Shorthand has been around since before the days of Pitman I’m sure, and every generation seems to invent its own language. Lately in my training sessions I’ve noted an increase in younger delegates texting away during sessions (that’s another topic!). I’ve noticed they use short codes the same as the ones in Email, Chat programs, Forums, SMS’s and other space and attention is at a premium.
If, like me, you’ve felt like a dinosaur because you couldn’t work out what that abbreviated language meant, then here is a post that should enlighten you.
| <G> | Grinning |
| <J> | Joking |
| <L> | Laughing |
| <S> | Smiling |
| <Y> | Yawning |
| AAMOF | As A Matter Of Fact |
| AFAIC | As Far As I Can… |
| ASAP | As Soon As Possible |
| BBFN | Bye Bye For Now |
| BFN | Bye For Now |
| BTW | By The Way |
| BYKT | But You Knew That |
| CMIIW | Correct Me If I’m Wrong |
| EOL | End Of Lecture |
| FAQ | Frequently Asked Questions |
| FITB | Fill In The Blank |
| FWIW | For What It’s Worth |
| FYI | For Your Information |
| GBU | God Bless You |
| GMTA | Great Minds Think Alike |
| HTH | Hope This Helps |
| IAC | In Any Case |
| IAE | In Any Event |
| ICL | In Christian Love |
| IMCO | In My Considered Opinion |
| IMHO | In My Humble Opinion |
| IMNSHO | In My Not So Humble Opinion |
| IMO | In My Opinion |
| IOW | In Other Words |
| LMAO | Laughing My Arse Off |
| LOL | Lots Of Laughter |
| MGB | May God Bless |
| MHOTY | My Hat’s Off To You |
| NRN | No Reply Necessary |
| OIC | Oh, I See |
| OTOH | On The Other Hand |
| PTL | Praise The Lord |
| ROF | Rolling On the Floor |
| ROFL | Rolling On the Floor Laughing |
| ROTFL | Rolling On The Floor Laughing |
| ROFLMAO | Rolling On the Floor Laughing My Arse Off |
| RSN | Real Soon Now |
| RTFM | Read The F*** Manual |
| SITD | Still In The Dark |
| TTFN | Ta Ta For Now |
| YMMV | Your Mileage May Vary |
| TIA | Thanks In Advance |
| TIC | Tongue In Cheek |
| TTYL | Talk To You Later |
| TYVM | Thank You Very Much |
| WYSIWYG | What you See Is What You Get |
Maybe we should start including some of these abbreviations in our training materials to engage Gen Z or whatever we’re up to! Scarily I’ve noticed I use 2 and 4 instead of “to” and “for” in my flip charting!
I’m sure there are more abbreviations .. know any?
IAC, folks, HTH. BFN!