Internet acronyms and abbreviations are probably the most common slang words seen in almost all the various Internet mediums. Such terms are coined by communicating users to cut some slack in typing, emphasize the meaning of a word or phrase, or simply to squeeze as much information in a limited typing space. They are found sprawling all over Internet forums, online games, text or instant messaging. For example, “where r u?” simply means “Where are you?”. As apparent it seems, “i” should be written as “I” instead.

These slangs are commonly derived from internet forums, where they are read and repeated by many people before it’s widely accepted. However, significant use and misspelling may unintentionally emphasize the lack of knowledge of one. Hence, most are often used ironically. Most are created by morphing suffix and grammar. Take “Pwn” as an instance, which means “impossibly defeating an opponent soundly, and with ease”. Usually, it is employed to empathize and mock the opposite party. Suffix like -er, -ness, - ed, -ing, or even -age can be connected with “pwn” to give another obvious yet ridiculous meaning. Most of these originated from misspellings (e.g. pwn was derived form own, since the letter o and p right beside each other). Another version is the letter s and z (e.g. wares, which means software. However, warez would mean pirated software).

Pwned

Owned and pwned both refer to the domination of a player in a video game or argument (rather than just a win), or the successful hacking of a website or computer. For example, in a multiplayer first-person shooter game, a player with a default starting gun defeats an opponent carrying a vastly superior weapon. This would indicate dominant skill in the player with the inferior weapon, who outplayed (owned or pwned) the player with superior firepower. Since the letter p on a QWERTY keyboard is right next to the letter o, it likely derives from a typographical error of owned, and was eventually embraced by Leetspeakers as an intentional misspelling; however, pwn is also sometimes said to mean “purely own” (pwnage could be “pure ownage”).

LOL

Among the earliest internet slang terms are “LOL” (Lauging out loud) to indicate humor. Similar acronyms were quickly added to the lexicon, including ROFL (“Rolling On the Floor Laughing”), LMAO (“Laughing My Ass Off”), and the combination of the two; ROFLMAO (”Rolling On the Floor Laughing My Ass Off”). More recently, “lol” has been popularized as a noun, most frequently seen pluralized as “lolz” or deliberately misspelled “lulz”, as in “I did it just for the lulz”.

Noob

The word noob derived from newbie, as in new and inexperienced or uninformed. There is a seperation of defination between newb and noob (or nub). A newb is someone new to something, whereas noob is a inferior person, implying the target is being ignorant of his or her own failures, blaming others and failing to learn, etc. It is most commonly used as an insult in online games.

O RYL?

Short for “Oh, really?”, it is a popular internet phenomenon typically being represented with a Snowy Owl. The phrase is usually used in internet forums sarcastically in response to something that is bluntly self-contradicting.

More info: http://acronymfinder.com/