Watch for chatspeak please

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Hi all. I just skimmed the board a little and found a bit of an apparent outbreak of the dreaded chatspeak virus. [img]wink.gif[/img] That would include lack of punctuation, lack of capitalization where it's needed, misspellings, and abbreviations (like using "4" instead of "for"). So I'm just asking that those of you who are succumbing to this dreaded disease please take your chatspeak antibiotics, take 2 aspirin, lie down with a cool cloth on your heads, take a nap, and call me in the morning. I hope you recover soon, and that it's not too contagious. [img]wink.gif[/img]
Joy

<font color="#33CCCC" size="1">[ July 17, 2006 07:47 AM: Message edited by: djsnjones ]</font>

[dornroeschen]

Thanks Joy! This is highly appreciated from non-native speakers. It can be really difficult to figure out what is being said - especially with abbreviations.

On that note: I've been wondering what the second F in BFF for Best Friend stands for, which quite a few have been using - haven't found a solution yet: Best Faithful Friend? Best Fantastic Friend? Best Funny Friend?

[Avione]

I think it stands for "Best Friend Forever." [img]smile.gif[/img]

<font color="#33CCCC" size="1">[ July 17, 2006 05:35 PM: Message edited by: Avione ]</font>

[bgeurtz]

I've been wondering that myself, but figured someone would ask one day.
And I always thought BF was boyfriend, go figure.
Maybe we need a recap of what abbrevations are allowed so we're all on the same sheet of music. [img]graemlins/rose.gif[/img]

I remember now I thought BFF was "Best Friends Father". HAHA! I learn something new everyday.

<font color="#33CCCC" size="1">[ July 17, 2006 06:43 PM: Message edited by: Boop0415 ]</font>

[Sakurako]

Using spell check would certainly be a bonus, too.

[DaisyDee]

BF generally does stand for Boyfriend. That's why best friend is BFF- "best friend forever" to differentiate the two.

[Katie148]

Yeah, I've heard BF used to mean both "best friend" and "boyfriend." Personally I don't see why it's so difficult to just type out "best friend" or "boyfriend" so people know what is meant without having to guess. How much time does it really save to abbreviate it - half a second?? Maybe it's the English major in me, but I much prefer plain old proper English with complete words, even if I do know what the abbreviation stands for. So thanks for this reminder about chatspeak, Joy!

[GreyMyst]

Originally posted by Sakurako:
Using spell check would certainly be a bonus, too.

<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">Most browsers don't have spell check.

On my computer it requires copying each and every post to the clipboard, opening word(which takes several minutes) spell checking, then pasting back into the board. All that for one or two mispelled words? I don't think so.

When I used AOL boards, spell check was built into everyone's post box and IMO there was no excuse not to use it. There are a wide variety of computers and browsers using this board, most of which don't have spell check availible for web forms.

[Katie from IL]

Originally posted by Kit 1934:
But some abbreviations like LOL are very well known, so I can understand why they would be allowed. Others, however, like LMBFBO are just stupid. Does it really save you that much time?

<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">What does LMBFBO stand for anyways? And what about IMO/IMHO? I see that here all the time.

Did you realize we have one of thes netspeak things in our smileys? ----> [img]graemlins/asl.gif[/img] <------ I've always wondered what that stads for. What does it stand for anyways?

In addition, we use a lot of our own special abbreviations on this board? AG, AGP, AGPC/AGPNY/AGPLA, NIB, LE, BT, BB, JYL/AGT, HSH, ....
We assume everyone knows what they mean including me [img]redface.gif[/img] , because of the nature of the board. But if we're talking about netspeak and abbreviations, can you please clarify what is OK and what is not, including using our own special American Girl abbreviations? For the longest time I never knew what MCM stands for!

I'm not being sarcastic or trying to be a pain or give anyone a hard time, I try to respect the rules as much as possible. I usually spell out most of my words. As someone who tends to take too many things too literally, I genuinely need to know where the rules lie. Thanks.

<font color="#33CCCC" size="1">[ July 17, 2006 09:28 PM: Message edited by: Diamond Dragon ]</font>

[cebula_2005]

IM(H)O=In My (humble) opinion.

[img]graemlins/asl.gif[/img] Is a question asking for your Age, Sex, and Location...personal info I would NOT reccommend giving out over the internet.

HTH (Hope This Helps)
Tra