The Baudy Language Dictionary

 
 
The collection of abbreviations and symbols used in electronic mail messages is sometimes called baudy language. It is an integral part of online communication to use baudy language, since many messages can be misinterpreted unless accompanied by a smile, a frown, a wink, a giggle.
 
The following symbols are to be read with your left ear on your left shoulder. As you become accustomed to using and reading them, you’ll find that you will be able to understand them without bending your head. All of the symbols can have a nose added to them with a hyphen, as in :-).
 

: ) smile
 
; ) wink 
 
: D  big smile, laughing
 
: >  sarcastic or devilish smile
 
: ( frown
 
:’ (  crying
 
: |  neutral; bored
 
}: )  horny smile
 
:-{) smile with a mustache, usually indicating a male
 
: {> devilish smile with a mustache
 
: O O Dear, O Woe is Me
 
: P tongue sticking out; raspberry; bronx cheer 
(really rather rude and not to be used lightly)
 
: X my lips are sealed
 
0: ) angel
 
}: > devil
 
:::  :::  colons surround an action that the writer is pretending to do, such as 
    :::hitting the boss up for a raise:::
 
{{ }} indicates the person whose name is between the curly brackets is being hugged
 
<---  indicates the person writing this message is the subject of the sentence
 
* kiss
 
P* french kiss
 
^ ^ ^ giggles 
 
-------\----@ long-stemmed rose
 
The following list of shortcuts are abbreviations for commonly used phrases that give the other readers important information.
 
! I have a comment
 
? I have a question
 
afk away from keyboard
 
AOL  America Online
 
asap  as soon as possible
 
awc  after while, crocodile
 
bak  back at keyboard
 
brb  be right back
 
btw  by the way
 
byob  bring your own bottle
 
CIS  CompuServe
 
CI$  CompuSpend
 
cul  see you later
 
cula  see you later, alligator
 
fyi  for your information
 
ga  go ahead
 
gmta  great minds think alike
 
ima  I might add
 
imho  in my humble opinion; in my honest opinion
 
imnsho  in my not-so-humble opinion
 
imo  in my opinion
 
lol  laughing out loud
 
obtw  oh, by the way
 
oic  oh, I see
 
otoh  on the other hand
 
rotflol  rolling on the floor, laughing out loud
 
rsn real soon now
 
snafu  situation normal: all fouled up
 
sos  help!
 
tanj  there ain’t no justice
 
tanstaafl  there ain’t no such thing as a free lunch
 
tptb  the powers that be
 
ttfn  ta-ta for now
 
ttyl  talk to you later
 
wb  welcome back
 
wtg!  way to go!
 
xoxoxo  kisses and hugs