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Netspeak: An Analysis Of Internet Jargon
Approximately 30 million people world-wide use the Internet and online
services daily. The Net is growing exponentially in all areas, and a
rapidly increasing number of people are finding themselves working and
playing on the Internet. The people on the Net are not all rocket
scientists and computer programmers; they're graphic designers, teachers,
students, artists, musicians, feminists, Rush Limbaugh-fans, and your next
door neighbors. What these diverse groups of people have in common is their
language. The Net community exists and thrives because of effective written
communication, as on the net all you have available to express yourself are
typewritten words. If you cannot express yourself well in written language,
you either learn more effective ways of communicating, or get lost in the
shuffle.
"Netspeak" is evolving on a national and international level. The
technological vocabulary once used only by computer programmers and elite
computer manipulators called "Hackers," has spread to all users of computer
networks. The language is currently spoken by people on the Internet, and
is rapidly spilling over into advertising and business. The words "online,"
"network," and "surf the net" are occuring more and more frequently in our
newspapers and on television. If you're like most Americans, you're feeling
bombarded by Netspeak. Television advertisers, newspapers, and
international businesses have jumped on the "Information Superhighway"
bandwagon, making the Net more accessible to large numbers of not-entirely-
technically-oriented people. As a result, technological vocabulary is
entering into non-technological communication. For example, even the
archaic UNIX command "grep," (an acronym meaning Get REpeated Pattern) is
becoming more widely accepted as a synonym of "search" in everyday
communication.
The argument rages as to whether Netspeak is merely slang, or a jargon in
and of itself. The language is emerging based loosely upon
telecommunications vocabulary and computer jargons, with new derivations
and compounds of existing words, and shifts creating different usages; all
of which depending quite heavily upon clippings. Because of these reasons,
the majority of Net-using linguists classify Netspeak as a dynamic jargon
in and of itself, rather than as a collection of slang.
Linguistically, the most interesting feature of Netspeak is its morphology.
Acronyms and abbreviations make up a large part of Net jargon. FAQ
(Frequently Asked Question), MUD (Multi-User-Dungeon), and URL (Uniform
Resource Locator) are some of the most frequently seen TLAs (Three Letter
Acronyms) on the Internet. General abbreviations abound as well, in more
friendly and conversationally conducive forms, such as TIA (Thanks In
Advance), BRB (Be Right Back), BTW (By The Way), and IMHO (In My Humble
Opinion.) These abbreviations can be baffling to new users, and speaking in
abbreviations takes some getting used to. Once users are used to them,
though, such abbreviations are a nice and easy way of expediting
communication.
Derivation is another method by which many words are formed. The word
Internet itself is the word "net" with the prefix "inter-" added to it.
Another interesting example is the word "hypertext," used to describe the
format of one area of the Internet, the WWW (World Wide Web). The WWW is
made up of millions of pages of text with "hotlinks" that allow the user to
jump to another page with different information on it. "Hypertext," derived
by adding the prefix "hyper-" to the word "text," produces the definition
"a method of storing data through a computer program that allows a user to
create and link fields of information at will and to retrieve the data
nonsequentially," according to Webster's College Dictionary.
Proper names also make a large impact on the vocabulary of Net users.
Archie, Jughead, and Veronica are all different protocols for searching
different areas of the Internet for specific information. Another new use
of proper names is for descriptive purposes. For example, the proper-name
turned descriptive noun/verb/adjective "Gabriel" has come to be understood
as a stalling tactic, or a form of filibustering; "He's pulling a Gabriel,"
or "He's in Gabriel mode." Most frequently, this type of name-borrowing
happens due to highly and widely visible actions by an individual on the
Internet.
Onomatopoeias are also widely found in net jargon, as it's often necessary
to get across an action such as a sigh or moan, without having sound
capabilities to send the sound itself. Very frequently net users will use
asterisks to denote such sounds as *sigh* or *moan.*
Semantically, net jargon is also quite interesting. Many, many words used
in net jargon are taken from regular English and applied to new ideas or
protocols. For example, a gopher is not a furry rodent on the Internet; a
gopher is a software program designed to gopher through the vast amount of
information so that the user can find what she's looking for. A server is
not a waitress or waiter; a server is another computer that tells your
machine what it needs to know to communicate on the net. A handle is not a
part of a coffee cup; a handle is a nickname. A shell isn't the thing a
clam lives in; it's the command system that allows you to enter commands to
communicate with the machine on the other end.
Functional shifts are also often frequently seen among vocabulary on the
net. For example, a flame (noun) is an angry, hostile response sent to
another person. To flame (verb) is to send someone such a response. You use
a Gopher (noun) to gopher (verb) through information. These finer
distinctions are learned with experience and time on the net. Context is
everything when all you have to communicate with is your words and
typewritten expressions.
One example of coinage, and creativity, within written Netspeech is the
addition of "emoticons" to express emotions and intention. Emoticons, most
frequently seen in the form of sideways smiles ( 8^) or ; ) for example, )
are found sprinkled throughout electronic communication to donote feelings
such as happiniess, or to express sarcasm or humor. Most Net users consider
emoticons a part of their vocabulary, even if they do not fall into
traditional grammatical rules. Emoticons are not used as words, they are an
attempt at expressing feelings without the luxury of using one's voice.
Using all-caps is another way Net users have found to bring voice to their
written communication; in the form of shouting. Net users use all-caps very
sparingly, only to emphasize very important words or ideas, because most
readers do not wish to be shouted at.
Perhaps the most interesting characteristic of Netspeak, however, is
pronunciation. Most frequently, a user's first encounter with a new
vocabulary word is by reading it, rather than hearing it. This presents
interesting pronunciation differences among different people. There is an
interesting controversy among the net community over the correct
pronunciation of the word "ethernet" in normal speech. An ethernet is a
network protocol with a fast data transfer rate. Most of the computers in
offices at Western are connected by an ethernet. In the past, Ethernet was
the name of a specific networking and communications protocol. At that time,
the word Ethernet was pronounced with a long [E]. As the concept of
Ethernet networking spread, however, the word gradually changed to ethernet,
pronounced with a short [e], a description of that specific type of network.
In spoken communication, the two different pronunciations created a great
argument among computer users, as to which pronunciation was correct; an
argument that will continue for all time when it comes to spoken
communication, and that is absolutely unimportant in written communication.
The structure and development of the word ethernet is particularly
interesting as well. It is a compound of "ether" and "net," increasingly
being used to describe the concept of the Internet itself. As the Net is a
global connection of millions of machines, it is difficult for the user to
understand what's happening to get the information through those millions
of machines to their own. The basic explanation of the structure of the
Internet is evolving to use the word "ethernet," meaning a network that
exists sort of like a gaseous cloud, with the imagery of a cloud of
networking information taking up the ether; occupying the upper regions of
space. While this is absolutely incorrect and inaccurate, it does help new
users learn to not ask how the net works, and to just accept that it does.
American English Net jargon is somewhat internationally prevalent. Many
terms used on the multi-lingual yet English dominated Internet are borrowed
from language to language. The words "Internet" and "cyberspace" are used
around the world, as is evident when one is cruising the Net and encounters
a piece of writing entirely written in Norwegian or Russian. The only words
an English-speaker easily recognizes are those internationally understood
items of Netspeak. Another example are the grammatical and vocabulary
mutations that English Net jargon inspires. According to the Hacker Jargon
File, Italian net users often use the nonexistent verbs "scrollare" (to
scroll) and "deletare" (to delete) rather than native Italian "scorerre"
and "cancellare." The English verb "to hack" has been seen conjugated in
many European languages.
As the Internet and computer online services further invade life in the
United States and the world over, more and more people will contribute to,
change, and further develop Net jargon as we know it today. In addition,
more people will find Net jargon spilling over into their offline lives.
Nothing in our world today is changing more quickly than computer networks
and technology, and therefore, no jargon is changing more quickly than
Netspeak. As more and more specialty words make their way into our
dictionaries, Net jargon will become increasingly prevalent in our written
and spoken communication. Everyone, not just Net users will become familiar
with the new words and usages, as is already evident in the increasing use
of the terms "networking" and "cyberspace." As business, advertising, and
entertainment move onto the networks, Netspeak will continue to grow,
change, and become more a part of everyday communication. This dynamic
language reflects the very rapid development of new concepts and the need
to communicate about these concepts. As linguists, tracking this language
development is one interesting way of documenting the progression of the
"Information Age," just as the language changes of Early America allow
historical linguists to track the movements of our early ancestors.
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