TWO “DICTIONARIES” OF INTERNET ACRONYMS AND EMOTICONS

I just found this article from PC World, LOL :) -- A Guide to Internet Lingo and Emoticons. James A. Martin put together both acronyms and smileys in the following categories: Everyday Acronyms: Coming and Going, Hooting and Hollering, Exotic Acronyms, Acronyms We Wish Existed (and Possibly Do), Everyday Emoticons, Favorite Exotic Emoticons, and More Shorthand Slang Online. There are nice descriptions of each entry.


For a more complete list, try NetLingo. It has a searchable data base including acronyms and other abbreviations for text messaging and IM, smileys and emoticons, top 20 lists (acronyms every parent needs to know, tech terms that are now common expressions, and newbie terms everyone needs to know), file extensions, country codes, and more. You can also download the entire thing as an e-book (US$25) or PDF (US$10).


URLs:

LOL: http://www.pcworld.com/article/id,88686-page,1/article.html

NetLingo: http://www.netlingo.com/index.cfm