E-MAIL ABBREVIATIONS


A FAQ of the Egyptologists' Electronic Forum.

(1) Internet conventions

Some special signs and abbreviations are current on the Internet:

* "smileys" = symbols to give intonation to what is written (so-called "emoticons"), to convey how the writer means something. Basically they are little faces turned 90 degrees. Most often they indicate a bit of archness, irony, sarcasm, tease or fun, i.e. they spell "written with a smile":
:-)     ;-)     :)     ;)    ;>    :>    :-P     :-D     etc.
The same effect have <g> or <G> for "written with a grin". Other smileys can convey disappointment, dismay or sadness:
:-<     :-(     :(     etc.
Many variations are possible. Even though you perhaps do not feel like using them yourself, it is important to know the concept of smileys, as it often makes a lot of difference whether something is written with or without one. In that spirit: be careful with humor and sarcasm, if you do not add a smiley then it is easy for a remark meant to be funny to be misinterpreted...

* Abbreviations for common phrases used on the Net:
AFAIK = as far as I know
AFAICS = as far as I can see
AFAICT = as far as I can tell
BTW = by the way
CUL8R = see you later
FAQ = frequently asked questions
FWIW = for what it's worth
FYI = for your information
HTH = hope this helps
IIRC = if I recall correctly...
IMO = in my opinion
IMHO = in my humble/honest opinion
IMNSHO = in my not so humble opinion [indicating: this is simply the way it is]
IOW = in other words
ISTR = I seem to recall/remember
IRL = in real life
JM2c = just (putting in) my two cents [indicating: it's just a thought/suggestion, so please do not kill me over it :)]
LMK = let me know
LOL = laughing out loud [equivalent smiley: :)) etc.]
OTOH = on the one/other hand
WRT = with respect to
YMMV = your mileage may vary [indicating: this is the procedure I use to do something, but YMMV if you use it]

* Not specific for the Net, but quite useful for when you want to point someone to reference material that could be of use to him/her, but which you cannot recommend at first hand, or when you want to indicate in a quote that this typo or incorrect bit of information was in your source and is not due to an error of yours:
(non vidi) = I have not seen this article/book myself, only quotes from it or references to it
(sic) = it really is written as I am quoting; I am quoting verbatim

(2) General Egyptological Abbreviations in common use:

(3) Bibliographical Abbreviations

See our seperate Bibliographical Abbreviations page.


For any comments: A.K. Eyma
EEF's web domain: http://www.egyptologyforum.org