In a world of people who don't like to type, can't type quickly, or are too lazy to type, you're going to need a lot of help just figuring out what people are trying to say to one another.

For example, you might run across something like this in a chat room:

Dick: ...so the guy says, you know that's not a duck you've been talking to!
Jane: ROTFLOL
Dick: Yeah, my brother told me that. =) IMO, that's gotta be one of the better ones.
Jane: Definitely.
Dick: Oh Jane – I'm sorry, I gotta run. Spot's scratching at the door. I'd better take him for a walk. TTYL
Jane: OK. L8r.

Did any of that seem cryptic? Unless you’re online a lot, you probably get lost when you see stuff like that.

Here's a brief rundown of the ones that were used in the chat clip above:

You're likely to run into more than that too.. Try some of these:

• BRB isn't a stomach noise, but means "be right back"
• AFK means "away from keyboard"
• BAK means "back at keyboard"
• BBL means "be back later"
• TTFN means "ta ta for now"

Other

• FWIW means "for what it's worth"
• OIC means "Oh, I see"
• OTOH means "On the other hand"
• IMHO means "in my humble opinion"
• IMNSHO means "in my not-so-humble opinion"

A few common "emoticons"

Smileys:

=)
:)
:-)
8)
8^)

To make a frown, use the opposite parenthesis, e.g., =(

Surprised: =O

Evil grin: >=)

Silly "tongue" smiley: =P   or     =Þ

• MSN Web Communities: All these fun things don't do much for you unless you're talking to people.
• MSN Computing Central: Still having problems trying to decipher Net speak? Click over to Computing Central for a wealth of information about the online world, and more.
• Internet Smileys: A fairly extensive collection of smileys, what they mean and how to make them.
• Dr. T's Internet Glossary: Not only will you find a handy dictionary, but you'll find quite a few acronyms listed here.