Okay, explanation time.

That's the way they all do it here in the US. Pet peeve: 19.99 instead of 20.00, or 17.88 instead of 18.00

Just irritates me. Apparently it works though. Sheeple are sometimes so . . . .so . . . Unaware of what they are really seeing.

No, I don't think "newbie" is an abbreviation. It is another form, the name of which escapes the vacuum of my mind at the moment. It either is, or is related to, jargon or patois.

"kim" wrote

Indeed.

OK, here is a little list that details the most common... sure I have missed some and some of those on the list are more appropriate in instant messaging etc... I think the 2nd A is very good as is the 1st T which seems spookily appropriate

Enjoy

AFAIK As far as I know ARE Acronym-rich environment ASAP As soon as possible

BRB be right back BTA But then again... BTDT Been there, done that BTW By the way BWL Bursting with laughter BWDIK But what the heck do I know...?

CU See you CUL8ER See you later

DQMOT Don't quote me on this

FAQ Frequently-ask question(s) FUBAR F***ed up beyond all repair or recognition FWIW For what it's worth FYI For your information

GIGO Garbage in, garbage out

HTH Hope this helps

IAC In any case IAE In any event

IIRC If I recall/remember/recollect correctly IMCO In my considered opinion IMHO In my humble opinion IMNSHO In my not so humble opinion IMO In my opinion IOW In other words IYSWIM If you see what I mean

JIC Just in case

K ok KISS Keep it simple stupid

L8R Later (or see you later as in bye) LMAO Laughing my a** off LOL Laughing out loud

NFI Not flipping interested NFW No feasible way or no flipping way

OMG Oh my God OTOH On the other hand OTTOMH Off the top of my head

PITA Pain in the ass

Q Thank you

ROTFLMAO Rolling on the floor laughing my a** off (lots of variations on this one) RTFM Read the flipping manual

SNAFU Situation normal - all fouled up STFU Shut the f*** Up

TFH Thread from hell (a discussion that just won't die and is often irrelevant to the purpose of the forum or group) TGIF Thank God it's Friday THX Thanks TIA Thanks in advance (used if you post a question and are expecting a helpful reply) TLA Three-letter acronym TMI Too much information

W1 wait one moment WYSIWYG What you see is what you get

Or really paying and would rather not know. It works too. A friend of mine who is also a salesman and so should know better was always boasting about the 'bargains' he just acquired. He would say £11 when he meant £11.99 or £16 when he meant £16.99. So I knocked a penny off the postal charges I was charging on eBay (ie: £3.99 instead of £4.00) and attracted a lot more bidders.

(kim)

"kim"

Proof that there's a sucker born every minute.

-- Cheers

Roger T.

Home of the Great Eastern Railway

wrote

Here's another one

DMI - Disturbing Mental Image. :-)

wrote

Yup, 'jargon' will do, but using it has exactly the same effect for those uncertain of it's meaning. IYSWIM.

John.

I dion't think I've seen

BTDT GTTS so far :-)

Jim.

Note that there is no such thing as an FLA, four letter acronym. It is known as an XTLA - extended three letter acronym.

I've seen tons of these over the years in the various computer forums that I inhabit when I have a job. I've even got lists of them somewhere. However there are always new ones coming up or ones that I've never seen and I discover as I wander into new territory. My favourite of these is

C|N>K

which utilises *nix type constructs to mean "coffee through nose to keyboard" - which is what happens when drinking a beverage and you read something that makes you laugh unexpectedly.

And to finish (please can we finish now) I give you 2 extras: firtly, PCMCIA - People Can't Manage Computer Industry Acronyms, which seems appropriate.

And secondly a story. One of the ex-co-workers was one day heard to have the following conversation with the person on the other end of the telephone:

Mary, did the DOS TNL PTF get to PID?

My God! Did you hear what I just said?

To which the answer came:

Even worse - I understood it!

-- Rod

Why the heck don't they just say "Twelve thousand" and have done with it?

Are you surprised, after someone many years ago announced "This is the British Broadcorping Castration"?

Because a lot more people will buy at eleven-something than will buy at twelve. Dumb but true.

(kim)

Wal-Mart makes a point of *not* having any prices ending in "9" (or "0").

Canada's public broadcaster is generally referred to as CBC, or sometimes the Corps (pronounced corpse), but in French it's still "Radio Canada".

They just end in .88 or .87 instead :o)

Wal-Mart Canada used to charge $0.29 for 4x6 photo prints (now $0.24); photo calendars are priced at $14.99, $24.99 and $39.99, so there are some exceptions. Most PhotoCentre prices end in .97 or .94.

"MartinS" wrote

One day an employee in Comet (UK electrical box-shifter) did confide that there is actually a hidden code in the prices. The one that sticks in my mind (because it was the one we were looking at at the time) was that if the price ended in 97p it indicated (IIRC) that it was an end of a line, that there were no more, and that it might be possible to ask the store manager to discount it further in order to gain a sale because the company wanted shot of the said white goods.

Elliott

BOHICA