Glossary

THE WORDS ARE INSANE!

No, they really aren’t. It’s just that web lingo is an evolution on fast forward. Imagine you have a friend named Robert. You called him Bob and Bobby when he was a kid. But then he got hit by lightning and after that you called him Sparky. Sometimes it takes years for a person’s name to change, but by the time Robert perishes, everyone might have been calling him Uncle Jo Jo!
Things like that happen online very quickly. The web is the Internet is the ether. It is also “teh tubes.” If you wonder about a term, search it and you will come across either an answer or some clues. Or if possible, you can ask whomever used the term what it means.

Here I have used the term Noob. That is a newbie or a novice and most people online know that. The terms toe dipper, baby rocker, rocker and hardcore rocker are ones I used on the spur of the moment from things already in my head. They are not official or even popular terms for what I have designated them to be.

Have a blast with it. A language lover will be in heaven, a language purist will be in virtual hell for a while.

Here is the last term I searched. RTFM. It is an acronym that stands for Read The F***ing Manual. I think maybe someone on the other end of a help line somewhere must have been a bit irritated when they came up with it. And since so many people understood the feeling associated with the word, it became part of the standard language of the net.

Of course this is just from my tiny perspective in U.S., other countries may have other terms. However, as you will find, going to other countries online is a click away, so many of the common online terms are in use around the world!

Popular culture does play a role in how terms change and evolve. Wikipedia does a good job of giving you the modern etymology of a term. Popular culture online is just like in the real world but with the added facet of the online niche world.

You know that niche if you are a noob. It is the one that all of those net and tech people belong to. When they start talking you sometimes get confused or irritated. Thank you for not hurting them. Often once one is online for a month or two, he or she knows so many new words that people like yourself think they know everything about the web. They don’t! I don’t! Nobody does really.

The web is a tool with multiple uses. Some of those uses are not yet known. People have to think of them. Once there was no web. Once there was no dictionary. People thought of them. The only difference is that the web has turned out to have more uses than one person can imagine!

Everything that is in the real world is copied here in some way, but there are also things here that do not exist in the real world except for in our minds. For example, you may dream of being a fluffy white dog but on the web, you can actually be one for a while in an RPG (role playing game) if such a character is offered. Or if you day dream of being a warrior and taking down your enemies like bowling pins, on the web there are many places where you can act that out. Some of the terms that are famous and famously over-used have come from games like that.

So do not feel stupid. Just look it up or ask. Who knows, maybe one day you will coin a term that will live forever!

Be careful. You might find that you use net speak in your writing in the real world after a time. It’ll be a new thing to proof read to avoid.

***KIDS IN SCHOOL PAY ATTENTION HERE***

The real world changes slowly. It is getting quicker but rest assured that your real world language instructors (and many many other people) will prefer that you use real world terms.

Text messaging is a good analogy to how web terms develop. Some of the terms are the same. However, many are not and often text messaging shortcuts are not preferred online. The reason for this is that many people online have the time and ease to use more letters and get creative. And you know that rocks!

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