Aprender Inglês
By Josef Essberger
KWIM? I thought not.
For e-English read "electronic English" and for IYKWIM read "if you know what I mean".
And for KWIM? Yes, that's right. You'll have to FIOFY.
The internet has created a whole new way of speaking when we write email, post messages or chat online.
It saves time and typing effort, but it's no joke if you don't know the "secret". So just to help you if you're not already a netspeak expert, here are a few of the basic rules and codes people use on the internet.
Remember, these are for use on the internet with friends. We do not usually use them in formal letters or faxes.
Emphasis
If we want to emphasise a word (make it more important), we often use asterisks (*), like this:
"I *love* EnglishCLUB.net."
Sometimes people use capitals to add emphasis but it is not a good idea. MOST PEOPLE DO NOT LIKE A LOT OF CAPITALS. THEY LOOK RUDE AND CAN BE DIFFICULT TO READ.
Emotion
If we want to express our feelings and emotions, we can use "smileys". A smiley is a combination of symbols that looks like a face sideways. The original, basic smiley (eyes, nose and smiling mouth) is very popular and shows that we are happy:
:-)
We can also do this with eyes and mouth only:
:)
Of course, if we are unhappy, we can change the mouth: :-(
There are many possibilities. Here are a few more:
?;-) wink
?:*) kiss
?:~) tears
Abbreviations
To save time when typing (and maybe to save money if you are online), people often abbreviate commonly-used phrases. There are hundreds of possibilities and you certainly do not need all of them!
Some of these codes are just the first letter of each word, for example:
imo = in my opinion
Some of these codes use the sound of the letter to represent the sound of a word. For example, the letter "c" sounds like the word "sea" or "see":
cu = see you
Some of these codes use numbers because the sound of the number is the same as the sound of another word (not the spelling!). For example, 4 (four) sounds like "for". And 8 (eight) sounds like "ate". So if we write L8 we get "late". If we write W8 we get "wait"!
Here are some more examples:
?aamof = as a matter of fact
?asap = as soon as possible
?b4 = before
?b4n = bye for now
?cul8er = see you later
?damhik = don't ask me how I know
?eta = estimated time of arrival
?f2f = face to face
?gf = girlfriend
?gmt = Greenwich Mean Time
?hth = hope this helps
?icbw = I could be wrong
?jam = just a minute
?k = okay
?lmk = let me know
?mcibty = my computer is better than yours
?oic = oh I see
?pls = please
?plz = please
?q = queue
?rumf = are you male or female?
?sil = sister-in-law
?tia = thanks in advance
?uok = you ok?
?vr = virtual reality
?wdymbt = what do you mean by that?
?y2k = year 2000
© 1999 Josef Essberger
Source: http://www.englishclub.com
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Aprender Inglês
e-ENGLISH IYKWIM ;-)
By Josef EssbergerKWIM? I thought not.
For e-English read "electronic English" and for IYKWIM read "if you know what I mean".
And for KWIM? Yes, that's right. You'll have to FIOFY.
The internet has created a whole new way of speaking when we write email, post messages or chat online.
It saves time and typing effort, but it's no joke if you don't know the "secret". So just to help you if you're not already a netspeak expert, here are a few of the basic rules and codes people use on the internet.
Remember, these are for use on the internet with friends. We do not usually use them in formal letters or faxes.
Emphasis
If we want to emphasise a word (make it more important), we often use asterisks (*), like this:
"I *love* EnglishCLUB.net."
Sometimes people use capitals to add emphasis but it is not a good idea. MOST PEOPLE DO NOT LIKE A LOT OF CAPITALS. THEY LOOK RUDE AND CAN BE DIFFICULT TO READ.
Emotion
If we want to express our feelings and emotions, we can use "smileys". A smiley is a combination of symbols that looks like a face sideways. The original, basic smiley (eyes, nose and smiling mouth) is very popular and shows that we are happy:
:-)
We can also do this with eyes and mouth only:
:)
Of course, if we are unhappy, we can change the mouth: :-(
There are many possibilities. Here are a few more:
?;-) wink
?:*) kiss
?:~) tears
Abbreviations
To save time when typing (and maybe to save money if you are online), people often abbreviate commonly-used phrases. There are hundreds of possibilities and you certainly do not need all of them!
Some of these codes are just the first letter of each word, for example:
imo = in my opinion
Some of these codes use the sound of the letter to represent the sound of a word. For example, the letter "c" sounds like the word "sea" or "see":
cu = see you
Some of these codes use numbers because the sound of the number is the same as the sound of another word (not the spelling!). For example, 4 (four) sounds like "for". And 8 (eight) sounds like "ate". So if we write L8 we get "late". If we write W8 we get "wait"!
Here are some more examples:
?aamof = as a matter of fact
?asap = as soon as possible
?b4 = before
?b4n = bye for now
?cul8er = see you later
?damhik = don't ask me how I know
?eta = estimated time of arrival
?f2f = face to face
?gf = girlfriend
?gmt = Greenwich Mean Time
?hth = hope this helps
?icbw = I could be wrong
?jam = just a minute
?k = okay
?lmk = let me know
?mcibty = my computer is better than yours
?oic = oh I see
?pls = please
?plz = please
?q = queue
?rumf = are you male or female?
?sil = sister-in-law
?tia = thanks in advance
?uok = you ok?
?vr = virtual reality
?wdymbt = what do you mean by that?
?y2k = year 2000
© 1999 Josef Essberger
Source: http://www.englishclub.com
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- Common Mispronunications
for Portuguese Speakers Because your native language is Portuguese, you naturally will have difficulty pronouncing several American English sounds. You may notice that some are harder to learn than others. Here are a few sounds that you are most likely...
- Your Biggest Challenge In Learning English
Author: Amber; Do you remember all of the people who told you that English is one of the hardest languages to learn? Well, they were right. This does not mean you can?t learn it. It only means that there are some challenges you will have to overcome.....
- Grammar Is Your Friend
byJosef Essberger Grammar is the system of a language. People sometimes describe grammar as the "rules" of a language; but in fact no language has rules*. If we use the word "rules", we suggest that somebody created the rules first and then spoke the...
- 7 Tips For Easy Email
by Josef Essberger The objective of all emails is to communicate. The writer needs the recipient to understand. So s/he should make it as easy as possible for the recipient to understand the message. The writer is writing the email, not the recipient,...
- "ghoti" = "fish"
By Josef Essberger Some languages are "phonetic". That means that you can look at a word and know how to say it. English is not phonetic. You cannot always look at an English word and know how to say it. You cannot always hear an English word and know...