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ASL, IRL or OJ: That's what the chat abbreviations mean!
There are numerous abbreviations in online chats, forums and apps that are incomprehensible to many at first: they mostly come from English usage. It's not that easy to guess the meaning. If you still want to find your way around the chat, you need this little encyclopedia.
In order to get to know the chat partner better, a simple "asl?" usually helps: This is used to ask about the age, location and gender of the other person. If someone comes from the same city, you can also meet "IRL": In real life ("In real life"). Funny statements are often written LOL or ROFL: If the chat supports smileys or emojis, you have a larger selection.
Just like a greeting at the beginning or before logging off, you also usually log off when you leave the computer or the app for a short time: With an "AFK" or "BRB" you show that you will be back soon and no messages until then can read.
ASL: ASL or A/S/L stands for Age, Sex, Location. This is a quick way to ask who the other person is: As an answer, you write (if you want) your age, gender and your own location. In English chats, "male" and "female" are often abbreviated to "m" or "f" for the sake of simplicity.
AFAIK: AFAIK is not to be confused with AFK: The abbreviation stands for "As far as I know" and means translated "As far as I know": With this you can put a statement into perspective if you are not quite sure.
AFK: AFK is the abbreviation for "Away From Keyboard": So you're not sitting at the computer for a moment, but you stay logged in. AFK is therefore written, for example, if you just get a drink out of the fridge and come right back.
BRB: BRB stands for "Be right back", another term (like AFK), when you leave the computer or the chat only briefly, but come right back.
IRL: IRL stands for "In Real Life": Anyone who would like to "meet IRL" can do so without an app or PC.
LOL: LOL stands for "Laughing out loud": Laughing out loud, for example after a joke or a funny action.
OJ: OJ is a term from the German app "Jodel": There the yodeler creates a topic that others can reply to. If you want to mark the topic starter, you can do that with an "@oj": This is the yodel who opened the topic.
ROFL: ROFL stands for "Rolling on the floor, laughing" and is the increase of LOL: ROFL, for example, is the answer to a very good joke in the chat.
