Rose Belandi says some young people conduct almost entire computer conversations in acronyms, as if they were sharing a secret

Rose Belandi says some young people conduct almost entire computer conversations in acronyms, as if they were sharing a secret code. Here's an example.

Don't worry, we'll translate for you:

Male: "RE-HI"

Translator: "That means, 'hello, again.'

Female: "HUA"

Translator: "Heads up, Ace."

Male:"ONNA"

Translator:"Oh, no, not again."

Female: "Fraid so. While you were AFK . . . "

Translator: "away from the keyboard . . ."

Female: ". . . an FOAF . . ."

Translator: "a friend of a friend"

Female: ". . . told me your BDC . . .

Translator:. . . "big, dumb company"

Female:. . . "FAB in your OS"

Translator:"found a bug in your operating system"

Male: "What? Are you EWI?"

Translator: "e-mailing while intoxicated"

Female: "No! TM"

Translator: "Trust me."

Female: "fys-big-t-babn"

Translator:"Fasten your seat belts. It's going to be a bumpy night."

Male: "Yeah, well TAH, I'm ROFL"

Translator: "Thanks a heap. I'm rolling on the floor laughing."

So it can go, back and forth, and there are hundreds more examples.

Female voice: "BBN"

Male Voice: That means "Bye-bye now."

Female voice: "BRB"

Male Voice: Be right back.

Female voice: "BTW"

Male Voice: By the way.

Female voice: "HAK"

Male Voice: Hugs and kisses.

Female voice: "ILY"

Male Voice: I love you.

Female voice: "RMMM"

Male Voice: Read my mail, man.

Female voice:"Snert!"

Male Voice:Snotty-nosed, egotistical, rotten teenager.

Female voice: "TLGO"

Male Voice: The list goes on.

It does indeed. If you think all this jargon is hard to follow, consider this: really adept computer users have an even shorter shorthand! They use just a couple of strokes on the keyboard to graphically express feelings or create clever images.

The idea started with the little smiley face that first became popular in the 1970s.

These symbols are called "emoticons". They are meant to add a bit of emotion to the sometimes-sterile world of computer talk. One emoticon, for example, consists of three left parentheses, followed by a long gap, then three right parentheses. This little graphic represents a hug.

Here are other emoticons. Tilting the page to the right helps in figuring out some of them:

:-$ Put your money where your mouth is

:-C Real unhappy

:-b Tongue stuck out

:-! Foot in mouth

(:^( Broken nose

(-_-) Secret smile

:-< Sad

:-Q Confusion

Aoefe McEvoy at PC World magazine says some computer users find these emoticon symbols cute. "Some people think they're useful," she said. "Some people think they're annoying, because emoticons are pretty obscure until you know what they mean."

As with any kind of slang, the computer craze involving acronyms and emoticons may be a passing phase. Just as people in the 1930s said "toodle-oo" for good-bye, and "later" meant farewell in the 1990s, cyber friends say good-bye this way:

Male voice:"HAGO"

Landphair:"Have a good one"

Female voice:"BBN"

Landphair:"Bye-bye now!"