Glossary of Common Computer Terms
This is small selection of some of the more common words and
acronyms you may come across on the internet, as well as some
common emoticons (also known as "smileys").
Computer Terms & Acronyms
| ASCII |
a standard character set used by computers |
| Browser |
a computer program which enables you to access web sites, such
as Internet Explorer, Firefox, Safari, Opera... |
| Email |
electronic mail |
| Flame |
verbal attack in electronic form |
| FTP |
File Transfer Protocol - what enables you to upload and download
files on the internet |
| GIF |
Graphic Interchange File - one of the three formats for pictures
able to be used on websites; the only one which supports
animation |
| HTML |
HyperText Meta Language - a language that web sites are
written in |
| HTTP |
HyperText Transfer Protocol - the set of rules which enable
the different types of files on a website (text, graphics,
sound, movies etc) to be displayed. |
| IE (also MSIE) |
Internet Explorer, Microsoft's web browser |
| ISP |
Internet Service Provider - a company which offers email and /
or web browsing access |
| Java |
A programming language used to create applications and more
complicated internet components |
| JavaScript |
A programming language (completely unrelated to Java!) which is
often used to make web pages more interactive |
| JPEG (JPG) |
Joint Photography Experts Group - another common graphics format
for pictures on the internet, mainly used for compressing photos
to a small size for use on web pages |
| Listserve |
An email broadcast subscription service (electronic mailing list
you sign up to join), such as the ROTI List Services |
| Newsgroup |
An online discussion forum (bulletin board) related to one
particular topic, where users can read and post messages |
| NS |
Netscape - a web browser that has since been discontinued and
replaced by Mozilla |
| Shouting |
Typing IN UPPER CASE |
| SMTP |
Simple Mail Transfer Protocol - what makes email work! |
| Spamming |
Repeated sending of the same message for no other reason than to
be obnoxious, or the posting of a completely unrelated message
such as advertising a product or service |
| TCP/IP |
Transmission Control Protocol / Internet Protocol - the set of
rules that allow computers to communicate over a network |
| WWW |
World Wide Web - the internet! |
Shorthand
| AFAIK |
as far as I know |
IIRC |
if I recall correctly |
| B4 |
before |
LOL |
lots of laughter |
| BCNU |
be seeing you |
ONO |
or nearest offer |
| BFN |
bye for now |
ROTFL |
rolling on the floor laughing |
| BTW |
by the way |
RTFM |
read the f****** manual |
| CUL8R |
see you later |
TTFN |
ta-ta for now |
| FWIW |
for what it's worth |
TTYL |
talk to you later |
| FYI |
for your information |
|
|
Emoticons ("Smileys")
The "noses" are optional - a smiley can be written as :-) or :)
| <g> |
grin |
<vbg> |
very big grin |
| :-) |
smiley face (to show happiness or that something was meant in a
nice way) |
;-) |
wink (can indicate fun) |
| :-P |
tongue poking out (can indicate light sarcasm) |
:-| |
indifferent / not totally happy |
| :-> |
devilish grin (can indicate heavy sarcasm) |
8-) |
smiley with glasses |
| :-D |
extremely happy |
:-O |
shock or surprise |
| :-/ |
perplexed |
:-S |
worried |
| :-( |
unhappy (can be sadness or displeasure) |
:'-( |
crying |
