"My dd and I have been going to LLL meetings for BFing support. It's been great and the group is so AP encouraging. OTOH my MIL and SIL are the complete opposite - always try to reeducate me on raising children. :-P I just ignore them and their advice. I can afford to because I'm a SAHM who doesn't need or want their kind of childcare. LOL"
If you were able to read and understand the paragraph above then you need read no further. You seemingly have sufficient knowledge of acronyms, abbreviations and emoticons. For the rest of you who are likely asking, "What does ds and MIL mean? AP? BFing? How about SAHM and LOL? And what the heck is this: :-P ?" Read on!
The use of acronyms, emoticons, and abbreviations on the net have become so commonplace that those new to all things internet are often lost in a sea of confusing caps, colons, dashes, and do-hickies. To help you figure it all out we've complied a brief list of some common ones used. If you do come across something not listed here just ask us what it means, or visit this fantastic resource on the net:
The WorldWideWeb Acronym and Abbreviation Server
AP - attachment parenting
BB - Bulletin Board
BF - breastfeed or breastfed
BFing - breastfeeding
BTDT - been there, done that
BTW - by the way
dh/dw/dd/ds/dp - a reference to members of one's immediately family:
dear husband, dear wife, dear daughter, dear son, dear partner (etc.)
FAQ -Frequently Asked Questions
FWIW - for what it's worth
FYI - for your information
HTTP -Hyper Text Transfer Protocol
IMO - in my opinion
IMHO - in my humble opinion
IMNSHO - in my not-so-humble opinion
IYKWIM - if you know what I mean
KWIM? - know what I mean?
LLL - La Leche League (international breastfeeding support organization)
LOL - laughing out loud
LMAO - laughing my arse off
MIL/FIL/SIL/BIL - mother-in-law, father-in-law, sister-in-law, brother-in-law.
OTOH - on the other hand
ROTFLOL - rolling on the floor laughing out loud
SAHM/SAHD - stay-at-home [mom/dad]
WAHM/WAHD - work-at-home [mom/dad]
WWW - World Wide Web
Emoticons
Although our boards have a smilies feature (see Smilies legend to your left) you may still encounter the usage of these emoticons within a post.
These are keyboard graphics faces to help express the emotion of your statement. To see the faces you should lean your head to the left when you look at them.
:-) Smile, grin, happy face, way to let someone know that it is a postive statement
;-) Wink...there are many variations of this "emoticon"
8-)* Smile from someone with glasses
:-( Frown
:-O Amazement
:P* Sticking out my tongue at you
:-Q* Nausea, disgust
) embarassed
CAPITAL LETTERS- Typing a message in capital letters is considered the equivalent of shouting. Therefore refrain from typing in caps or you might land yourself in trouble with someone. However, caps are used occasionally for emphasis of a word or two.
all lower case letters (for proper nouns, sentence beginnings, etc.) - there are usually two reasons a person does this 1-The person is too lazy to reach down with their little finger and hit the shift key and prefers personal convenience over appearance
2 - it's done by a mom nursing her little one while typing and can't manage to capitalize with one hand. Be understanding. It's kinder than all caps.
That's it in a nutshell! I hope it helps explain some of the message mysteries you've encountered!
~Cynthia Mosher
MotheringDotCommune Administrator
If you were able to read and understand the paragraph above then you need read no further. You seemingly have sufficient knowledge of acronyms, abbreviations and emoticons. For the rest of you who are likely asking, "What does ds and MIL mean? AP? BFing? How about SAHM and LOL? And what the heck is this: :-P ?" Read on!
The use of acronyms, emoticons, and abbreviations on the net have become so commonplace that those new to all things internet are often lost in a sea of confusing caps, colons, dashes, and do-hickies. To help you figure it all out we've complied a brief list of some common ones used. If you do come across something not listed here just ask us what it means, or visit this fantastic resource on the net:
The WorldWideWeb Acronym and Abbreviation Server
AP - attachment parenting
BB - Bulletin Board
BF - breastfeed or breastfed
BFing - breastfeeding
BTDT - been there, done that
BTW - by the way
dh/dw/dd/ds/dp - a reference to members of one's immediately family:
dear husband, dear wife, dear daughter, dear son, dear partner (etc.)
FAQ -Frequently Asked Questions
FWIW - for what it's worth
FYI - for your information
HTTP -Hyper Text Transfer Protocol
IMO - in my opinion
IMHO - in my humble opinion
IMNSHO - in my not-so-humble opinion
IYKWIM - if you know what I mean
KWIM? - know what I mean?
LLL - La Leche League (international breastfeeding support organization)
LOL - laughing out loud
LMAO - laughing my arse off
MIL/FIL/SIL/BIL - mother-in-law, father-in-law, sister-in-law, brother-in-law.
OTOH - on the other hand
ROTFLOL - rolling on the floor laughing out loud
SAHM/SAHD - stay-at-home [mom/dad]
WAHM/WAHD - work-at-home [mom/dad]
WWW - World Wide Web
Emoticons
Although our boards have a smilies feature (see Smilies legend to your left) you may still encounter the usage of these emoticons within a post.
These are keyboard graphics faces to help express the emotion of your statement. To see the faces you should lean your head to the left when you look at them.
:-) Smile, grin, happy face, way to let someone know that it is a postive statement
;-) Wink...there are many variations of this "emoticon"
8-)* Smile from someone with glasses
:-( Frown
:-O Amazement
:P* Sticking out my tongue at you
:-Q* Nausea, disgust
) embarassedCAPITAL LETTERS- Typing a message in capital letters is considered the equivalent of shouting. Therefore refrain from typing in caps or you might land yourself in trouble with someone. However, caps are used occasionally for emphasis of a word or two.
all lower case letters (for proper nouns, sentence beginnings, etc.) - there are usually two reasons a person does this 1-The person is too lazy to reach down with their little finger and hit the shift key and prefers personal convenience over appearance
2 - it's done by a mom nursing her little one while typing and can't manage to capitalize with one hand. Be understanding. It's kinder than all caps.
That's it in a nutshell! I hope it helps explain some of the message mysteries you've encountered!
~Cynthia Mosher
MotheringDotCommune Administrator
: look on my face when I'm reading. 
: Glad to be here!
and you needn't ever feel 
and 
so don't 
Even those who have been here a long time often come across things that make them feel 
So if you ever feel 
just PM me or post here in Q & S. Or heck just ask right there on the board! Pretty soon you'll be 
right along with the best of 'em!
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