A post by Alexander Howard describes the top 10 NSFW Abbreviations. They help for when someone could be watching over their back or even walk into an office. Howard has the top ten abbreviations listed as follows:
“WTF = What the F–k. As ThinkGeek wrote, ‘it’s not always possible to speak your mind on the Internet. So cyber-culture has developed a whole new way to curse and blaspheme without necessarily conjuring up the negativity associated with the whole phrases themselves.’ And as @rands pointed out, WTF should have been in the top 15 overall list. It’s a instant, concise expression of incredulity and critique.
OMFG = Oh My F___ing God. Like OMG, only stronger. The expression is nowhere near as common as WTF but expresses much the same sentiment.
LMAO = Laughing My Ass Off. Also LMFAO, for special emphasis. This comes up a fair bit, no doubt because there is plenty to laugh about on Twitter and in the wide world.
WTH = What the Hell. This expresses the same sentiment as WTF. Whether it’s stronger or not depends on how you feel about Hell or f—ing.
SOB = Son of a B–ch. At least, it used to until @lizstrauss rebranded SOB as Successful and Outstanding Blogger. As it turns out, being an SOB on Twitter might just be a good thing.
NFW = No F—ing Way. As in, ‘no way, no how, not ever’ or a stronger version of OMG. @markpinc was surprised about a a Bay Bridge closing, for instance. As they say, SH (s–t happens).
STFU = Shut The F–k Up. Also STHU, with Hell standing in. This could be used as a stronger OMG — but it can also be a precursor to someone blocking an account on Twitter.
FUBAR = F–ked Up Beyond All Repair. FUBAR originated with the US Army, where many situations ended up FUBAR’ed. According to Wikipedia, ‘electronics engineers report that SNAFU and FUBAR were used before World War II by repairmen sent out to repair phone booths. You might remember it from Saving Private Ryan.
SNAFU = Situation Normal All F–ked Up. SNAFU, referenced above, is another geeky notation of resignation to an ugly reality, industry event or other news.
Bonus: RTFM = Read The F–king Manual. This is the classic complaint of a sysadmin or help desk associate to colleagues. On the Web, it’s about reading the FAQ (RTFF) or the question (RTFQ). I wouldn’t be surprised if reading the tweet (RTFT) showed up soon, either.(pistachio)
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I truly don’t know where the abbreviation NSFW came from. Do people in the work place really need these abbreviations? I guess if you only can use 140 characters it makes sense but how did all these get so popular? I am familiar with some of the terms that have been around forever like WTF, STFU, and LMAO. I heard the majority of these by playing online video games growing up. I also think it’s pretty cool that we have words that date back to World War II. Who would have thought that we decided to start using them online? As far as NFW and RTFM where did they come from? Wth? (I had to do it) I have never seen those abbreviations before and now they are on the top 10. I don’t think I am a big enough tweeter to be able to keep up with all these new abbreviations if new ones keep getting made.
This post talks about knowing the NSFW abbreviations could save you from getting in trouble. I think it’s pretty bogus if people are getting in trouble for words that may appear on their screen. Is someone hovering over your shoulder to begin with? Now someone landing in a pornography website could be a different story in the work place. The post says “Clicking on the wrong link in a Tweet could land you in a world of trouble if you then land on a pornography website from a work machine.” (Howard) I still find it hard to believe that you could find yourself at one of those pages. I guess it’s possible I just can’t see myself seeing an abbreviation and clicking on it without reading any of the content around it.
I can see this has helpful for some but find it kind of random. Is this really a big issue in the work place? They should be free to be able to do whatever kind of research needed to get the job done. If they end up mistakenly at an inappropriate site then that shouldn’t be an issue. Now if someone were on an inappropriate site for a long period of time then you might want to see that the person gets some help. I guess my point is we shouldn’t have to hide behind these abbreviations and people shouldn’t be doing personal social networking at the work place.
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