[Smilies] [A] [B] [C] [D] [E] [F] [G] [H] [I] [J] [K] [L] [M] [N] [O] [P] [Q] [R] [S] [T] [U] [V] [W] [X] [Y] [Z]

Appendix F: Glossary of Telecommunications Terms and Online "Shorthand"

There are many terms thrown around in the world of telecommunications which are either entirely new, or have different connotations than in other areas of life. Many of these are technical terms, but many users use "shorthand" to express emotions or concepts in a few keystrokes. The most common form is to use a happy face or "smiley" :-) to express humour, or to say in essence, "Don't get offended by this message, I'm only kidding!" Variations on the basic "smiley" are often called "smileys" (even those which are not smiling, like the unhappy face :-( ) and sometimes called emoticons (short for emotion icons), but online shorthand goes much farther than that.

Each online group (users of a particular online service, or a BBS network, or Usenet) tends to develop its own "culture" in terms of which "shorthand" expressions are used and in what quantity. An expression which may be in common use in one online community may be completely unheard of in another. Overuse of these terms can be taken to indicate newness to telecommunications, or general immaturity. This is especially true of expressions like "CU L8er D00DZ!", where there is little (if any) saving in the amount of characters it takes to express a thought, and it can take readers more time to figure out what was intended than the thought was worth.

Throughout this Toolkit, you will find technical terms and shorthand (like "smiley") highlighted. If you click on a highlighted term, it will take you directly to its definition in this glossary. To return to where you were in the text, just press the "Back" button in your browser.

[Smilies] [A] [B] [C] [D] [E] [F] [G] [H] [I] [J] [K] [L] [M] [N] [O] [P] [Q] [R] [S] [T] [U] [V] [W] [X] [Y] [Z]

[CTT Home Page] [Part 1] [Part 2] [Part 3] [Part 4] [Part 5] [Part 6] [Part 7]
[Appendix A] [Appendix B] [Appendix C] [Appendix D] [Appendix E]