No Basis In Fact
NBIR - No Basis In Reality (where am I; is this Kansas?)
NFW - No F*cking Way
NP - No Problem
NRN - No Reply Necessary
NS - 'Nuff Said
OIC - Oh, I see
OLL - On-Line Love
OMG - Oh My God!
OOTB - Out Of The Box (brand new, ready to roll)
OPM - Other People's Money
OTF - On The Floor
OTOH - On The Other Hand
OTOOH - On The Other, Other Hand
OTP - On The Phone
OTTH - On The Third Hand
OTTOMH - Off The Top Of My Head
::POOF:: - goodbye (leaving the chatroom)
PANS - Pretty Awesome New Stuff (as opposed to POTS)
PC - Politically Correct (or Personal Computer)
PCMCIA - People Can't Master Computer Industry Acronyms (Personal Computer Memory Card Int'l. Ass'n.)
PDA - Public Display of Affection
PDQ - Pretty Darn Quick
PEBCAK - Problem Exists Between Chair And Keyboard
PI or PIC - Politically Incorrect
PITA - Pain In The A**
PMFJI - Pardon Me For Jumping In (but eventually, you'll thank me)
PMJI - Pardon My Jumping In
POTS - Plain Old Telephone Service (or Pretty Old Tired Stuff)
POV - Point Of View
PPL - Peed Pants Laughing or People
PU - that stinks!
PUTS - Playing Under The Sofa
r - are
re - regarding or hello again
RL - Real Life (that is, when not chatting)
ROAR! - laughing as loud as a lion
ROFL - Rolling On Floor, Laughing (also ROF,L)
ROTFLMAOWPIMP - Rolling On The Floor, Laughing My A** Off, While Peeing In My Pants
ROTFLMBHO - Rolling On The Floor Laughing My Bloody Head Off
ROTFLMBO - Rolling On The Floor, Laughing My Butt Off
RP - Romantic Partner
RPG - Role-Playing Games
RSN - Real Soon Now (often ironic)
RTFM - Read The F*cking Manual (or Message)
RW - Real World (outside cyberspace)
RYO - Roll Your Own (write your own program)
<seg> - Sh*t-Eating Grin
SHOUTING - Not an acronym; it's bad netiquette to leave Caps Lock on. SHOUTING IS HARD TO READ.
SINK - Single Income, No Kids
SITD - Still In The Dark
sm - smiley
SNAFU - Situation Normal, All F*cked Up
SO - Significant Other
SOL - Smiling Out Loud or Sadly, Outta Luck (really, there's another version?!)
SOMY - Sick Of Me Yet?
STD - Sick To Death (a term of disdain, rather than an update on the author's well-being)
STS - Sorry To Say
TAF - That's All, Folks!
TAFN - That's All For Now
TANSTAAFL - There Ain't No Such Thing As A Free Lunch
TAT - Tête-A-Tête
TCN - Take Care Now
TFH - Thread From Hell (a discussion that just won't die)
TFI - The Fact Is ...
TFM - Thanks From Me
TFMT - Thanks From Me, Too!
TGIF - Thank God It's Friday
THX - Thanks
TIA - Thanks In Advance
TIC - Tongue In Cheek
TIG - This Is Great!
TIIC - The Idiots In Charge
TLA - Three-Letter Acronym (such as this)
TPTB - The Powers That Be
TTFN - Ta Ta For Now
TTYL - Talk To You Later (or TLK2UL8R or TYL)
TXS - Thanks! (sincere and heartfelt - really!)
TYSM - Thank You So Much
TYVM - Thank You Very Much
u - you
UAPITA - You're A Pain In The A**
unPC - Politically Incorrect
<VBG> - very big grin
<VBSEG> - Very Big Sh*t-Eating Grin
VWP - Very Well Put
W4W - Word for Word
WAGS - What A Great Story!
WAI - What An Inspiration!
WB - Welcome Back
WDALYIC - Who Died And Left You In Charge?
WFM - Works For Me
WIBNI - Wouldn't It Be Nice If...
WP - Well Put
WT? - What/Who The...?
WTFO - What The F*ck? - Over!
WTG - Way To Go
WTGP? - Want To Go Private?
WTS - With That Said
WU? - What's Up?
WUF? - Where are you From?
WYSIWYG - What You See Is What You Get
XOXO - kisses and hugs
XX - kisses
Y2K - Year 2000 calendar concerns
YAAG - You Are A Genius
YABR - You Are Being Replaced
YGBSM - You've Gotta Be Sh*ttin' Me!
YMMV - Your Mileage May Vary
YRR - You 'R' Right (I give...)
YVMW - You're Very Much Welcome

Common Emoticons (Smileys):                               Japanese emoticons
:-) happy - used to indicate a joking statement, since we can't hear voice inflection
:) happy - miniature
:-)) really happy
:-( unhappy - user didn't like that last statement, or is depressed about something
:-/ skeptical, or perplexed
:-\ sad, or Popeye
:-D laughing
:-| disgusted, or grim, or "have an ordinary day" smiley
:-I apathetic
:-1 bland
:-o surprised
:-O awed
:-S incoherent
:-X lips are sealed
:-9 licking lips
:-< forlorn
:-> sarcastic
:-& tongue-tied
:'-( crying
:'-) so happy, I'm crying
:-e disappointed
:-c bummed
:-C really bummed
:-t cross
:-@ screaming
:-7 wry
:-* ate something sour, or kiss
:^) broken nose
:v) broken nose, other side
:_) nose is sliding off face
:=) two noses
:<) from an Ivy League school
:-# wearing braces
:-{} recent collagen shots
:-{) mustache
:-()= drooling
:-)~ happily drooling
:-~) or :-'| suffering from a cold
:-Q smoker
:-? pipe smoker
:-` spitting chewing tobacco
:*) drunk
:-P nyahhhh!
:-} leering, or embarrassed smile
:-, smirking
;-) winking - sort of a "don't hit me for what I just said" smiley
;^) tongue-in-cheek
;-P nudge, nudge, wink, wink
(-) laughing
(:+( scared
(-: left-handed
%*} very drunk
%-) confused
%-} amused
%-{ unamused
8-> very happy
{:-) toupee
}:-( toupee in updraft
}:-} big grin
>:-( or >:-< or :-|| mad
>:-> devilish
>;-> lewd
<:-I dunce
<:-/ feeling stoopid
~:-( very mad
=) shocked
=:O hair standing on end
=8O bug-eyed with fright
*:-o alarmed
I-) sniggering
|:-| very rigid
|-O yawning
|-I asleep
|^o snoring
***:-( blowing off steam
[:-| sighted Frankensein
<<:-) sighted the Pope
~:-\ sighted Elvis
8-) wearing sunglasses
B:-) sunglasses on head
::-) wearing normal glasses (4-eyed)
B-) wearing horn-rimmed glasses
8:-) little girl
:-)-8 Big girl
:-[ vampire, or pouting
:-E bucktoothed vampire
:-F bucktoothed vampire with one tooth missing
=:-) hosehead
-:-) punk rocker/mohawk
-:-( real punk rockers don't smile
+-:-) religious officer, like Pope
`:-) shaved off one eyebrow
,:-) shaved off other eyebrow
O-) or (:)-) scuba diver
O :-) angel
<|-) Chinese
<|-( Chinese, taking offense at joke
@= pro-nuclear war
:-o uh-oh...
(8-o it's Mr. Bill...
*:o) and Bozo the Clown!
C|:-= Charlie Chaplin
=|:-)= Abe Lincoln
%-^ Picasso painting
3:] pet
3:[ mean pet
d8= pet beaver, wearing goggles and hard hat
8:] gorilla smile
(:V) duck
:-)8 well-dressed
#-) partied all night
X-( just died
%-6 brain-dead
[:-|] or [:] robotic
(:I egghead
E-:-) ham radio operator
C=:-) chef
[:-) wearing Walkman
*<:-) wearing Santa Claus hat
@:-) wearing turban
K:P little kid w/propeller beanie
:-Ø No Yelling!
:-: mutant; the invisible smiley
.-) one-eyed
,-) winking one-eyed
8 :-) wizard
-=* :-) TeX wizard
:] Gleep...a friendly midget smiley who will gladly be your friend
=) variation on a theme...
:{ tiny bit sad
[] hugs and ...
:* kisses
|-) hee hee
|-D ho ho
~~:-( Net.flame (Usenet)
O |-) Net.religion
8 :-I Net.unix-wizards
X-( Net.suicide
E-:-I Net.ham-radio
C=}>;*{)) drunk, devilish chef with a toupee in an updraft, a mustache, and a double chin
}:^#})) updrafted bushy-mustached pointy-nosed smiley with a double chin
{:(-8-< Anna Nicole Smith, after latest augmentation, falling right over