The Language of Gamers (and you)

Everyone has seen those cell phone commercials that include such phrases as “idk my bff jill?” and “omg rly?” Gamers and texters alike love to use such internet jargon or “1337 speak”. Abbreviations and complex acronyms abound when cruising the net. All of these terms and jargon-like languages tend to have a steep learning curve and even a few months of living under a rock would put you back in the dark, but there is help in sight. If you’re stumped by these few examples this helpful guide will teach you the “l337 $p3@k” basics and convey a deeper understanding of some of the simpler terms of common AOL instant messenger or gaming jargon.
The first step to successfully understanding the way people text or type is to realize the meaning of an acronym. The dictionary definition of Acronym is: “a word formed from the initial letters or groups of letters of words in a set phrase or series of words, as Wac from Women's Army Corps, OPEC from Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, or loran from long-range navigation.” After reading the definition of an Acronym you must also realize that the acronym is the core of common internet jargon, you must always try to work typed words or phrases into acronyms. A common example would be the word ROFL. ROFL stands for “rolling on (the) floor laughing” some people may add variants of the word such as ROFLMAO which stands for “rolling on (the) floor laughing my ass off”. Another core word combination used is OMG or OMFG standing for “oh my god” and “oh my fucking god” respectively. A key element I have neglected is that I have capitalized everything so far, many times this is not the case. Capitalization in most cases is used as emphasis, and to convey yelling or anger.
Now that the mysteries of the acronym have been revealed I will now give the beginners a simple chart-like list to reference when attempting to decipher acronyms or the common abbreviations.

OWNED(PWNED)-
A term used when making fun of someone’s folly or when defeating them in some type of internet combat. (The P is used for emphasis and can also be shortened to PWNT)


ORLY?- Oh really?
YARLY!- Yes really!
FGSFDS- This is a term simply used to convey confusion.
ROFL (ROFLMAO)- Rolling on (the) Floor laughing. (my ass off)
OMG (OMFG)- Oh my god. (Oh my fucking god)
IDK?- I don’t know.
BFF- Best friend(s) forever.
TTFN- Ta-Ta for now.
PPL- People.
IMO (IMHO)- In my opinion. (In my humble opinion)
BTW- By the way.
LFG- Looking for group.
NOOB- Derogatory term for any novice.
AFAIK- As far as I know.
YTMND- You’re the man now dog.
BRB (BBL)- Be right back. (Be back later)
GL- Good luck.
OIC- Oh I see.
PLS (PRZ)- Please (Preaze-accented)
TY- Thank you.
IRL In real life.

This simple chart is meant to give some of the more common examples of internet speech to a novice but has not gone into the more complicated language of “1337 speak”. I will merely touch upon 1337 speak because it is a language that can be manipulated as anyone sees fit and is for more experienced users. Many of the letters, numbers and signs on your keyboard are interchangeable when using leet speak, or 1337 $P3@K. The origins of 1337 speak were just a few people wishing to have a language of their own to communicate unbothered by other internet intruders but it eventually became a widely used language at least in a more simplified form. The actual1337 speak alphabet is as follows:
A = 4
B = |3
C = (
D = |)
E = 3
F = |=
G = 6
H = |-|
I = |
J = 9
K = |<
L = 1
M = |v|
N = |/|
O = 0
P = |*
Q = 0,
R = |2
S = 5
T = 7
U = |_|
V = |/
W = |/|/
X = ><
Y = `/
Z = 2

As you can see, it is terribly complicated and most people when using it use it in a pseudo form by including many actual letters instead of their 1337 counterparts.
The last and final part of this guide is to inform you of the pronunciations of internet language when actually spoken. I would like for you to picture any acronyms as completely phonetic. LOL would be spoken as “lawl” or ROFL would be spoken as “roff-ull”. Actually speaking with internet terms is usually met with confusion but recently has started to take hold on the youth or more tech-savvy people of this generation at least with simple terms. Hopefully this guide has helped you to further your understanding of two or three different internet languages and will continue to be a tool for beginners in the future. One last thought I would like to leave you with is that internet jargon is constantly changing so always remember to read it with an open mind.