catflap.org Online Dictionary Query

  talk mode
       
          talk+system.++E.g.,+"{B1FF" rel="nofollow"> Using a talk system.  E.g., "{B1FF had me in talk
          mode for hours last night.  I had to bring his box down just
          to get him to shut up."
       
          The (1980s?) term now is as dated as talk itself which has
          been largely replaced by chat.
       
          [{Jargon File]
       
          (1998-01-19)
       
       

  talk mode n. A feature supported by Unix, ITS, and some other OSes that
     allows two or more logged-in users to set up a real-time on-line
     conversation. It combines the immediacy of talking with all the
     precision (and verbosity) that written language entails. It is difficult
     to communicate inflection, though conventions have arisen for some of
     these (see the section on writing style in the Prependices for details).
  
     Talk mode has a special set of jargon words, used to save typing,
     which are not used orally. Some of these are identical to (and probably
     derived from) Morse-code jargon used by ham-radio amateurs since the
     1920s.
  
     AFAIAC
    as far as I am concerned
    
     AFAIK
    as far as I know
    
     BCNU
    be seeing you
    
     BTW
    by the way
    
     BYE?
    are you ready to unlink?  (this is the standard way to end a
    talk-mode conversation; the other person types `BYE' to confirm,
    or else continues the conversation)
    
     CUL
    see you later
    
     ENQ?
    are you busy?  (expects `ACK' or `NAK' in return)
    
     FOO?
    are you there? (often used on unexpected links, meaning also
    "Sorry if I butted in ..." (linker) or "What's up?"  (linkee))
    
     FWIW
    for what it's worth
    
     FYI
    for your information
    
     FYA
    for your amusement
    
     GA
    go ahead  (used when two people have tried to type simultaneously;
    this cedes the right to type to the other)
    
     GRMBL
    grumble (expresses disquiet or disagreement)
    
     HELLOP
    hello? (an instance of the `-P' convention)
    
     IIRC
    if I recall correctly
    
     JAM
    just a minute (equivalent to `SEC....')
    
     MIN
    same as `JAM'
    
     NIL
    no (see NIL)
    
     NP
    no problem
    
     O
    over to you
    
     OO
    over and out
    
     /
    another form of "over to you" (from x/y as "x over y")
    
     \
    lambda (used in discussing LISPy things)
    
     OBTW
    oh, by the way
    
     OTOH
    on the other hand
    
     R U THERE?
  
    are you there?
    
     SEC
    wait a second (sometimes written `SEC...')
    
     SYN
    Are you busy? (expects ACK, SYN|ACK, or RST in return; this is
    modeled on the TCP/IP handshake sequence)
    
     T
    yes (see the main entry for T)
    
     TNX
    thanks
    
     TNX 1.0E6
  
    thanks a million (humorous)
    
     TNXE6
    another form of "thanks a million"
    
     WRT
    with regard to, or with respect to.
    
     WTF
    the universal interrogative particle; WTF knows what it means?
    
     WTH
    what the hell?
    
     
  
    When the typing party has finished, he/she types two newlines to
    signal that he/she is done; this leaves a blank line between
    `speeches' in the conversation, making it easier to reread the
    preceding text.
    
     YHTBT
    You Had To Be There. Used of a situation which loses significant
    meaning in the telling, usually because it's difficult to convey
    tone and timing.
    
     :
    When three or more terminals are linked, it is conventional for
    each typist to prepend his/her login name or handle and a colon
    (or a hyphen) to each line to indicate who is typing (some
    conferencing facilities do this automatically).  The login name is
    often shortened to a unique prefix (possibly a single letter)
    during a very long conversation.
    
     /\/\/\
    A giggle or chuckle.  On a MUD, this usually means `earthquake
    fault'.
    
     Most of the above sub-jargon is used at both Stanford and MIT. Several
     of these expressions are also common in email, esp. FYI, FYA, BTW,
     BCNU, WTF, and CUL. A few other abbreviations have been reported from
     commercial networks, such as GEnie and CompuServe, where on-line `live'
     chat including more than two people is common and usually involves a
     more `social' context, notably the following:
  
     
    grin
    
     
    grinning, ducking, and running
    
     BBL
    be back later
    
     BRB
    be right back
    
     HHOJ
    ha ha only joking
    
     HHOK
    ha ha only kidding
    
     HHOS
    ha ha only serious
    
     IMHO
    in my humble opinion (see IMHO)
    
     LOL
    laughing out loud
    
     NHOH
    Never Heard of Him/Her (often used in initgame)
    
     ROTF
    rolling on the floor
    
     ROTFL
    rolling on the floor laughing
    
     AFK
    away from keyboard
    
     b4
    before
    
     CU l8tr
  
    see you later
    
     MORF
    male or female?
    
     TTFN
    ta-ta for now
    
     TTYL
    talk to you later
    
     OIC
    oh, I see
    
     rehi
    hello again
    
     Most of these are not used at universities or in the Unix world,
     though ROTF and TTFN have gained some currency there and IMHO is common;
     conversely, most of the people who know these are unfamiliar with FOO?,
     BCNU, HELLOP, NIL, and T.
  
     The MUD community uses a mixture of Usenet/Internet emoticons, a few
     of the more natural of the old-style talk-mode abbrevs, and some of the
     `social' list above; specifically, MUD respondents report use of BBL,
     BRB, LOL, b4, BTW, WTF, TTFN, and WTH. The use of `rehi' is also common;
     in fact, mudders are fond of re- compounds and will frequently `rehug'
     or `rebonk' (see bonk/oif) people. The word `re' by itself is taken as
     `regreet'. In general, though, MUDders express a preference for typing
     things out in full rather than using abbreviations; this may be due to
     the relative youth of the MUD cultures, which tend to include many touch
     typists and to assume high-speed links. The following uses specific to
     MUDs are reported:
  
     CU l8er
  
    see you later (mutant of `CU l8tr')
    
     FOAD
    fuck off and die (use of this is generally OTT)
    
     OTT
    over the top (excessive, uncalled for)
    
     ppl
    abbrev for "people"
    
     THX
    thanks (mutant of `TNX'; clearly this comes in batches of 1138 (the
    Lucasian K)).
    
     UOK?
    are you OK?
    
     Some B1FFisms (notably the variant spelling `d00d') appear to be
     passing into wider use among some subgroups of MUDders.
  
     One final note on talk mode style: neophytes, when in talk mode, often
     seem to think they must produce letter-perfect prose because they are
     typing rather than speaking. This is not the best approach. It can be
     very frustrating to wait while your partner pauses to think of a word,
     or repeatedly makes the same spelling error and backs up to fix it. It
     is usually best just to leave typographical errors behind and plunge
     forward, unless severe confusion may result; in that case it is often
     fastest just to type "xxx" and start over from before the mistake.
  
     See also hakspek, emoticon.