Teen Speak..

What exactly is an Acronym?

An acronym is a pronounceable word formed from each of the first letters of a descriptive phrase. An acronym is actually a type of abbreviation.

Here's an example of an acronym: North Atlantic Treaty Organization = NATO

Because teens seem to live in the fast lane, they've made the most of today's available technology and like generations before them have come up with their own language.

Anachronisms are nothing new, but in this digital age they've made it easy to convey more information with less keystrokes.

And since teams routinely juggle multiple chat sessions, using anachronisms enables them to keep up the jumble of bombarding messages.

Here are some typical examples of some of the more common and acronyms commonly used by teens today chat rooms rooms, text messages and on cell phones.

These anachronisms are universal across both online and in text messaging.

121: one to one

ADN: any day now

AFAIK: as far as I know

AFK: away from keyboard

A/S/L: age, sex, location

B4: before

B4N: bye for now

BF: boyfriend

BFN: bye for now

BG: big grin

BTA: but then again

BTW: by the way

CID: crying in disgrace

CNP: continued (in my) next post