[1] : Jargon File (4.3.1, 29 Jun 2001)

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.


see also:
nil t prepend email ha ha only serious imho 
initgame mud bonk/oif b1ff hakspek 
emoticon 

[2] : The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing (27 SEP 03)

talk mode
     
         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
     
     
see also:
talk b1ff chat jargon file 

Mode >> M Words
Mode, definition of term: Mode
mode_pag1.html

Addressing Mode >> A Words
Addressing Mode, definition of term: Addressing Mode
addressing+mode_pag1.html

A La Mode >> A Words
A La Mode, definition of term: A La Mode
a+la+mode_pag1.html