The Usenet language

The KNode manual
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# 5.3. The Usenet language

You won't be surprised about English beeing the main language on the Usenet. There are special trees with German (de.*), French (fr.*) and many other languages. If you are unable to determine the main language of a newsgroup, the only possibility is careful listenening or a possible explanation in the description of the group in the grouplist.

In addition over the time the Usenet developed his own language, but happily it is easy to learn.

## 5.3.1. RTFM and other typos

When you read news, after some time you will read some strange combinations of letters. For example you can get a reply like:

RTFM

Nothing else. Strange but absolutely intended. To solve the riddle: Those, most of the time, are shortcuts, acronyms. It is easier to drop some letters, than writing the same sentence over and over again.

But what is the meaning of RTFM? The writer demands you, to read the manual, documentation or FAQ before asking questions in the newsgroup. Clearer: (R)ead (T)he (F)ucking (M)anual. BTW an advice you should adopt.

Wait, what is BTW now? Another often seen acronym which means (B)y (T)he (W)ay. It is easy when you know it. Now, for you not to be continously speculating over acronyms there is table at he end of this section, containing the most often used aconyms. ;-)

## 5.3.2. Smile!

Again such a strange thing. What is this ;-) meant to be? Turn your head so the left side of your Screen is on top. Got it? You spot the smile with a wink? This is a so called emoticon. Emoticons are an often used possibility to express mimic. One thing missing in conversation on the Usenet. (But there is a susbstitute, remember? ;-)

It is very diffcult to express emotions in emails or news. Your joking comment can be very serious for the recipient and can lead to unmeant reactions or conflicts (flames). So use emoticons to express your intention.

There are a lots of emoticons, which express a great variety of emotions. You will see, the interpretation is easy if you turn your head and think of a face.

## 5.3.3. PLONK!

This PLONK! looks like some comic-sound, doesn't it? And that is exactly what it is used for. The one who reads it knows he was just added to the killfile of a newsreader. Normally this means the recipient of the PLONK! ticked off the sender. The PLONK! plays back the sound of the recipients name hitting the ground in the killfile. The sender turned his back to the recipient.

## 5.3.4. Often used acronyms

When you are reading your news with KNode, you will really soon see some strange combinations of letters in the articles. For a novice user it is difficult to guess the meaning of all the acronyms used. That's why we provide you a list of the most often used acronyms. This table is in no means complete. ;-) It is based on a list originally provided by Martin Imlau.

Table 5-1. Acronyms on Usenet

Acronym | Meaning
--- | ---
<g> | (user) grins
AAMOF | As a matter of fact
ACK | Acknowledge
AFAIK | As far as I know
AFAIR | As far as I remember
AWGTHTGTTA | Are we going to have to go through this again?
ASAP | As soon as possible
BFN | Bye for now
BYKT | But you knew that
CMIIW | Correct me if I'm wrong
CU | See you
CU2 | See you too
CYL | See you later
EOD | End of discussion
ESOSL | Endless snorts of stupid laughter
FYI | For your information
GOK | God only knows
HAND | Have a nice day
HTH | Hope that helps
HSIK | How should I know?
IAE | In any event
IANAL | I am not a lawyer
IIRC | If I remember correctly
IMCO | In my considered opinion
IMHO | In my humble opinion
IMNSHO | In my not so humble opinion
INPO | In no particular order
IOW | In other words
LMAO | Laughing my ass off
LOL | Laughing out loud
NAK | Not acknowledged
NBD | No big deal
NFW | No fucking way
ROTFL | Rolling on the floor, laughing
RTFM | Read the fucking manual
SCNR | Sorry, could not resist
TIA | Thanks in advance

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