Decoder ring for various acronyms and terms used on the BB.
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/s - this statement is sarcasm
AFAIK - as far as I know (I mean, as far as I know)
AI - Artificial intelligence: a trick used to scrape others peopleâs work, distort it, and spit out an imitation as an original idea. Not to be confused with Artificial Insemination
AIUI - As I Understand It
anonymization - The act of removing a userâs identity from the BBS without deleting their posts. More info: General Moderation Topic - #1805 by orenwolf
Backpfeifengesicht - a face in need of a punch
banana - just means banana, but must be accompanied by the phrase âjust look at it!â
BBS Style Manual - self explanatory, but hereâs a link BBS Style Manual
BIPOC - Black, Indigenous, (and) People of Color
BRIAN BLESSED - BRIAN BLESSED!
CCBOD - Circular Comments Button of Doom. The phenomenon wherein clicking the comments link below an article takes you back to the article. As first described here
CHOAM - from the novel DUNE. Used as a stand-in for Amazon.com
Christ, what an asshole - the obligatory response that speaks for itself. Originally popularized in 2006 as a caption that would fit any New Yorker comic, came to prominence on Boing Boing circa 2010. More info: Christ, What An Asshole | Know Your Meme
CHUD - cannibalistic humanoid underground dwellers, or an alt-right loudmouth
CW - Content Warning. A warning that a link or spoilered picture/text may trigger peoples mental illnesses or bad memories. These warnings can stop psychiatric episodes from escalating, so they should only be used in a serious context.
cyber - a word used as a prefix to any moderately technology related concept to alert others that you donât know what youâre talking about. Used a lot by defense contractors
DARVO - a manipulation strategy. Stands for Deny, Attack, and Reverse Victim and Offender. Wikipedia
Driving trollies - What you may end up seeing in your post when you think you typed âtrollinâgâ
DSW - dick size war
enshittification - a process by which products turn to crap. First, they are good to their users; then they abuse their users to make things better for their business customers; finally, they abuse those business customers to claw back all the value for themselves. Then, they die. See also Link and Topic
ETA - Edited to add. A polite thing to do if you edit your post, especially if others had previously liked it.
etm. - âand shitâ used in the same sense as etc. From Here
FAAFO / FAFO - Fuck Around And Find Out.
FAF - âFlag And Forgetâ is what you should do with obviously racist, sexist, homophobic, transphobic, etc. posts, especially when from brand-new or long-dormant accounts.
Fecesbook - Mark Zuckerbergâs democracy plundering data harvesting enterprise
female(s) - unless youâre describing animals or filling out a form, use woman/women please. Better yet, evaluate whether its necessary to use at all. Exception: when used in conjunction with male. See also Topic
feral hog - species of even-toed ungulates, known to roam in packs of 30-50 that run into yards within 3-5 minutes while kids play
FLICC - science denial stratagem: False experts, Logical fallacies, Impossible expectations, Cherry picking, Conspiracy theories
freeze peach - free speech. Typically used in the sarcastic sense (muh rights!)
Fremdscham - Shame felt on behalf of another who, in their oblivion, does not feel shame as a result of doing something shameful. The conceptual opposite, in some ways, of schadenfreude.
FPP - front-page post
FTA - from the article
FUD - Fear, Uncertainty, and Doubt
FWIW - for what itâs worth
GC - Gender Crits. Those folks that âjust ask questionsâ about things that donât actually impact their lives
Gentleman - derogatory, usually a jerk
Gooseberry - an ad hominem attack @sosumi
GQP - hybrid of GOP and QANON.
hepeating - a manâs repeating of something a woman has just said, typically with no awareness that a woman has already said it.
h/t - hat tip. Acknowledgement of the contributions of another
IANAD - I am not a doctor
IANAL - I am not a lawyer
IANAOEOHFPPE - I am not a one eyed, one horned, flying purple people eater
IANAS - I am not a scientist
ICE - depending on context, either âinternal combustion engineâ or âImmigration and Customs Enforcementâ
ICYMI - In case you missed it
IIRC - if I recall correctly
IOKIYAR - Itâs OK If Youâre A Republican
IOW - in other words
JAQ - âjust asking questions.â To make outrageous and unsubstantiated accusations using the cover of merely making polite inquiry. Also: âJAQing offâ
kapo - original meaning is a Nazi concentration camp prisoner who was given privileges in return for supervising (beating) prisoner work gangs. Known for brutality. Now used to indicate those who side fervently with their own oppressors for personal benefit. Discussion Link
Karen - generally a white woman who uses her privilege to torment others and escalate situations, while simultaneously being oblivious to said privilege. Desires to speak to manager. If you want to debate it, go here: Think of the Karens
Know-Nothing 27% - The portion of any given electorate that is willing to vote for fascist or right-wing sado-populist agendas or politicians. A combination of references to a violent 19th century American Nativist group and writer John Rogersâ joking-but-turns-out-to-be-surprisingly-real âCrazification Factorâ.
LEO - law enforcement officer (*not to be confused with Low Earth Orbit where nearly all anthropogenic space activity takes place)
LeopardenfrĂźhstĂźcksgesicht - a face being eaten by leopards. (literally, âleopardâs breakfast faceâ)
libertarian socialism - Socialism that rejects the idea that centralised power is necessary in a socialist region. Includes most kinds of anarchism, as well as Communalism, libertarian communism and libertarian Marxism. It has some overlap with democratic socialism and is usually opposed to Marxism-Leninism and libertarian capitalism. Real world examples currently include the IWW and North-East Syria.
LLM - Large Language Model. That thing that predicts the next word you will type
mansplaining - the condescending, patronizing explanation of something by a man, typically to a woman, with no awareness of and interest in whether the listener already knows whatâs being 'splained.
MAU - Monthly Active User
â â â â â - Dictionary meaning: âsomewhat damp.â On BB, moist is auto-censored as a running gag, courtesy of Rob; because so many people are squicked out by it, for some reason.
NFT - Non Fungible Token. An electronic beanie baby.
octopodes - the only acceptable plural of Octopus. Fight me!
OP - Original poster. Depending on context, can refer to the cited article versus the person actually posting the article.
OTOH - on the other hand
POC - persons of color. Roughly 85% of humanity
PPE - Personal Protective Equipment, e.g. facemasks. Shibboleth for non-trumpers
Privilege - a set of unearned benefits given to people who are in a specific social group. In the U.S., privilege is granted to people who have membership in one or more of these social identity groups: white people, able-bodied people, heterosexuals, cisgender people, males, Christians, middle or owning class people, middle-aged people, English-speaking people. Privilege is characteristically invisible to people who have it. From
Quisling - A pro-fascist collaborator or traitor, named after Norweigian Nazi collaborator Vidkun Quisling.
reboing - this topic has been posted previously on BB.
reboing - this topic has been posted previously on BB.
Rob Ford - former mayor of Toronto that some may not be aware is now deceased (should we start a thread?). See also Generalissimo Francisco Franco.
RTFA - Read The F*cking Article. See also TFA
RWNJ - Right Wing Nut Job
sadopopulism - a term coined by historian Timothy Snyder to describe a sadistic form of political populism (usually right-wing) that is grounded in and revels in the persecution, disenfranchisement and exclusion of one or more out-groups. See also âthe cruelty is the point.â
sealion, sealioning - To JAQ (q.v.) and demand engagement in a relentless extended display of performative politeness. From Wondermark. See also This discussion topic
SEO - Search engine optimization. A way to trick people into clicking on your stuff first
SFOCOTRBEIPR - Sacred Fight Over Control Of The Rubber Bladder Encased In Pigskin Ritual, aka the NFL Superbowl ?
squicked out - Portmanteau of âsickenedâ and âIckâ - the unpleasant almost physical revulsion some experience upon seeing unpopular words like Moist, Congeal and Phlegm
SWERF - Sex Worker Exclusionary Radical Feminist
TER - Transgender Exclusionary Reactionary. Used when there is debate over whether the individual or group are radical feminists. TERFs are also TERs, as they believe things were better before trans people spoiled everything.
TERF - Trangender Exclusionary Radical Feminist. The Venn diagram of TERFs and SWERFs is close to being a single circle.
TFA - The Article In Question; the article linked in the BB post under discussion. Similarly, âTFVâ might refer to the video linked in a post, and other nonce variations on the same idea. See also RTFA.
TFG - The Former Guy or That Fucking Guy. Both refer to former president Donald Trump
TKAAR - The kids are all right.
TOT - Tangentially on topic
tots and pears - sarcastic âthoughts and prayersâ
Touron - portmanteau of tourist and moron
TPO - Time, place, occasion. (Sometimes a topic is perfectly valid and worth discussing, but just not here and now.)
TPTB - The Powers That Be
Trolley - What you may end up seeing in your post when you think you typed âtrolâlâ
TSD - Tactical/Strategic Douchebaggery
TW - Trigger Warning. See CW above.
WDKS - we dont know shit
Welcome to BoingBoing, comrade! - Common greeting to newcomers from regular bbs users. Sometimes sincere, sometimes sarcastic. Become a regular to get a sense of which is which!
Whuffie - a form of digital social reputation, replaces money and is a constantly updated rating that measures how much esteem and respect other people have for a person. This rating system determines who gets the few scarce items, like the best housing, a table in a crowded restaurant, or a good place in a queue for a theme park attraction.
WWG1WGA - where we go one, we go all. A phrase used by Qanon supporters. Its a line from the 1996 Jeff Bridges sailing adventure âWhite Squallâ that they misattribute to President Kennedy, because facts donât matter
wypipo - white people. Typically used in the context of white privilege
WYSIWYG - what you see is what you get
Xtianist - a conservative fundamentalist who expresses their supposed Christianity more as a right-wing ideology of hate and exclusion and greed rather than as a religion focused on a humble and compassionate âPrince of Peaceâ.
YMMV - your mileage may vary
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Added CHUD
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Affirmed âOctopodesâ is the only acceptable plural of Octopus. Take that!
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May I suggest some additions?
SWERF - Sex Worker Exclusionary Radical Feminist
TERF - Trangender Exclusionary Radical Feminist. The Venn diagram of TERFs and SWERFs is close to being a single circle.
TER - Transgender Exclusionary Reactionary. Used when there is debate over whether the individual or group are radical feminists. TERFs are also TERs, as they believe things were better before trans people spoiled everything.
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Itâs a wiki so you should be able to edit yourself. But I can add.
ETA: Done!
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Added Karen. Not sure how it was missed before.
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I hope nobody minds that Iâve added âTKAAR - The kids are all right.â It seems like weâre having more and more opportunities to say that these days - Yay!
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Added FLICC and FUD
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Added FTA and OP
ETA: Also added Rob Ford.
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Added link to the âKarenâ page to the Karen definition.
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Added BIPOC
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Added Whuffie.
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Added libertarian socialism, after having seen a discussion about what it is and isnât somewhere else.
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Added âJAQâ and âsealionâ, because I canât believe they werenât there.
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Added TPTB. Also adding link to the BBS Style guide, which is more about how to get creative with your formatting when creating posts
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Added CW and TW
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I added âWelcome, comrade!â, but Iâm not sure others would agree with how I explained it. Feel free to edit, or discuss here.
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I added âTFAâ, which term I know I am not the only one to use.
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