Meaning of "BTW"

[Hercules]

Hi All

What is the meaning of "BTW" ?

I think it's the same meaning of "by the way" !!!!!
I saw this abbreviation at rally forum ..so could you tell me the meaning of it ..?

[Yankee]

Hi Herc

Yes, BTW is short form "internet English" for By the way.

This sort of writing seems to be especially useful for people who are bad typists.

Here is a short list of some others:
http://netforbeginners.about.com/cs/netiquette101/a/abbreviations_2.htm

What I find interesting is that there is even a short form for the idiom "my two cents worth":
" .02 ".

Amy
_________________
Amy
.
ESL teacher, translator, and a native speaker of American English

[Hercules]

Hi Amy

Thanks a lot ..I found a lot and a lot of these "Short forms" !!! It's very interesting ..

Seriously, why English use these Short forms ? and I think that we'll lost the beauty of writing if we used these abbreviations...
so. I prefer used the regular form or writing !!

Regard

Herc

[Yankee]

Hi Herc

In almost all situations it is better to use complete words. These internet abbreviations are basically only "acceptable" to use in some internet chatrooms or instant messengers. You can't use them for most types of writing.

Also, they're a problem for non-native speakers of English. If you don't know and understand the "real" words, you can easily have problems with the abbreviations. For example, I have a German friend who always writes "RFLOT" instead of "ROTFL" (rolling on the floor laughing).

Something that really drives me crazy: the short form "spellings" for "you", "you're", and "are" (u, ur, r). Those short forms often simply look lazy, uneducated and childish.

I'm very glad to hear that you prefer the real, full language, Herc!

Amy
_________________
Amy
.
ESL teacher, translator, and a native speaker of American English