Internet slang

[BobK]

But initials being no shorter than what they're 'abbreviating' is no impediment to their adoption - 'www' is 3 times longer than 'world wide web' (in terms of syllables). In fact, I worked with someone who said /wəwəwə/, but this never caught on. [This example is a bit of a cheat, as - regardless of syllable-count - the letters literally [ahem] must be spelled out. Still, I feel the shortness of an abbreviation isn't all-important - there's often (for example) a social aspect to using a code.]

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[Tdol]

It's spelled out in addresses, but people refer to the web, or more commonly (ignoring any inaccuracy) the internet, when talking about it in general.

[ljaisan]

Thank you! I'm trying to do a kind of scientific work in this field. Recently I've come across a very interesting work (done by a university student); she says such abbreviations[ e. g. fyi (for your information),<3(said as “heart” or “less than three”; indicates love), idk (I don’t know), bf (boyfriend)] can be heard from students. The same situation is with Russian students, I should say. If you you are not a student of don't have teen children, it's almost impossible to understand their language :))

[ljaisan]

correction: I meant to say [If you you are not a student OR don't have teen children]

[Tdol]

<3(said as “heart” or “less than three”; indicates love)

You hear people saying heart as a verb meaning to love, but that may be from the symbol used on T-shirts- I (heart) New York, etc.

[Barb_D]

I'd say FYI predates the Internet by a good long time.