Acronyms, Faces, and Asterisks Explained

(Credit: Shalom Cross; NSA Alumni) Hey everyone! :D As per my ideas and a few requests, the welcome committee of NSA has produced a guide to some of the more common acronyms and faces, as well as explaining some mechanics of asterisks. So without further ado, I give you:

Acronyms, Faces, and Asterisks Explained

Acronyms

General rules of thumb: Acronyms can be spelled with capital and/or lower case letters, and both will mean the same thing, though spelling in capitals may add emphasis (e.g. LOL might mean you're laughing harder than a regular lol).

Organized alphabetically by first letter.

A

ASAP - As soon as possible

B

BRB - Be Right Back

BTW - By The Way

C

D

DF - Deskface (a more extreme version of FP and FD, see F section, but with picking up the desk and bashing it over your face)

DIAFOGL - Disappear in a flash of green light. Or you can substitute green for the color of your font.

DM - Direct Message

DW - Don't worry

E

EOYA - End Of the Year Awards (to EOYA something is to save a quote or chat to put in said awards)

EOYD - End Of the Year Dance (also with VD - Valentines Dance)

ES - Elementary School

F

FP - Facepalm (putting your hand to your face after witnessing a case of extreme stupidity)

FD - Facedesk (same as a facepalm, but bashing your head against a desk as well)

FTH - Flying Tackle Hug (pretty self-explanatory)

FTW - For The Win (indicating that something is awesome, e.g. COOKEHS FTW!!!)

FYI - For Your Information

G

GTG - Got To Go (indicating someone has to leave)

G2G - A variant of GTG

H

HS - Highschool (Adding -er to the end indicates a person is in that grade level, i.e. HSer = Highschooler. See also "MS")

I

IA - Interest Areas

IDC - I don't care

IDK - I don't know

IM - Instant Message

IMO - In My Opinion

IMHO - In My Humble Opinion

J

JK - Just Kidding (alt. Joking)

K

K - abbreviation for ok (okay).

KOTOOMP - Knight Of The Order Of Many Posts (a full fledged member of the NAAT)

L

LOL - Laugh Out Loud

LOTR - Lord Of The Rings (not necessarily an NSA acronym, but still commonly used)

M

MS - Middleschool (Adding -er to the end indicates a person is in that grade level, i.e. MSer = Middleschooler. See also "HS")

N

NAAT (also TNAAT) - The Noble And Ancient Thread (an email thread in the highschool interest areas that has tens of thousands of posts.)

NSA - NorthStar Academy (we hope you knew that one already...)

NM - Not Much (Used in conversation, e.g. "What's up?" "nm, you?")

NP - No Problem, Nuke Palm

NVM - Nevermind

O

OMW - Oh My Word (typically used as a replacement for "omg," which typically isn't used very often)

OMC - Oh My Cow

P

PFP - Profile photo

PM - Personal Message (same as DM)

Q

R

RIC - Rolls In Confetti (less common... much less >_>)

ROFL - Rolling On Floor Laughing

S

SC - Student Council

SL - Storyline (which is basically a story co-written by two or more students)

sfp* - (Sign for pity)

T

TTYL - Talk To You Later

TTFN - Ta Ta For Now (variant of TTYL)

TY - Thank You

TYSM - Thank you so much

TNX - Thanks (variants include tx, thx, tnx, thnx, etc.)

U

V

W

WB - Welcome Back (commonly used when someone says BRB, see above, and then comes back)

X

Y

Z

Faces

General rules of thumb:

-With almost all faces, you need to use the context to determine the exact meaning. Just like in real life, some people may make certain faces to mean different things. All definitions, then, are general.

-Almost every face has certain variants that mean more or less the same thing, we'll try to cover them all, though.

-Also as a general rule of thumb, if you don't see an actual face, tilt your head to the left, and you should then be able to.

-In almost every case, the equals sign "=" can be used to replace the colon in faces.

General faces and variants:

xD - one of the most common faces; it means either laughing, smiling, or being amused in some way.

Variants – Xd XD xDD XDD (any number of Ds at the end, really. All mean more or less the same thing)

:) - smiley face, use when happy.

Variants - :] c: C: :} etc. (really anything that has two eyes and a smile counts as a smiley and means about the same thing)

P - sticking out tongue (not in a bad way!). It can be used to indicate amusement, a shrugging face, a lot of things, so use context.

Variants - :P :p :b d: q:

x) (also X) - giggling smile; awww-ish smile (e.g. "That's so cute! x)" use varies depending on user)

:3 - Cute face, cute smiley (use context)

:( - frowny face, use when sad.

Variants - :[ :c :C 3: etc. (about the negative equivalent of a smiley, anything with two eyes and a frown)

Dx - the reversed Dx, it's basically a wailing face

D: - Slightly distressed face (e.g. Aww, you have to go now? D:)

:/ - melancholy face, used mainly in "aww, ok..." kinds of situations, including feeling sorry for someone

Variants - :/ :\ :|

>:/ - Stumped/thinking hard face (known as the epic-thinking-face)

Variants - >:/ >:\ >:|

:O - Surprised face, a dude with his mouth wide open.

Variants - :O :o O: o: :0 0: \OoO/

Winking faces:

The semi-colon ";" is used in faces to indicate a wink.

;) - winking face

;D - big-smile-winking-face (both wink faces can [but do not necessarily] denote a joke or flirty statement)

>;D - Sort of like the big-smile-winking-face, but with slightly eviiill intents (see below).

The > faces.

The greater than sign ">" is commonly added onto emoticons to imply eviiiilness or denote anger.

>:) - eviiil smile

>:( - Angry face

>8) - Crazed eviiiil smile (also, mad-scientist-with-goggles-face)

>:D - exaggerated version of the >:) face, can also be an evil-bad-guy-laugh face)

>8D - Same as >:D, but crazed.

There is a difference between "evil" and "eviiiil." Evil, with one 'i,' means the absence of good, as you know. Eviiiil, on the other hand, is pronounced "eeeevil," and it means clever or cunning.

Vertical faces:

Vertical faces are faces that... are... vertical. Basically, you don't have to turn your head to see them

@_@ - varies with context, basically a dude with huge eyes, it can indicate frustration, an intense situation, intense focus, crazed-face, sometimes hypnotized... really use context.

T_T - a sad face, i.e. tears streaming down face.

^_^ - A happy face, typically cheery and innocent

-_- - a glaring face, sometimes dissapointed and *fp*-ish

e_e - rolling eyes

x_x - indicates pain or death, sometimes both (also X_X)

^_^* - Indicates a cheerleader. The asterisks (*) indicate pom-poms, so they can be added around any horizontal face for an... interesting effect (e.g. *u_u* *-_-* *n_n*). Any number of underscores (_) can indicate fat or obesity (i.e. a fat cheerleader would be *^____^*)

p_q - a face which means you're holding binoculars (usage ex; "*stalks you* p_q")

._. - Viewed mostly as a timid face. (Also see ".-.")

.-. - Viewed sometimes as a timid face, and sometimes as a "._." face.

>_> and <_< - shifty eye faces, basically meaning you're looking to the side. It can just mean you're looking around the room, used after a sarcastic statement, maybe after something awkward, you really need to just get used to the context surrounding it. (also >.> and <.<)

>.< - wincing face

o_o - surprised/scared/shocked (meaning intensifies with bigger ellipses: O_O and 0_0 [periods can be used in place of underscores as well])

o_O and O_o - confused or questioning face (also o_0 0_o [periods can be used in place of underscores])

<3 - not a face, but this indicates a heart (tilt your head to the right)

The U_U faces:

These faces are normally the hardest to describe and understand, thus they have their own section. To really understand the meaning of them, though, you have to experience them in action, and analyze them in context. Good luck, reader.

Marissa Mathews' guide:

U_U and V_V - these faces typically denote sarcasm, mock seriousness, or real seriousness. Sometimes used after a command of some sort. (i.e. "Go to your room! U_U" or "Be quiet! V_V") Seriousness or graveness of speech ex.: "We have gathered today to discuss grave matters. U_U" Mock seriousness ex.: "He died just now. U_U"

u_u and v_v - most commonly used after a sarcastic remark (i.e. "Yes, I'm blue with pink stripes and green polka-dots. u_u"); sometimes used as an in-your-face or I-told-you-so face (ex. "I knew it! v_v")

u_U, v_V, U_u, and V_v - sarcastic questioning faces (i.e. "Are you sure about that? u_U" or "So you went outside, and suddenly elephants trampled your house, and so you can't do school now? v_V"); sometimes accusatory (ex. "Who stole my cookies? V_v"); sometimes defensive (i.e. "I certainly didn't steal your cookies. U_u")

Shalom Cross' guide:

The u_u face is a face of many different uses, many people cannot put an accurate definition on it. Neither can I, but I will attempt to describe its uses.

General Uses:

General usage of the u_u face is a solemn face, or a mock solemn face. I also like to describe two uses as both a "I-told-you-so" and "Can't-touch-this" faces, but those are personal usage.

Specific Uses:

u_u: The u_u face is the most common of the u_u family, and it a general u_u face, that could really mean any one of the u_u definitions.

U_U: Both capital Us, the U_U face gives an appearance of a slightly more prideful/noble u_u face.

u_U/U_u: This variant of u_u face is considered incorrect by some, but considered to have a different use to others. I might use it to be both a solemn face and a questioning face (such as with a raised eyebrow) at the same time.

The u_u faces change frequently with context and the meanings are frequently combined, so refer to that to see which of the definitions and combinations of definitions it is.