talk mode

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.

     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)
     JAM
          just a minute (equivalent to `SEC....')
     MIN
          same as `JAM'
     NIL
          no (see {NIL})
     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...')
     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?
     <double newline>
          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.
     <name>:
          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:

     <g>
          grin
     <gr&d>
          grinning, running, and ducking
     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 {B1FF}isms (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}.