84 LANGUAGE AND THE INTERNET
certainly a noticeable feature of many Netspeak conversations. Lex-
ical suffixes are often extended. For example, the noun-forming
suffi x-ity(as in standard Englishbrief→brevity) might be used
indubiosity(fromdubious),obviosity(fromobvious), and other
such -ousinstances. Other popular ludic Netspeak extensions
include -itude(winnitude,hackitude,geekitude), -full(folderfull,
windowfull,screenfull,bufferfull),and-ification(hackification,geek-
ification). In a development which will cause delight to all Anglo-
Saxonists, the -enplural ofoxenis found with some words ending
in -x,suchasboxen,vaxen[‘VAX computers’],matrixen, andbixen
[‘users of BIX’, an information exchange system] – a usage which
could well increase, given that so many computing names end in
- X. Word-class conversion is important, too, usually from noun to
verb:to mouse,to clipboard,to geek out[‘talk technically’],to 404
[‘be unable to find a page’].
The various types of abbreviation found in Netspeak have been
one of its most remarked features. Acronyms are so common that
they regularly receive critical comment, as observed by Steve G.
Steinberg, quoted inWired Style:^20 ‘When it comes to technology,
the greater the number of acronyms, the higher the bullshit factor’.
A tiny sample would includeBBS[‘bulletin board system’],BCC
[‘blind carbon copy’],DNS[‘domain name system’],FAQ[‘fre-
quently asked question’],HTML[‘hypertext markup language’],
ISP[‘Internet Service Provider’],URL[‘uniform resource loca-
tor’],MUDsandMOOs(see chapter 6), and the names of many
firms and sites, such asAOL,IBM,IRC. Letter-plus-number com-
binations are also found:W3C[‘World Wide Web Consortium’],
3Com[a data-networking organization – theComsstanding for
Computer, Communications, Compatibility],P3P[‘Platform for
Privacy Preferences’],Go2Net. The chatgroups and virtual worlds
also have their abbreviations, some of which turn up on e-mail
and in personal Web pages.^21 Some of the commonest ones are
listed in Table 3.2. Newer technology, such as the WAP-phones
[‘Wireless Application Protocol’] with their tiny screens, have
(^20) Hale and Scanlon (1999: 188). (^21) A list is available athttp://www.netlingo.com.