Please explain to an old dinosaur...?

Question

Two things:
1)what is the secret to text messaging? (where do you learn all the abbreviations, etc.)
2) Does avatar mean just the caricature pictures? Or whatever picture you have...?

(Be easy on me---I'm just a technologically-challenged Mom, trying to keep up with what my child is talking about!!)
:-)

Answer 1

here is a website with all kinds of text messaging lingo

http://www.netlingo.com/emailsh.cfm

and as far as avatar.... that's a matter of opinion.. it can just be a simple picture.. like mine for example is a guy with sunglasses. some avatars don't have pictures, and just a handle or a name (not the real name of the person in question) basically it's just a means of identifying someone without giving out personal information

hope this helps

keep being awsome

Answer 2

They learn the abbreviations from each other. There are some child-safe web sites you can search for that will help you with them. Try typing 'internet predator' or 'internet child protection' in the search bar.

No. An avatar can be a caricature picture OR a photo or almost any graphic.

I know this wasn't the great answer you wanted, but I did the best I could. You can find a wealth of info on internet predators and I hope you follow through because a school teacher in our town was just arrested and charged with 6 counts of raping minors and he started his 'hunt' on MySpace! Better safe than sorry!

Answer 3

an avatar is the symbol or cartoon type picture next to a user name. the following link can help with text abbreviations. from one dinosaur Mom to another ;)

Answer 4

I'd love to help you out, but I'm a T-Rex myself. As for text messaging, I don't...and don't have a desire to... and as for the Avatar, I think it might just be a cartoon you wish you resembled.
I'm technologically illiterate, but I can make change for a dollar.

Answer 5

Abbreviation Meaning
? I have a question
? I don't understand what you mean
@TEOTD At the end of the day
.02 My (or your) two cents worth
143 I love you
2G2BT Too good to be true
2MI Too much information
404 I don't know
411 Meaning "information"
420 Lets get high
420 Meaning "Marijuana"
4COL For crying out loud
4EAE Forever and ever

A

A3 Anytime, anywhere, anyplace
AAF As a matter of fact
AAK Asleep at keyboard
AAMOF As a matter of fact
AAMOI As a matter of interest
AAP Always a pleasure
AAR At any rate
AAS Alive and smiling
ACK Acknowledge
ADD Address
ADN Any day now
ADR Address
AEAP As early as possible
AFAIK As far as I know
AFK Away from keyboard
AFPOE A fresh pair of eyes
AIGHT Alright
AISB As it should be
AISI As I see it
AKA Also known as
ALCON All concerned
AML All my love
AOTA All of the above
ASAP As soon as possible
A/S/L Age/sex/location
ASL Age/sex/location
ASLA Age/sex/location/availability
AT At your terminal
ATM At the moment
ATSL Along the same line(s)
AWC After awhile crocodile
AWOL Away without leaving
AYEC At your earliest convenience
AYOR At your own risk
AYSOS Are you stupid or something
AYTMTB And you're telling me this because

B

B/F Boyfriend
B4 Before
B4N Bye for now
BAK Back at keyboard
BAU Business as usual
BB Be back
BBIAF Be back in a few
BBIAM Be back in a minute
BBIAS Be back in a sec
BBL Be back later
BBS Be back soon
BBT Be back tomorrow
BC Because
BCNU Be seeing you
BCOS Because
BF Best friend
BDN Big darn number
BFN Bye for now
BG Big grin
BGWM Be gentle with me
BFD Big freaking deal
BFG Big freaking grin
BIF Before I forget
BION Believe it or not
BIOYN Blow it out your nose
BLNT Better luck next time
BM&Y Between me and you
BOL Best of luck
BOOMS Bored out of my skull
BPLM Big person little mind
BRB Be right back
BRT Be right there
BTA But then again
BTDT Been there, done that
BTW By the way

C
C&G Chuckle & grin
CID Crying in disgrace
CMIIW Correct me if I'm wrong
CMON Come on
COB Close of business
COS Because
C/P Cross post
CR8 Create
CRB Come right back
CRBT Crying really big tears
CU See you too
CU See you
CU2 See you
CUA See you around
CUL See you later
CULA See you later alligator
CUL8R See you later
CWYL Chat with you later
CYA See ya
CYO See you online

D
D/L Download
DL Download
DEGT Don't even go there
DIIK Darned if I know
DIKU Do I know you?
DM Doesn't matter
DQMOT Don't quote me on this
DTS Don't think so
DV8 Deviate

E
EBKAC Error between keyboard and chair
EF4T Effort
EG Evil grin
EMA E-mail address
EMFBI Excuse me for butting in
EMSG E-mail message
ENUF Enough
EOD End of day
EOL End of life
EOM End of message
EVA Ever
EZY Easy

F
F2F Face to face
F2T Free to talk
FBM Fine by me
FC Fingers crossed
FICCL Frankly I couldn't care a less
FISH First in, still here
FOMC Falling off my chair
FOMCL Falling off my chair laughing
FITB Fill in the blank
FRT For real though
FUBAR Fouled up beyond all recognition
FUBB Fouled up beyond belief
FWIW For what it's worth
FYEO For your eyes only
FYA For your amusement
FYI For your information

G
G Grin
G Giggle
G/F Girlfriend
G2CU Good to see you
G2G Got to go
G2R Got to run
G9 Genius
GA Go ahead
GAL Get a life
GB Goodbye
GBU God bless you
GDR Grinning, ducking, and running
GD/R Grinning, ducking, and running
GFI Go for it
GFN Gone for now
GG Gotta Go
GG Good Game
GGP Got to go pee
GIAR Give it a rest
GIGO Garbage in, garbage out
GJ Good job
GL Good luck
GL/HF Good luck, have fun
GLNG Good luck next game
GMTA Great minds think alike
GN Good night
GOI Get over it
GOL Giggling out loud
GR8 Great
GR&D Grinning, running and ducking
GT Good try
GTG Got to go
GTRM Going to read mail

H
H&K Hugs & kisses
H2CUS Hope to see you soon
H8 Hate
HAGN Have a good night
HAGO Have a good one
HAND Have a nice day
HF Have fun
HHIS Head hanging in shame
HOAS Hold on a second
HRU How are you?
HTH Hope this helps
HV Have

I
IAC In any case
IANAL I am not a lawyer
IB I'm back
IB I'm back
IC I see
ICAM I couldn't agree more
ICBW It could be worse
IDK I don't know
IDTS I don't think so
IDUNNO I don't know
IG2R I got to run
IIRC If I remember correctly
ILBL8 I'll be late
ILU I love you
ILY I love you
IM Instant message
IMHO In my humble opinion
IMNSHO In my not so humble opinion
IMO In my opinion
IMS I am sorry
INAL I'm not a lawyer
IOW In other words
IRL In real life
IRMC I rest my case
IUSS If you say so
IYKWIM If you know what I mean
IYO In your opinion
IYSS If you say so

J
j00r Your
JAC Just a sec
JIC Just in case
JJA Just joking around
JK Just kidding
JMO Just my opinion
JP Just playing

K
K8T Katie
k/b Keyboard
KB Keyboard
KISS Keep it simple, stupid
KIT Keep in touch
KOC Kiss on cheek
KOTC Kiss on the cheek
KOTL Kiss on the lips
KNIM Know what I mean?
KPC Keeping parents clueless

L
l33t Leet, meaning "elite"
L8R Later
LD Later, dude / Long distance
LEMENO Let me know
LERK Leaving easy reach of keyboard
LGH Lets get high
LMAO Laughing my a** off
LOL Laughing out loud
LTM Laugh to myself
LTNS Long time no see
LQTM Laughing quietly to myself
LYLAS Love you like a sis

M
M8 Mate
MFI Mad for it
MorF Male or female?
MOS Mother over shoulder
MSG Message
MTF More to follow
MTFBWU May the force be with you
MUAH Multiple unsuccessful attempts (at/to) humor
MUSM Miss you so much
MYOB Mind your own business




Abbreviation Meaning
N
n00b Newbie
N1 Nice one
NBD No big deal
NE Any
NE1 Anyone
NFM None for me / Not for me
NIFOC Naked in front of computer
NIMBY Not in my back yard
NLT No later than
NM Nothing much / Never mind
NMH Not much here
NO1 No one
NOYB None of your business
NP No problem
NRN No response/reply necessary
NVM Never mind
NW No way
NW) No way out

O
OIC Oh, I see
OMG Oh my God
OMW On my way
OO Over and out
OOH Out of here
OOTD One of these days
OP On phone
OTB Off to bed
OTFL On the floor laughing
OTL Out to lunch
OTOH On the other hand
OTT Over the top
OTTOMH Off the top of my head
OTW Off to work
OVA Over

P
PCM Please call me
PDQ Pretty darn quick
PLMK Please let me know
PLS Please
PLU People like us
PLZ Please
PM Private Message
PMFI Pardon me for interrupting
PMFJI Pardon me for jumping in
PMSL Pee myself laughing
POAHF Put on a happy face
POS Parent over shoulder
PPL People
PROLLY Probably
PRT Party
PRW People/parents are watching
PTL Praise the Lord
PTMM Please tell me more
PXT Please explain that
PU That stinks!
PZ Peace

Q
Q Queue
QIK Quick
QT Cutie

R
RL Real life
RME Rolling my eyes
ROFL Rolling on floor laughing
ROTFL Rolling on the floor laughing
ROTFLUTS Rolling on the floor laughing unable to speak
RSN Real soon now
RTFM Read the freaking manual
RUOK Are you okay?

S
SAL Such a laugh
SC Stay cool
SETE Smiling Ear-to-Ear
SICNR Sorry, I could not resist
SIG2R Sorry, I got to run
SIS Snickering in silence
SIT Stay in touch
SLAP Sounds like a plan
SMHID Scratching my head in disbelief
SNAFU Situation normal all fouled up
SO Significant other
SOL Sooner or later
SOMY Sick of me yet?
SOTMG Short of time, must go
SOWN Someone with me
SPK Speak
SRSLY Seriously
SPST Same place, same time
SRY Sorry
SS So sorry
SSDD Same stuff, different day
SSIF So stupid it's funny
SSINF So stupid it's not funny
STR8 Straight
STW Search the Web
SUITM See you in the morning
SUL See you later
SUP What's up?
SWMBO She who must be obeyed. Meaning wife or partner
SYL See you later

T
T+ Think positive
TA Thanks a lot
TAFN That's all for now
TAM Tomorrow a.m.
TBC To be continued
TBD To be determined
TBH To be honest
TC Take care
TGIF Thank God it's Friday
THX Thanks
THNX Thanks
THNQ Thank-you
TIA Thanks in advance
TIAD Tomorrow is another day
TIC Tongue-in-cheek
TLK2UL8R Talk to you later
TMB Text me back
TMI Too much information
TMOT Trust me on this
TMWFI Take my word for it
TNSTAAFL There's no such thing as a free lunch
TOJ Tears of joy
TPM Tomorrow p.m.
TPTB The powers that be
TSTB The sooner, the better
TTFN Ta ta for now
TTTT These things take time
TTYAFN Talk to you awhile from now
TTYL Talk to you later
TTYS Talk to you soon
TU Thank you
TY Thank you
TYT Take your time
TYVM Thank you very much

U
UCMU You crack me up
UFN Until further notice
UGTBK You've got to be kidding
UKTR You know that's right
UL Upload
UR Your / You're
UV Unpleasant visual
UW You're welcome

V
VEG Very evil grin
VFM Value for money
VGC Very good condition
VIP Very important person
VM Voice mail
VSF Very sad face

W
w/ With
WAM Wait a minute
WAN2TLK Want to talk
WAYF Where are you from?
W/B Write back
WB Welcome back
WC Who cares
WCA Who cares anyway
WIBNI Wouldn't it be nice if
WDALYIC Who died and left you in charge
WDYK What do you know?
WDYT What do you think?
WIIFM What's in it for me?
WISP Winning is so pleasurable
WITW What in the world
WIU Wrap it up
WK Week
WKD Weekend
WRT With regard to
WOMBAT Waste of money, brains and time
WRK Work
WRUD What are you doing?
WTB Wanted to buy
WTF What the **** ?
WTG Way to go
WTH What the heck?
WU? What's up?
WUCIWUG What you see is what you get
WUF? Where are you from?
WWJD What would Jesus do?
WWYC Write when you can
WYLEI When you least expect it
WYSIWYG What you see is what you get

X
X Kiss
XOXOXO Hugs & Kisses
XLNT Excellent

Y
YA Your
YBIC Your brother in Christ
YBS You'll be sorry
YCMU You crack me up
YF Wife
YGBKM You've got to be kidding me
YIU Yes, I understand
YKWYCD You know what you can do
YMMV Your mileage may vary
YR Your
YR Yeah right
YRYOCC You're running your own cuckoo clock
YSIC Your sister in Christ
YSYD Yeah sure you do
YT You there?
YW You're welcome
YWHNB Yes, we have no bananas

Z
ZZZZ Sleeping (or bored)

Answer 6

No secret to txting, just try to write using as little letters as plossible (No scrt 2 txtn jst tri 2 rite wid as lttle lttrs as pssble) Kinda hard to read right? lol, you get used to it.

An avatar is the little picture you have.

Answer 7

WOW!! looks like "Page1344" has been doing some text messaging, etc. (learn me some things).....LOL...good luck w/ the new language.....=) :p
~peace~

Answer 8

I wish I knew! I saw that commercial with that bratty kid. She needs a whippin'!

Answer 9

lol,you sound like us,i'll let some who knows what they are talkking about answer.......