Used in real-time text-based communications such as instant messaging, email, online gaming services, chat rooms, discussion boards and mobile phone text messaging (SMS) chat abbreviations are acronyms and slang terms used to shorten the amount of text you type when chatting online or on a cellphone. For example, if you are in a chatroom and someone types a funny statement, you could answer with LOL (short for Laughing Out Loud) instead of typing the full phrase out. Chat abbreviations are used in many different online groups and by people of all ages.
Webopedia’s “Guide to Understanding Online Chat Acronyms & Smiley Faces” Quick Reference will help you decipher the text chat lingo by providing the definitions to more than 1,180 chat abbreviations.
