Main Menu

Front Page

News and Announcements
Ask the Elder
Meet the Council
From the Associates
Night's Beat
Art Gallery

Articles of Interest
Short Story
Interview with a Vampire
Reviews and more
The Vampire's Vestibule
Polls

Letters to the Editor
Comments from the Website
Cartoon Corner
From the Staff
Advertising

Credits
Link To Us
Friends
Past Issues
The Vampire Church
The Darkfear Network

Guestbook


Have a Comment?
Name

Email

Your Comments

Contact

VC Magazine
PO Box 831
Tappahannock, VA
22560
VCMagazine_Staff@
yahoogroups.com


Magazine Staff

Damien Daville, Producer
LA Judge, Editor


Tell a Friend

Click HERE to tell a friend about the VC Magazine.

Top Site Listings

Vote for us in the






Slang & 'Net Language

Yea, English is the common language of the internet. Right! But whose English? My English? Your English? The English spoken by that geeky kid with the iPod on the cross town bus? I think not. English is constantly evolving and changing. And hey since this is the 21st century, there has even gotten to be a form of English that is just spoken on the ‘net. U C? Oh yea, we have all picked up the standard few terms, but wtf does @TEOTD mean? And terms like geeksploitation just leave me lol.

Wikipedia defines slang as “a type of sociolect aimed at excluding certain people from the conversation. Slang initially functions as encryption, so that the non-initiate cannot understand the conversation.” This month the website review looks at a number of online dictionaries that the guesswork out of ‘net terms and current English slang. You definitely will be bookmarking these sites to use as a reference resource over and over.

Net Lingo
http//www.netlingo.com

NetLingo is the complete package. Not only does it offer an on line dictionary of ‘net slang and language, it deciphers those every annoying smileys and emoticons. Then it goes one-step further. Net Lingo offers intelligent discussion and insight on netiquette, the difference between acronyms or shorthand and much more. Other useful tools on this site include a reference for text messaging, a listing of known common file extensions, and even a web coloring tool for deciphering the HTML color number for dozens of common color choices. For a fee, Net Lingo will even supply you the means of taking this wealth of information with you into the offline world. Provided are means for various downloading formats or even a book. If you are into learning more about the ever-changing terminology of the internet, I suggest signing-up for the free newsletter. There you will get a monthly does of terms & terminology that would make any ‘net linguaphile hum with satisfaction. Yup, Net Lingo does it right.

Urban Dictionary
http://www.urbandictionary.com

Urban Dictionary is quite possibly too much of a good thing. Like many online slang dictionaries, this one too is user updated, but Urban Dictionary muscles in and leaves the others far behind. With over a hundred pages for just the letter W alone, if it is not in Urban Dictionary, it is just not being used. It is easy to be overwhelmed here, so I suggest taking Urban Dictionary in small doses. Use the “newest, random or browse” tools to surf the entries and you will not be disappointed. They will provide you with a linguistic peek behind many cultural doors. The search tool takes the alphabetical listing one-step better, making easy work of finding a much needed definition. Urban Dictionary is a huge resource including user submitted images and sounds where appropriate that further define language. Not only is Urban Dictionary user defined, it invites you to become one of their online editors. Look for the Urban Dictionary book to be hitting the shelves this fall and if you are truly addicted to the changing face of language as popular culture, sign up for their word of the day e-mail.

Until next month.
LA. Judge / nodeaf

For Questions, please contact the VC Magazine Staff at VCMagazine_Staff@yahoogroups.com

©1997-2004 Vampire Church -- All rights reserved. No use or reproduction without written consent.