Ever stumbled upon an enthusiast forum or website only to get confused by the words or terms they use? Well this is what the internet has evolved to, where users have adapted to use lingo that (sometimes) better explains the situation at hand. So we’ve compiled some of the terms that you might see on the internet and try to explain each of them.

Some of these terms might have derived from gamers playing multiplayer online games. They need short terms and abbreviations to quickly describe moments during heat of the battle, or just talk a little geeky because that’s their personality. Let’s take a look at what these 40+ terms mean.

Reading through the meaning of each term can take a while, otherwise you can view the compressed table for quicker reference and reading.

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Troll

Someone who enjoys making everyone else frustrated by acting like a ‘know it all’ or a hater. They do it by leaving bitter or unrelated comments in forums to deliberately harass others. However, a troll can also be a joker if their intent is to entertain and not to (but indirectly) frustrate anyone.

(Image Source: Constantin Lastochkin)

Trollolol

People who type this can sense that some trolling is going on and they’re enjoying (but not necessarily joining in) the troll’s actions.

kthxbai

This is easily translated to ‘okay, thank you, bye‘ and is normally used when the person does not want any involvement with what’s going on anymore. It’s kind of like ‘what they hey, I’m out of here’ but with fewer letters.

AFK

This translates to Away From Keyboard, telling others that well, they are away.

(Image Source: Tim)

Imba

Imba is short form for imbalanced, normally used for something found in a game that is overly powerful. It can also be used in real life describing something that is overly powerful or crazy: ‘Free falling from space is imba.’

Leet

Leet derived from the world elite and in other words means to be pro or very good at something. For example, if you call yourself a leet gamer, it translates to you being a pro gamer. Leet is also sometimes written as 1337 where 1337 speak replaces the letters in words with numbers and random symbols: H1, |-|0\/\/ 4R3 Y0U D01|\|9?

(Image Source: Nucleocide)

GG

A term said after a Good Game. If you know all hope in your online battle is lost, type GG to let the opponent know that you have given up. On the other hand, some trolls are so confident that they’ll win that they taunt you by prematurely typing GG or GGGGGGGGGGGG (higher taunt level).

Taunt

To taunt is to provoke or anger someone in-game sometimes by calling them a noob or via cursing. Taunting is often used as a mind game by gamers to get into the heads of their opponents, whether it works or not depends on how composed you are in handling taunts.

Get on my level

Telling this to an opponent demoralizes them as you are asking them to improve their gaming skills to match your (higher) level. This term is technically taunting the opponent.

BM

Stands for Bad Manner usually said to someone who explodes into anger and starts cursing about everything unrelated to what’s being discussed at hand.

RL

This is to describe something that is done outside of the Internet or forum, in Real Life. An example would to say: ‘I sold it to my RL friend’.

Epic

A word to describe something or an action that is awesome or cool. Basically, synonym of awesome.

(Image Source: 55 Hi’s)

BURN!

The earliest encounter of the term Burn (as far as I can remember) is from Kelso in That 70′s Show. Every time someone says something that backfires on them, it’s a burn. Several grades higher than old-school ‘ouch’.

Hardcore

A term to describe something that is insanely difficult or extreme and is difficult to achieve. ‘Buying a $500 computer keyboard is so hardcore.’

Noob

A term that first came about from the word newbie, describing someone new to a game or hobby.

Nerfed

When something is described as weakened, it is nerfed. ‘That new graphic card is a nerfed but cheaper version of an older model.’

Buffed

Buffed is the opposite of nerfed. It’s to describe something that has been strengthened.

(Image Source: Robin)

Pwned

Pwned is another word for owned which means to outperform something or someone and sometimes used as an alternative word to kill.

WP

WP stands for Well Played. Typing this means you’re impressed at whatever is being discussed. For example: ‘WP [smartphone company] for producing such a powerful and innovative smartphone.’ Upgrade from old school ‘Touché.

Lag

A word used to describe something that is super slow. Of course this is a proper English word, but users use it in many different situations. For example, ‘That lag in shipping has cost me thousands of dollars.’

TL;DR

This stands for Too Long; Didn’t Read. Trolls can use it as a useless comment, indicating that the writer should have summarized the passage rather than let it droll on.

IKR

‘I Know Right?’ Used in a reply to ‘How awesome is that!?’

IDK

IDK stands for ‘I Don’t Know‘. Gamers are really pressed for time.

GLHF

This stands for Good Luck, Have Fun. It can mean exactly that or can be used sarcastically in a situation where you don’t want any part of whatever’s going on.

(Image Source: glhf-apparel)

RQ

RQ stands for Rage Quit derived from gamers leaving a multiplayer game, not showing any sportsmanship. It also can be used when describing someone who’s mad and is quiet, giving everyone the silent treatment.

You Mad?

Derived from internet memes, ‘You Mad’ is used simply to further troll people after they have gotten angry over a comment or situation.

Jelly

Jelly in this context translates to the word ‘jealous’ and is basically used in replacement of the world ‘jealous’.

Uber

Uber is replacement of the word ‘super’ or very, for example ‘Uber cool!’.

Srs Bsns

Srs Bsns is written as a short form to ‘Serious Business‘ and could mean somebody being slightly over the top in what that they do.

LOL

If you don’t already know that LOL stands for Laughing Out Loud, then welcome to the Internet!

ROFL

ROFL is another way to say LOL and it stands for Rolling On Floor Laughing.

LMAO

LMAO is yet another alternative to LOL or ROFL and it stands for Laughing My Ass Off.

TTYL

TTYL is used in replacement to saying ‘bye’ as it stands for Talk To You Later. Sometimes they don’t come back.

BRB

This stands for Be Right Back. Sometimes they don’t come back.

BBL

BBL is an alternative to BRB as it stands for Be Back Later, probably a time frame between TTYL and BRB.

IIRC

This stands for If I Remember Correctly, it’s merely a popular term that users have turned into an abbreviation.

IINM

Similar reasoning to IIRC, IINM stands for If I’m Not Mistaken.

IMHO

IMHO stands for In My Humble Opinion and is sometimes typed as IMO without the word humble.

GTG

This is probably a term said before saying good bye, GTG stands for Got To Go.

IDC

IDC stands for I Don’t Care. Meh.

AFAIK

AFAIK is short for As Far As I Know. Something to start out a sentence with besides using IINM or IIRC.

BTW

This stands for By The Way.

TBH

This is another term widely used on the internet, To Be Honest.

The Compressed Table Of Internet Speak

Here’s a table with quick descriptions of all the internet terms and abbreviations we’ve covered above.

Term / Abbreviation	Description
Troll	A hater or a joker
Trollolol	Troll + LOL
kthxbai	Okay, thank you, bye
AFK	Away From Keyboard
Imba	Imbalanced
Leet	To be pro or very good at something
GG	Good Game
Taunt	To provoke or anger someone
Get on my level	Asking someone to better their skills to match yours. A taunt.
BM	Bad Manner
RL	Real Life
Epic	Something or an action that is awesome or cool
BURN!	Something that backfires on them is a burn
Hardcore	Insanely difficult or extreme and is difficult to achieve
Noob	Someone who is new to something
Nerfed	Something described as weakened
Buffed	Something described as strengthened
Pwned	To outperform something or someone
WP	Well Played
Lag	Something that is super slow
TL;DR	Too Long; Didn’t Read
IKR	I Know Right?
IDK	I Don’t Know
GLHF	Good Luck, Have Fun
RQ	Rage Quit
You Mad?	To further troll/anger people
Jelly	Jealous
Uber	‘super’ or very
Srs Bsns	Serious Business
LOL	Laughing Out Loud
ROFL	Rolling On Floor Laughing
LMAO	Laughing My Ass Off
TTYL	Talk To You Later
BRB	Be Right Back
BBL	Be Back Later
IIRC	If I Remember Correctly
IINM	If I’m Not Mistaken
IMHO	In My Humble Opinion
GTG	Got To Go
IDC	I Don’t Care
AFAIK	As Far As I Know
BTW	By The Way
TBH	To Be Honest

Apple introduced a meta tag, called iTunes App Meta Tag, which makes it easy to promote your site app on your website. When the iTunes Meta App Tag is enabled, it will display the following banner at the top of your webpage when users visit the site through their iPhone.

On the iPad, the banner is displayed along with some screenshots of the App.

When the users tap on this banner, they will be redirected to the App Store.

Adding iTunes Meta Tag

The iTunes Meta Tag is specified in the following way:

 <meta name="apple-itunes-app" content="app-id=myAppStoreID, affiliate-data=myAffiliateData, app-argument=myURL"> 

This tag requests three parameters in the content attribute. First up is the App Unique ID, which you can get from iTunes Link Maker, and this App ID parameter is required. The last two parameters, affiliate-data and app-argument, are optional.

This banner is smart. For example, when the users have installed your App in their device, the View button in the button will change to Open – and the users will be redirected to the installed App, instead of to the App Store. Else, if the user’s device does not support your app, the banner will not be displayed.

However, it is worth noting that this new meta is only supported in iOS6. So, users with earlier iOS version will not see the banner.

Final Thought

If you have an iOS App dedicated or related to your website, you should consider adding this meta tag to your website to draw more attention for your App – despite being limited to iOS6 only.

Additionally, Windows 8 also provides similar method with msApplication-ID meta tag.

Fans of the Star Trek series will know of the tricorder that Dr.Leonard McCoy uses for medical diagnosis. The tricorder functions in a way where you only need to point the device at a person to get their health status. While the fictional device seemed a little far fetched back then, a company has now been able to bring the movie prop into reality.

Scanadu is a Singularity University startup that has created a device called the Scanadu Scout – The First Medical Tricorder. By putting this device close to anyone’s forehead, the Scanadu Scout can measure your body stats and display the information on your smartphone via Bluetooth. They say it’s like an Emergency Room in your pocket.

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The tiny, handheld Scanadu Scout is able to give you medical details such as your:

• Heart rate
• Skin / core body temperature
• Respiratory rate
• Blood pressure
• Electrocardiography (ECG)
• Oxygen levels
• Emotional stress

The Scanadu Scout has passive sensors such as electrodes, IR light sensors, thermistors etc. and only needs about 10 seconds on your forehead to acquire your vitals.

Readings from the Scanadu Scout will be sent via Bluetooth 4.0 Smart Low Energy (LE) and displayed on your smartphone through the Scanadu Scout app which is currently not available for download yet.

The Scanadu Scout is has a rechargeable battery and uses a micro-USB port for charging. A full charge takes less than an hour and can last for about a week if used a few times a day. It’s not a waterproof device, but can be wiped clean with a damp cloth after each use.

To get your own Scanadu Scout, you can support this project for $199 on Indiegogo and you’ll receive the device and the iOS or Android app by the end of 2013.

You should know that the Scanadu Scout is not a FDA approved as it’s not fully accurate yet. However, by supporting the project, you can opt-in to use the device on yourself to give them valuable feedback to better and fully approve the device. This will be in the form of official clinical studies which you will be invited to partake in if you agree on the Informed consent document.

Additional Info

If you’re familiar with medical stuff, you’ll know that a urine test is needed to get an ECG reading. Besides this Scanadu Scout, the Scanadu team has another device called the Scanadu Scanaflo. Scanadu Scanaflo is a urine test kit which enables you to get levels of glucose, blood, protein, pH and much more; it can also test for pregnancy. There’s not many details about the Scanadu Scanaflo as their main focus now is to create and develop Scanadu scout.