Language and Representation: You have just discovered Searing Gorge! W00t!

Acronym: A word formed from the initial letters of other words. Hence as v. trans., to convert into an acronym (chiefly pass. and as pa. pple.). Also acro* nymic a.; acro* nymically adv.; acronyming vbl. n.; acronymize v. trans. (from OED Online)

Internet slang: Such terms typically originated with the purpose of saving keystrokes, and many people use the same abbreviations in text messages. They are also very commonly used in instant messaging. The terms often appear in lower case, with capitals reserved for emphasis; for example, the pronoun "I" often appears simply as "i". People also use "u" to mean "you," and "r" to mean "are." Much of the time people do not use apostrophes or punctuation at all.
Like most jargon, Internet slang / leet speak aggrandizes authors and readers, causing them to appear to have specialized knowledge of a complex medium. However, there are cases where using Internet slang is considered ridiculous, due to association with the stereotype of the internet n00b.
Some examples of internet slang are: "lol" meaning "laugh out loud", "rofl" meaning "rolling on the floor laughing" , "lmao" meaning "laughing my ass off" (or, as a combination of these two: "roflmao" meaning "rolling on floor laughing my ass off"), "omg" meaning "oh my god"
It also includes numbers with a similar pronunciation of a word or part of it (e.g.: 2, can be "too" or "to"; w8, means "wait"; etc)
Leet is a form of internet slang which uses numbers/characters instead of letters. (from Wikipedia)

Or, a clip (made using tools from The Movies) from my classmate Beth that really says it all about how subcultures appropriate images, language, technology, and politics to express new forms:

Terms that have been especially key for me in my WoW learning experience:

• FTW: "for the win," suggested as one of the most annoying Internet abbreviations around. I also just experienced "FTL" as I was playing an Alliance character on a PvP (player-versus-player) server and I saw this "screamed" at me in text, "Alli FTL, Horde FTW!!" as a level "???" (so much higher than me that I can't even see the exact number) player killed me and laughed. I made a : ( and "cried." [I have also learned these "emoticons" are passe. The new ones are read not sideways, but straight-on, e.g. a raised eyebrow is: o.0 ]


• all of the various abbreviations for the quests, evil bosses, zones, etc. in World of Warcraft (itself--wow): e.g. SFK, DM/VC (one of these links is informative, by the way--btw--, one of them is not-- this is typical of the instruction I would often find as I searched for support).


• lol: so absorbed into culture that when one types "lol" into the chat and commands to have the character "say" this outloud, it makes the character laugh. So far, other commonly known Internet slang abbreviations, e.g. wtf, brb, and ttyl, have not elicited swearing, a "hold-on" gesture, or a "goodbye wave," respectively. However, I say all of this because I am interested in how representative these systems are becoming. lol = laugh out loud = a command for the avatar to laugh in the environment. And all of these meanings exist at the same time. A side note, a few months ago I had to explain to a 50-something member of my family that "lol" did not mean "lots of luck." I think it is at these multiple, simultaneous levels of representation that the most significant generation gaps are taking place.


• W00t (those are zeros in the middle, by the way). Voted by users as the most popular word that should be introduced to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary. And yes, it is frequently used in WoW chats. As is "ding" when one "levels," and after someone announces "ding," it is customary to say "grats" or more commonly used, "gratz," as alternate spelling is a hallmark of this language system.