Is there a central repository of sorts for MeFi specific acronyms ("FPP," et. al.)?

December 15, 2006 9:18 AM

In the spirit of helpful hive mindedness, I thought I might ask if there's a central repository of sorts for MeFi specific acronyms ("FPP," et. al.). Not basic internet slang acronyms, but ones used frequently on Mefi pages - some kind of list that might help the younger bees buzzing about.

I seem to remember a MeTa post at one point where everyone went off, acronymically speaking, but after a good deal of searching I haven't been able to find it.

Personally I've resorted to this tactic for the most part, but I still get curious from time to time. Yes, I have Google, but what I have in mind is a MeFi specific short list / glossary to spell things out for the more recently initiated.
posted by allkindsoftime to etiquette/policy at 9:18 AM (93 comments total)

IANAL =I Am Not A Lawyer
posted by ThePinkSuperhero at 9:27 AM on December 15, 2006 [1 favorite]

GYOBFW - Get your own 'blog, fuckwit.
posted by yhbc at 9:29 AM on December 15, 2006

GYOBFW -> Get your own blog Freak Wit
OP -> Original Poster (this one Matt hates)
posted by Mitheral at 9:33 AM on December 15, 2006

GYOBFW also leads to people being clever and using GYO* where they make up something that no one else can figure out. Quite tiresome.
posted by smackfu at 9:34 AM on December 15, 2006 [1 favorite]

...what I have in mind is a MeFi specific short list / glossary to spell things out for the more recently initiated.

AcronymFinder
UrbanDictionary

allkindsofwastedtime is more like it, amirite? lolz omg zerg rush kekeke
posted by prostyle at 9:35 AM on December 15, 2006

OP = offending party. Really.
posted by I Am Not a Lobster at 9:38 AM on December 15, 2006

And IANAL should be obvious.
posted by I Am Not a Lobster at 9:39 AM on December 15, 2006 [2 favorites]

Here are the ones I have noticed in addition to the ones already mentioned:
FTW = For the Win.
FOAD = Fuck off and die.
TIA = Thanks in Advance.
0U812 = Shitty music.
TROLL = User who says something I disagree with.
posted by dios at 9:46 AM on December 15, 2006

IHAF. IMP.
posted by yhbc at 9:54 AM on December 15, 2006

The origin of GYOBFW
posted by vacapinta at 9:55 AM on December 15, 2006

PDNMMPP =

Please Do Not

Make

Multi-Paragraph Posts.
posted by languagehat at 10:00 AM on December 15, 2006 [1 favorite]

DWD = Die Without Dots (ancient curse)
posted by found missing at 10:03 AM on December 15, 2006

ZINC = 'Zere Is No Cabal
posted by Blazecock Pileon at 10:08 AM on December 15, 2006

ISTRAMTPAOPWEWOAS:
I seem to remember a MeTa post at one point where everyone went off, acronymically speaking.
posted by weapons-grade pandemonium at 10:13 AM on December 15, 2006

I can't believe that no one has pointed to the Mefi wiki's page on in-jokes.
posted by Plutor at 10:24 AM on December 15, 2006

??????? = Rats, it worked in preview.
posted by hydrophonic at 10:35 AM on December 15, 2006

AZ3DYT=Astro Zombie 3, Do Your Thing
posted by Astro Zombie at 10:39 AM on December 15, 2006

For the longest time, I thought FTW meant "Fuck The World".
posted by found dog one eye at 10:50 AM on December 15, 2006

WCSHTIBC
DETBA
TITODO

and a personal favorite

YAETLA
posted by loquacious at 10:55 AM on December 15, 2006

I'm trying to stop myself from using any acronyms. They just kind of irk me.
posted by bob sarabia at 10:56 AM on December 15, 2006

PDNMMPP =

MY LINEBREAKAMONS LET ME SHOW YOU THEM
posted by loquacious at 10:57 AM on December 15, 2006

SLBOE = single link blog op ed
Jessamyn used that when torpedoing an election post I made, but #1 said would have used "we've had enough election threads today".
I doubt that will be used ever again, so maybe put it on a sticky note, your choice.
posted by nj_subgenius at 11:01 AM on December 15, 2006

SLOE has been used before, I just added the B to it.
posted by jessamyn at 11:07 AM on December 15, 2006

Forget the sticky note then!
posted by nj_subgenius at 11:10 AM on December 15, 2006

FWIW = for what it's worth
posted by goml at 11:23 AM on December 15, 2006

Everybody knows that. What you should have said is:
goml = get off my lawn
posted by languagehat at 11:28 AM on December 15, 2006

DIVINE_WINO:

DOUBLE INTENSITY VELOUR INVISIBLE NIPPLE ERECTOR_WHO INCREASES NASTY ORGASMS.
posted by Divine_Wino at 11:56 AM on December 15, 2006

loquacious writes "YAETLA"

Yet Another Extended Three Letter Acronym?
posted by Mitheral at 11:56 AM on December 15, 2006

None of these are acronyms. They're all initialisms.
posted by Eideteker at 12:03 PM on December 15, 2006 [1 favorite]

There have been several beloved and/or despised MeFites who have been acronymed, including CC, EB, FF, FFF, IRFH, MCD, MJJJ, MM, PP, SDB and his clone SCDB, WATUC, and XQUZYPHYR. If you are unfamiliar with these people, you haven't been here long enough...
posted by wendell at 12:07 PM on December 15, 2006

Added to which, few of them are specific to MetaFilter.
posted by cribcage at 12:07 PM on December 15, 2006

FPP and OP do not make a blind bit of fucking sense. Where else would a post be? What's the point of 'original' when, by definition, there can only be one poster per thread?
posted by jack_mo at 12:25 PM on December 15, 2006 [1 favorite]

ymmv = "your mileage may vary"
posted by vito90 at 12:28 PM on December 15, 2006

OK. To everybody who's posting IANAL, or FWIW, or YMMV, let me say this: RTFA.
posted by cribcage at 12:30 PM on December 15, 2006 [1 favorite]

jack_mo writes "Where else would a post be?"

Ask, Meta, Projects, Music?
posted by Mitheral at 12:31 PM on December 15, 2006

For the longest time, I thought FTW meant "Fuck The World".
As far as I'm concerned, it does. just like FTA means Fuck the Army. Maybe it's because I think the concept of someone "winning" a thread is FUBAR.
posted by Kirth Gerson at 12:37 PM on December 15, 2006

Yet Another Extended Three Letter Acronym?

Indeed! Any guess at the others?

None of these are acronyms. They're all initialisms.

Shush, you!
posted by loquacious at 12:39 PM on December 15, 2006

IMO, "post" is not a very good word to use as a term for an individual item on a weblog, since you can also 'post' a comment, are you posting a post? That's why I've been supportive of the FPP acronym, even knowing that #1 is not.

I'm also not thrilled with "thread" referring to the post and its comments, and I suspect a lot of people new to comment-heavy weblogs are gonna be confused.

Does anybody have alternatives that might be clear even to blog newbies?
posted by wendell at 12:46 PM on December 15, 2006

Eideteker FTW!
posted by MrMoonPie at 12:53 PM on December 15, 2006

Agreed. Lousy world. What's it ever done for me?
posted by Eideteker at 12:54 PM on December 15, 2006 [1 favorite]

Does anybody have alternatives that might be clear even to blog newbies?

For "post": warthog.
For "thread": seersucker.

If they can't figure it out, they don't deserve to be here.
posted by languagehat at 1:00 PM on December 15, 2006 [1 favorite]

Obscure acronyms are the tools of the devil.

It's even worse when they're used as user names. Don't even get me started.
posted by 1f2frfbf at 1:11 PM on December 15, 2006 [1 favorite]

For "comment": thread.
posted by chrismear at 1:13 PM on December 15, 2006

ForFuck'sSake

*waves to goml*
posted by and hosted from Uranus at 1:20 PM on December 15, 2006

Helping Children Through Research And Development= "Hi, Everyone. Let's Pitch In 'N' Get Cracking Here In Louisiana Doing Right, Eh? Now Then. Hateful Rich Overbearing Ugly Guys Hurt Royally Everytime Someone Eats A Radish, Carrot, Hors d'oeuvre, And Never Does Dishes. Eventually, Victor Eats Lunch Over Peoria Mit Ein Neuesberger Tod"
posted by drezdn at 1:25 PM on December 15, 2006

allkindsoftime, we have an acronymizer that encodes and decodes. To access it:
UP, UP, DOWN, DOWN, LEFT, RIGHT, LEFT, RIGHT, B, A, START
posted by safetyfork at 1:27 PM on December 15, 2006

DVDA = tons o' fun.
posted by educatedslacker at 1:40 PM on December 15, 2006

fenriq - focused energy needs regular itching and quashing.

FWIW, I've always read IANAL as "I am anal" even though I know its not. But it does apply in most cases anyway. YMMV. IMHO.
posted by fenriq at 1:41 PM on December 15, 2006

I invented NAXT, for "Not that there's anything wrong with that", and used it sparingly for about four years now, but the volcano of support has not erupted. NAXT.
posted by weapons-grade pandemonium at 1:54 PM on December 15, 2006

drezdn= didn't realize eating zinc destroys nerves.
posted by drezdn at 1:56 PM on December 15, 2006

ÖKDÛ
posted by soundofsuburbia at 2:09 PM on December 15, 2006

Derail: In high school art class we made big paper mache letters and painted them. I chose my initials and painted an american flag on them. So when anyone would walk past the display cabinet in the hallway they'd see a big america-themed "BS". I thought it was pretty funny at the time. Of course I was about 17.
posted by bob sarabia at 2:42 PM on December 15, 2006

SYFPH

Shut Yer Fuckin' Pie Hole

(my old fave from AIM)
posted by KevinSkomsvold at 2:48 PM on December 15, 2006

old 'n moldy:

TANSTAAFL = There aint no such thing as a free lunch (popular from usenet days and beyond. Origin = Terry Pratchett?)

AFAIR = As far as I recall
AFAIK = As far as I know
IIRC = If I recall correctly
posted by loquacious at 3:05 PM on December 15, 2006

EBK = Somebody who fucking hates you.
posted by eyeballkid at 3:19 PM on December 15, 2006

SOS
posted by soundofsuburbia at 3:22 PM on December 15, 2006

METAFILTER = May Elicit Thirty Angry Fuckers Insisting [upon] Links That Everyone Reviles.
posted by Effigy2000 at 3:54 PM on December 15, 2006

Eyeballkid Blows Kittens
posted by loquacious at 4:05 PM on December 15, 2006 [1 favorite]

You silly people with your fake acronyms.

quin = quickly undoing indifferent nomenclature.

How can we have gotten this far and not posted the most important one of all?

WTF?
posted by quin at 4:09 PM on December 15, 2006

If you want to have big-time acronymical fun, we should revive the old Blogstop game... but then, over at MonkeyFilter, it never ended.
posted by wendell at 4:14 PM on December 15, 2006

CCCCCC = Cobra Caro, Cuida Culo, Cariños Carlos
posted by signal at 4:26 PM on December 15, 2006

Mitheral writes 'Ask, Meta, Projects, Music?'

I see what you mean, but that's just another black mark against 'FPP', as it's not solely used to mean posts on MetaFilter proper.

This post we're commenting on right now might be referred to by one user as an FPP on MetaTalk, but since this post references another post on MetaTalk, another user might consider that other post to be the FPP. In the comments on a post to MetaTalk about a post on MetaFilter, is the FPP the MetaTalk post, or the MetaFilter post being called out? What's the FPP when someone makes a post to Projects inspired by a post on AskMe prompted by a post on Music featuring a song about a post on MetaTalk?
posted by jack_mo at 5:16 PM on December 15, 2006

kthxbi...

needs no further explanation. If my afghani asylum seeker clients get it, I sure hope you can.
posted by dash_slot- at 5:25 PM on December 15, 2006

TANSTAAFL = There aint no such thing as a free lunch (popular from usenet days and beyond. Origin = Terry Pratchett?)

Sheesh, kids today. TANSTAAFL was popularized by Robert Heinlein in The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress (first published in If, Feb. 1966), but it was known well before that; the first currently available citation is from the Mt. Pleasant (Iowa) News of Oct. 1, 1949: "Tanstaafl is mnemonic for 'there ain't no such thing as a free lunch.'"
posted by languagehat at 5:36 PM on December 15, 2006

Also in common usage amongst science fiction fans for decades, of course.

OP -> Original Poster (this one Matt hates)

I have never seen Matt fulminate against OP, but he has (years ago) expressed his distaste for FPP.
posted by stavrosthewonderchicken at 5:41 PM on December 15, 2006

"Sheesh, kids today. TANSTAAFL was popularized by Robert Heinlein ..."

I cannot believe this was something that needed to be said.

Goddamn kids today with no sense of history.


And GET OFF MY LAWN.
posted by mr_crash_davis at 6:07 PM on December 15, 2006

"Sheesh, kids today. TANSTAAFL was popularized by Robert Heinlein ..."

I cannot believe this was something that needed to be said.

Oh, that's right. I just wish Pratchett wrote that, because Robert Heinlein bugs the hell out of me.
posted by loquacious at 6:11 PM on December 15, 2006

IJWMSWAMWHV:

I Just Watched My Sister Wink At Me With Her Vulva was also RAH but the other one caught on better.
posted by Divine_Wino at 6:13 PM on December 15, 2006

*pogo-sticks all over mr_crash_davis' lawn*
posted by loquacious at 6:14 PM on December 15, 2006

Derail, sorry.
loquacious, there's no doubt Heinlein ossified in later years but The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress is der *classicz*. Yeah, he was creepy late in life. TAANSTAFL! IITYWYBMAD?
posted by nj_subgenius at 6:21 PM on December 15, 2006

*tosses mr_crash_davis a shotgun, cackles obscenely*
posted by languagehat at 6:23 PM on December 15, 2006

...er, TANSTAAFL 8-(
posted by nj_subgenius at 6:23 PM on December 15, 2006

I'm in favour of lawn-clearing activites. Mount up, Old Fart Brigade!
posted by stavrosthewonderchicken at 6:26 PM on December 15, 2006

Have Spacesuit Will Travel is one of my lifetime favorites.
posted by Divine_Wino at 6:28 PM on December 15, 2006

SCUBA?
RADAR?
TASER?
LASER?
posted by fixedgear at 6:31 PM on December 15, 2006

SNOWCONE
posted by ericb at 8:19 PM on December 15, 2006

Snarky Nerds Oscitate Wildly Causing Overbearing Nerdly Ecstasy
posted by loquacious at 8:29 PM on December 15, 2006

Gnu's not unix.
posted by Mid at 9:14 PM on December 15, 2006

SNOWCONE technology rulez the internets. Now featuring dimensional sound, with the promise of advanced voice morphing. And all this over an old-school modem connection!
posted by five fresh fish at 9:19 PM on December 15, 2006

IFNAPHNBTDTMUA. (DYGNTGGLD!) TAWTFAIDH!!!! W00t. W00t. Birdie Num Num...
posted by Skygazer at 9:20 PM on December 15, 2006

TTIG, IYKWIM (AITTYD).
posted by piratebowling at 10:45 PM on December 15, 2006

esad.
posted by aubilenon at 12:47 AM on December 16, 2006

I have a dream that the "SOAP" acronym will one day come back into vogue.

Also, still trying to figure out what "FAQ" means. I'll bet Matt gets asked about that a lot. He should make a page explaining common inquiries of this nature.
posted by Arthur "Two Sheds" Jackson at 1:44 AM on December 16, 2006

I thought IANAL means you like butt sex.

No wonder no one is answering my craigslist ad.
posted by Mick at 7:31 AM on December 16, 2006

For those of us who aren't programmers:

"==" means "is"
"!=" means "is not"
"/something" means the end of something.
posted by hydrophonic at 9:32 AM on December 16, 2006

"/something" means the end of something.

"/something" can also mean "user takes this action", like:

/does a little dance

This is a nod back to the old IRC days. Other action indicators also seen are:

:makes a little love
*gets down tonight*
posted by quin at 9:49 AM on December 16, 2006

gnfti?
posted by criticalbill at 11:09 AM on December 16, 2006 [1 favorite]

goodnewsfortheinsane.
posted by jessamyn at 11:13 AM on December 16, 2006

Sigh.

I propose an astounding AI, 56 dial-up gameplay with no lags, surround sound, and no one supports me in it. What's a guy got to do, talk about zero-length compression schemes and secure 12bit cryptography?
posted by five fresh fish at 6:41 PM on December 16, 2006

thanks jessamyn.
You fascinate me...
Ew, threw up a little? Sorry.
posted by nj_subgenius at 9:34 PM on December 16, 2006

Crash: BIBAWYLO and IWWYTBW :-)
posted by flabdablet at 3:39 AM on December 17, 2006

Well, this turned out splendidly.
posted by allkindsoftime at 12:52 PM on December 17, 2006

WTTOS
posted by found missing at 1:26 PM on December 17, 2006