We use the Internet for many things: business, shopping, writing letters, talking to people, finding information and so on. In recent years, a new kind of English has grown on the Internet. There's no real word for it yet, so we'll call it e-talk.
People don't like typing too much. To save time, they turn phrases into a few letters (called acronyms). Acronyms are often used in chat rooms(聊天室). Some of them are:
BTW (by the way) BRB (be right back)
LOL (laughing out loud) IMO (in my opinion)
People also use many abbreviations. They are shortened forms of words. Some common abbreviations are:
info (information) puter (computer)
pic (picture) sec (second)
We usually don't see people when we communicate(交流) on the Net, so people have new ways to show feelings. Most people use their keyboards to draw "feelings", such as:
:-) (happy) ;-) (joking) :-( (sad) :-O (surprised)
These days, many forums (论坛) have picture feelings. For example:
There are even whole new words, like "newbies"(someone who is new on a chat board or forum). When you write something bad about someone else, it's called "flaming" the person.
It takes time for people to get used to(适应) e-talk. Also, different groups on the Net have their own special ways of communicating. Newbies sometimes have to ask other people what they mean. As the Internet grows, e-talk will continue to grow and change.
Choose the best answer: