Meaning Of Smileys And Emoticons (With Correct Abbreviations)

When you talk to someone face-to-face, your body language, the tone of your voice, your inflections and facial expressions impart great meaning to what you say. These nonverbal cues may be more important than your words.

When we communicate online, whether through email, social media, forums, or blogging, any nonverbal cue that should be part of our message is lost.

Unfortunately, this can sometimes cause hard feelings when your message or tone is misinterpreted.

To make sure you’re understood and prevent any accidental offense, you can personalize your written communication by using a smiley or emoticon – a “face” you create from keyboard characters. You’ll be amazed at the range of emotions these little characters express!

Below are some of the more popular smileys. Can you guess what they mean? Roll your mouse over each one to find out.

Abbreviations

While smileys add personality to your messages, abbreviations save keystrokes when space is limited (such as when you’re sending a text message or a tweet).

Abbreviations also make your message more casual and friendly. When you communicate it’s important to fit the medium you’re using, and online communication tends to be much more casual than sending a letter. Using a few of the common abbreviations below can help with that.

Be careful when using abbreviations, however. If you use too many, your message may become incomprehensible to the recipient. It’s safer to use only very popular and common abbreviations to make sure you’re understood.

Also, make sure you understand the meaning of an abbreviation before using it. You don’t want to accidentally send the wrong message or cause offense. For example, beginners often misinterpret LOL to mean “lots of love,” as in the infamous case of a mother who sent a text to her daughter:  “Your grandmother has just passed away. LOL.” LOL actually means “laughing out loud.”

Abbreviations also rise and fall in popularity, and there are always new ones being invented. An abbreviation that was popular in the early days of the internet may just confuse modern users.

But as long as you’re careful about the abbreviations you use, they can be a useful tool for online communication.

Some common abbreviations include:

• < AFAIK > As Far As I Know
• < ATM > At The Moment
• < BFN > Bye For Now
• < BRB > Be Right Back
• < BTW > By The Way
• < G > Grin
• < HTH > Hope This Helps
• < IIRC > If I Remember Correctly
• < IMHO > In My Humble Opinion
• < IMO > In My Opinion
• < JK > or < J/K > Just Kidding
• < LOL > Laughing Out Loud
• < OT > Off Topic
• < OTOH > On The Other Hand
• < ROTFL > Rolling on the Floor Laughing
• < TIA > Thanks In Advance
• < TOY > Thinking of You
• < TY > Thank You
• < YMMV > Your Mileage May Vary

 

Using abbreviations can take some time to master, especially since their usage differs from person to person and website to website. Take some time to observe how others around you are using abbreviations, and you’ll master their use in no time!